Chat with us on WhatsApp
Getting blogger outreach to deliver new audiences |
|
by David Dwyer on 20/11/2018 |
|
One of the most efficient ways to attract a wider audience and build awareness across new markets is by interacting with other bloggers. It’s estimated that there will be 31.7 million bloggers by 2020 so this approach might seem a bit overwhelming initially, but let’s revert, once again, to using a strategic approach for this aspect of our social marketing and why it matters for search . On the surface Blogs have been a central part of many brands’ content marketing strategy for some time and some surveys have reported as many as two-thirds (65%) of marketers plan to increase their blogging activity in the future. Why? Well websites that include a regular blog have been found to be more than four times as likely to have been indexed, and sites that prioritise blogging are likely to achieve better social engagement as their authority grows, what kind of return that leads to though can be debated. What can’t be debated though is the improvement in organic ranking and reduction in Adwords Cost Per Click as the site has more authority than before.
Let’s be clear there are 2 avenues this can follow, both with completely different purposes:
A) You reach out to a blogger who is an authority in your subject area that agrees to post and share your blog with “do-follow” links back to your website. Be prepared though as the savvy know the value of this and will want to charge accordingly. B) You don’t have time to produce your own content and use other bloggers to write the content but accept you need to have “do-follow” links to 3rd party sites. These links would in essence be leakage from your site. Whether those bloggers want to actually spend the time creating unique content to go on your site can become like a chicken and egg and ultimately mean they’re not interested in posting on your site as you do not have the authority they’re after.
Ratewise we get offered anything from $75-200 to publish an external article on our website. If it’s just for “do-follow” links then it's $45-90 if embedded on our own insight articles. As we know how the sector works and we really value what we write about we’ve deliberately chosen NOT to follow the paid for posting or “do-follow” route but we know others do. It works for some sectors but is a very dangerous game to play.
Hence we’ll focus on tactic A) as to how to ensure someone sees value in your content enough to that they may waive or reduce the cost for you to publish.
How effective are they?
Well, nearly half of buyers (47%) have engaged with companies after reading blogs, but this most often follows 3 or 4 quality blogs, rather than an immediate response to a single blog. You need a content plan. If you develop a good plan AND reach your audience then readers will be more likely to share, the theory being that they think this can help their own networks. Whether that is true or not though you need to assess via your own sites analytics.
If you want to reap the benefits of blogging, then you need a good plan that will appeal to your target audience – and blogger outreach can then help you leverage that impact.
Making It Work
Build upon a strong proposition: If your outreach email does take off then it is your website that will record the initial impact of your content being shared by all those other bloggers – so take some time up front to get it worthy of all that attention.
Remember, influential bloggers need you to create quality content – that means you need to keep up-to-date with current trends in content marketing, in order to be topical and on point; which will offer value both to you as a guest blogger and to the host blog site.
For a successful cold email campaign, it's beneficial to use proven email templates as a starting point. These templates can streamline your outreach process and increase the likelihood of getting a positive response. To explore a variety of cold email templates and understand their benefits, you can visit Close.com's blog on cold email templates.This resource provides a range of templates suitable for different situations, helping you craft effective cold emails efficiently.
Be aware of your target influencers: Regardless of your sector, there will be a wide range of influencers and bloggers and you need to identify those whom you think can help your brand get traction. Target influencers for you won’t necessarily be the ones who are best known, as they might not even notice your email approach.
If, instead, you target a rising newcomer, they might be quicker to recognise how you can be of mutual benefit – you get an expanded audience and they get additional quality content.
The ultimate is to get a post with “do-follow” links from the “guru” for your topic. These are experts in the field. They won’t have the most followers, but they do produce topics and blogs that a lot of people link back to, hence providing them with a greater level of “trust-flow”.
Make your approaches stand out: First impressions matter, even in blogger outreach. For that reason, never use your standard email template on your influencers – personalise your approach. And never use a compliment as your sole subject: give just enough detail to interest them, and then offer a fair and sincere proposition. For example, if you want to be linked to from a YouTube channel, try topics such as “Off-Page SEO At [their] Channel”.
Offer something valueable in return: Don’t plug an article to an influencer who has covered the topic themselves – they’re not going to like your draft more than their own. Instead look for complementary themes.If you’ve see a post you loved reading, but you think it could be improved by new data or a different angle, draft that piece on your own blog and ask the original creator to link back to it, as it extends their original theme without contradicting it.
The Takeaway: Blogger Outreach Depends On Connections
Whether you’re reaching out for the first time or a proven commodity, blogger outreach will always be a bit hit and miss – success depends on who you connect with, your timing, and how you choose to make the introduction – referrals can be great to open doors that would otherwise remain shut, so nurture any new blogger contacts. It’s possible to make blogger outreach work– you just need to persevere.
|
|
Blogging, Brand Management, Content Marketing, Influencers, Social Proof, Website Content, Website Copywriting
|
|
|
![[close]](/images/icon_close.png "Close"){kind=icon}
Unlike many web design or marketing agencies, we do not run automated software and send you out a long technical Website Review Report on what you or indeed your last developer have missed.
We recognise that the web is evolving at a tremendous pace, one real month is equal to one web year, so what was delivered just a few years ago, may very well be looking tired and dated.
At the four BNI Groups we are members of, we are fully signed up to Givers Gain and offer referral clients 20 minutes of our consultancy time (at no charge).
We cover a range of areas such as "What is the objective of your website?"; "What is your business model?"; "Who is your audience?"; then we can cover User eXperience; Usability; Site Analytics; Search Engine Optimisation (On-Site).
We know the value of both your and our time but we also know that we're keen to build relationships and this approach is the first building block in establishing that mutual trust and respect.
© Inspire Digital 2024
A Scottish Web Services Company
Web Design by Inspire Digital