Blogger Outreach: From the Blogger's Eyes

guest post by David Spinks

Blogger outreach is being used in more and more in marketing and social media campaigns. Some campaigns completely forgo traditional media outreach and just focus on blogger outreach. If you can get enough buzz going in the blogosphere, chances are mainstream media will catch wind of it, too.

So why the shift? Well bloggers…

• Are usually more approachable than mainstream media.
• Have focused audiences so companies can be very strategic on which ones they contact.
• Have close and trusting relationships with their readers.
• Once a blogger covers your company, it strengthens your relationship with them and you may be able to connect for future stories.

Blogger outreach isn’t the same as pitching traditional media, however. It’s actually very different. When you’re pitching a blogger, you’re not pitching a company (usually), you’re pitching a person… so the approach is very different, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be strategic about it.

Just look at it from the blogger's side.

Not a blogger and can’t imagine yourself in their position? No worries… Here are some things that as a blogger, I like to see in a pitch, and as a marketer, have worked for me in blogger outreach campaigns.

1. Familiarity. If I recognize the name of the person emailing me, the chances of me even opening the email is exponentially higher. The chances of me writing about them is also a lot higher.

Strategy: Don’t just show up and pitch the blogger. This campaign should be planned ahead of time, and you should commit time to reading, commenting, and interacting with the blogger's community.

2. Relevance. If the content you’re pitching me is very relevant to my audience, not only will I consider writing about it, I’ll probably be happy too! Hell, I spend half of my blogging time just thinking up ideas to write about. If you help me by giving me an idea that’s actually valuable, I’ll thank you! Most pitches I get are way off topic.

Strategy: Even if you don’t have time to interact before making the pitch, at the very least, you have to READ the blog. Know who you’re pitching and who their audience is. And no, you can’t tell this just from looking at the title and NO you can’t BS a blogger into thinking it’s valuable.

3. Convenience. If the blogger is like me, they don’t have much time as it is. They may want to write a post about you but they don’t have time to do the research. Save me time and I’ll be a happy blogger.

Strategy: Provide the necessary information, so the blogger doesn’t have to search for it on your site. If you don’t want to be too upfront and in your face about it, just let the blogger know that you’ll be happy to provide them with more information. In general, just keep in mind, the easier you make it for the blogger, the easier it will be to get coverage.

4. Exclusivity. I may get a lot of pitches. I can smell a bad one from a mile away. One way I can tell right away is if the email is canned, or templated. If you sent the same email to 100 bloggers, they’ll know it. Sure you might get a few responses, but you’ll have wasted a lot of opportunities and possible relationships.

Strategy: Include personalized information. It’s okay to use the same information in a lot of the emails, but at the very least, the name, the intro, and any content specific information needs to be personalized. I.e., instead of saying “your blog”, use the name of the blog. Personalize wherever possible.

5. Advantages. So I’m helping you. Can you send more traffic to my site in return? Can you promote my site on your website or in your newsletter? Perhaps you can offer something of clear value to me?…just remember that whatever you offer me in return for a blog post, will be disclosed in the blog post.

Strategy: This won’t work for all bloggers, but it can’t hurt to offer. Some will decline any sort of “favors”. Others would love it if you promoted them on your site a bit, or did something to drive more traffic to them. If you can offer something of clear value to the blogger in return for their covering you, you’ll be much more successful.

I’ve done a few different blogger outreach campaigns. There was one campaign where my boss wasn’t sure if my method was effective compared to just plugging in a name and emailing a massive amount of bloggers every day. So I did both and compared the results.

I found that while it might take more time per email, reaching out personally, and using these other guidelines, results in a lot more legitimate responses than sending out 200/day with a template email. They also help you forge long term relationships with bloggers.

So those are some thoughts to get you started. If you’re a marketer what has worked for you in your blogger outreach efforts? If you’re a blogger, what kinds of pitches do you prefer?

***
David Spinks is the Community Manager for Scribnia, where the world’s bloggers and columnists are reviewed by their readers. He also blogs at The Spinks Blog about business, careers and professional communities.

Comments

[Suz]

I found this post very helpful. As someone new to the blogging world, it helps to know what bloggers find helpful, and, more importantly, what they find to be a nuisance.
My main goal is to gain a better rapport with bloggers and promote my label's music on more sites, but my partner and I never want to come off as "sales people" - we want to legitimately gain the interest of respected bloggers.
This information is definitely pointing us in the right direction.

Thanks!

[Craig]

I am the same with you and have spent longer time reaching out via commenting, Twitter, emails to get to know someone and in most cases try to ask permission before even pitching them. It is difficult to do on a large scale though. With my pitches I usually have an intro 3 sentences that is personal to the specific blogger, then a following paragraph that is the same copy/paste of information throughout. I'm curious on what you think a good % of responses is per 100 emails.

[David Spinks]

Suz: I'm glad you've found this info helpful. That's the issue that many companies face today, they don't want to come off to "salesy", but that just comes down to your intent. If you truly aim to help the blogger by providing value, it won't take much selling. If you're just trying to push some BS content out and see how many you can get to bite, that's the "salesy" approach that we'd like to avoid. Be honest and be helpful, and you won't have a problem.

Craig: It's true, it is harder to do on a large scale, but what is large scale these days? Is it emailing more bloggers? Or is it reaching a wider audience? Is it more valuable to mass email a ton of bloggers on a "large scale" and hope for the best, or do take the personal approach with 10 bloggers who aren't "big name" bloggers, but still have a strong audience and loyal following? Which would drive more success? The size of the audience you're reaching doesn't have to do with how many you email, but who you reach out to and how. As for percentages, I'd say that, the more time you take the time to do the pitches right, the greater the percentage will be. For a mass email, you're probably looking at about 3-5% response rate. For personalized outreach, more like 25-30% in my experience...and the follow through rate after a response is much higher with personal approach.

