If you have never considered bloggers as a group you need to reach out to, then you are missing a huge opportunity to increase brand awareness, promote your products and/or services, connect with people seeking information on your niche (and maybe potential clients), announce upcoming events, expand your reach and even be seen as a leader in your field.
It is not an easy process, but adding blogger outreach to your social media plan will pay huge dividends. Here are some tips to get you started.
1. Build a targeted list. Research your market and look for bloggers that cover that topic. Do not just go after blogs with the largest readers. Instead, use Google Blog Search, Technorati, PostRank and Alltop to find blogs on specific topics. Look for bloggers that reach the same audience you want to reach. Don't forget to check our local blogs as well. Select 10 to 20 blogs to follow and research further.
2. Get to know the bloggers. You should check out each blog, read several blog posts and look at the "About Us" page to learn more about the person who writes the blog. You need to understand the purpose of the blog and get an idea of their writing style, content and history. While you are there, make sure to reach through the comments to get a sense of how they interact with their followers.
Here is a cool tip: you can figure out whether they blog about your topic by going to Google and typing in "site:http://theirsite.com yourtopic" where http://theirsite.com is their website address and yourtopic is, well, your subject, all that without the quotation marks.
3. Become a regular follower and commenter. Comment when it is appropriate and when you have valuable content to add. Never push your products or services when commenting on blogs. Do add your website to your post so those interested can learn more about you.
4. If you do have something you want to promote to the blogger, send an email or fill out the online form, make sure to personalize the pitch and be brief. It is not a good idea to send a generic press release or a general form letter. Let them know you read their blog and are familiar with its content. Best of all, make sure they know you have something their readers will be interested in. They don't care about making money for your business, they care about things that benefit their followers.
5. Follow your top bloggers on Facebook and Twitter. This is an extra way to gain familiarity for yourself while learning more about what they like to cover.
6. Lastly, be respectful. A lot of bloggers cover what they love and their blogs are very personal to them. It is not their job to promote you or your business. Be respectful.
Taking the time to build relationships with top bloggers in your niche is a great way to expand your reach and build your community.
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8 comments:
These are fantastic tips and right on target. Anyone could take the steps you suggested and benefit. Thanks, Kristina.
Sue Painter
This is definitely an area where I'm weak ... or more accurately, an area I've ignored improving.
Thanks Kristina for the great tips.
I've got work to do,
Jeff
I feel like I am finally beginning to "get" the importance of social media as a marketing tool and way to increase visibility. These tips are fantastic, Kristina. And I love the resources and directions you have provided. Many thanks!
I love the step by step format of this info. I'm going right now to try out these sites and find some bloggers in my niche. I haven't had great success in the past, but I'm excited to try your ideas. Thanks!
Fantastic post! I'm taking these tips and turning them into tasks for my to do list. Excellent. I really appreciate all the resources and step - by - step to take action to reach out to more bloggers. Perfect! Thanks for posting.
Melanie McGhee, L.C.S.W.
http://www.peacefruit.com
You're right on, Kristina! One of the most important ways to increase traffic to your blog is to comment on others and be a guest blogger.
By searching for your keywords and similar blogs you have your target audience already at the party and receptive for your great comment.
Great post!
Terri
Great tips Kristina! I find so often people approach me with what they want me to sell to my practice members, or how I can benefit them. I have to remind myself all the time to approach people with the benefit to THEM, not me. A great lesson to learn!
Love these tips! I've had some great success building my network, reputation, and reach by getting to know other bloggers in my industry.
Sandy
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