Blogger outreach is a key part of content marketing. You may have created a sterling piece of content but if you’ve got nowhere to distribute it, you may as well not have written it.
That’s why outreach is so important: by placing well written content on relevant blogs, you can reach out to your target audience, get your name out there and boost engagement.
So how can you ensure that this crucial part of your campaign is at the top of its game?
Get personal
People are much more likely to respond to a personalised message that shows a genuine interest in their blog. Generalised messages that have clearly been designed for a mass email are not likely to encourage much response. Bloggers put a lot of effort into running and maintaining their sites so naturally want to work with people that have a high degree of respect for it.
You can personalise your email by doing a few minutes’ worth of research – for example if the blogger has recently won an award, congratulate them. They will appreciate that you took the time to read up on them. You should also be sure to ask the bloggers what they think or whether they have any suggestions – this will not only make them feel valued but will also prompt them to respond to your query.
Get relevant
In addition to personalising your email, you need to make sure that it is relevant to the blogger and that the proposed content and the destination site are a good match. If they have to question whether the content is right for their site, they will probably conclude that it isn’t, so do your research and word your email carefully.
A good way to target relevant bloggers is to use Twitter hashtags. Searching for hashtags like #guestpost means you can approach people who are actually interested in guest posts, and by adding a second keyword, for example #fashion or #travel, you can pinpoint bloggers who fit nicely into your niche.
Get to the point
Bloggers are busy people and are often running their blogs alongside a full-time job or looking after a family and maintaining a household, so they don’t have the time to plough through lengthy emails to get to the bottom of what you’re after.
Get straight to the point rather than wasting your time and theirs. Blogger are more likely to respond to succinct emails – as long as they are relevant and personal of course!
Jenny Maclean