[Coree Silvera]

I'm with you on all points especially familiarity and relevance. I love to support and help empower other female entrepreneurs, but when I have someone leave a comment promoting their business without ever mentioning what they got out of my article, I am 99% sure that even if they approach me later I'm not going to feature their business...even if it is woman owned.

There is just an etiquette. It's not cool to assume that the blogger will be okay with promoting your business without ever getting to know them or their readers.

It's like the friend that is pretending to listen then suddenly interrupts you to fill you in on how their date went last night. They were never listening, they just want to be heard.

It's also nice to know if they will remain a part of your community or if it's just a one way and will disappear once the deed is done.

[Rich Becker]

David,

Your last comment is as rewarding as the post. Most public relations firms are thinking to create lists of bloggers with some social measurement hierarchy in place. It's a flawed tactic at best.

After all, there are many bloggers who don't appear on the 'algorithm' radar but are read by those who are. People in charge of blogger outreach ought to ask themselves how they can help these bloggers as opposed to competing for the attention of players at the top (for starters, anyway).

The real takeaway is the modern pitch isn't really a pitch at all, especially if they follow your five points. The sum up seems to be that marketers and public relations firms need to rethink the entire approach, shifting from questions like "how do I get this attention?" to "who would benefit from the relevant content assets my client possesses?"

Ironically, this could have been the question they asked before pitching mass media for better results too.

Best,
Rich

[David Spinks]

Coree: Great comparison about the interrupting friend...As a business talking to a person, you have to talk to them on a personal level and actually care about what they have to say. You have to remember that you're not talking to another business, you're talking to a person, and possibly a customer.

Rich: "the modern pitch isn't really a pitch at all" Exactly. I always like to say that a pitch, or sale that takes place through social platforms, if done right, isn't really a pitch at all... it's just sharing valuable information.

[Maria Reyes-McDavis]

Love this post, great look from the blogger's perspective which many marketers and agencies overlook -- at their own peril :-)

[David Spinks]

Thanks Maria, glad you agree (=

[Nikki Stephan]

Nice post, David! I 100% agree with you on taking the time to tailor your blogger outreach versus using a templated, non-personalized pitch to reach many bloggers at once (same rule applies to mainstream media). It always comes back to quality versus quantity. It's worth spending the time to write quality, targeted pitches that are relevant to the blogger's content and readers. If the blogger clearly sees that you took the time to individually reach out to him/her, the likelihood of getting a response increases.

It also helps to reference a recent post the blogger wrote and explain how that relates to what you're sharing. If you say something like "You talked about X in a recent post, which is why I thought you would be interested in (fill in the blank)", the blogger knows that (1) you're actually reading the blog and (2) you're proving what you have to say is relevant to the blog's content.

[David Spinks]

Great tips about mentioning a previous post Nikki. Many might be tempted to just choose a random post, but in reality, you might have to dig a bit to find a relevant post...but it's probably worth it.

In terms of personalizing emails, I like to make the name (obviously), the intro and the conclusion personal. Usually, when you're providing the information about whatever it is you're pitching, it's okay to use a template for that. Pretty much, personalize wherever possible, and use a template for the rest.

[Don Lafferty]

When I'm on a book marketing team with traditional PR types and I describe the personal nature of each blogger pitch, and the detailed homework required to do the job right, I'm usually met with skepticism - until it works.

However...

When I go to great lengths to respect a blogger - to do the homework, understand their format and audience, provide the background they need to do a solid piece, give them some window of exclusivity, and then watch them do a half-assed job, I know I didn't do my homework enough.

I've found that it's important to be able to get a feel for the blogger's popularity arc - to be able to catch a blogger before everything THEY'VE been working so hard for finally begins to erode their ability to maintain the level of excellence that got them there.

Get 'em before the book deal or the big consulting fees start rolling in if you really want a blogger's best stuff. After that, it almost pays to write the post you want to see and let them edit it.

[Jenn Lore]

As a PR person working in blogger engagement and a blogger myself, I enjoyed this post and will probably share with my client.

So many marketers treat all bloggers as media, when many should actually be considered experts and enthusiasts. They should not be treated as means to an end, but rather as partners in building content online.

One issue I feel strongly about (which you touched upon) is finding a balance between the favors you ask and what you give back to each blogger's online community.

Every time you contact a blogger hoping they will write about your news, product or opinion, you ARE asking for a favor. No one likes to give and give and get nothing in return -- so give back in the form of comments, retweets and links, and help foster connections between bloggers who might enjoy each other's work and experts in your company and industry.

The best folks working in blogger engagement are simultaneously fans, trusted sources and stewards of the conversation.

[David Spinks]

Don: Great points. That's one thing I forgot to specifically include but it's definitely important to target a certain level of blogger. As bad as it sounds, but still relevant for the concept, you want to target the "B-list" bloggers. The bloggers that have a strong following, but aren't necessarily HUGE in their space. The HUGE ones probably get 1000 pitches like that and it will be much harder to break through. You want to get the up and comers. The ones that are quickly earning the respect and loyalty of their readers, but are still relatively small.

Jenn: Humbled that you found the post so useful. You're absolutely right and there's nothing wrong with making it clear that you will field comments, spread the content and help the blogger in any way you see fit.