How to Start a Blogger Outreach Program

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Find out how a blogger outreach program can help your brand get more loyal followers, increased web traffic, and trusted word-of-mouth advertising. Plus, learn how to get it started!

You’ve recently launched an awesome new product. Congratulations! Now all you have to do is convince people to buy it! Easy, right? You’ve plastered social media with ads, have one catchy commercial jingle and even put out a few print ads for those old-fashioned types that still get their news from an actual paper. Surely this is enough to make your product fly off the shelves.

Well, maybe not. That’s because many people these days don’t simply take a brand’s word for it when it comes to how great their product is; they want to see real review from real people (what we in the biz call “third party credibility”). So how do you make that happen? You could a) sit around and wait for someone to post a review on your Facebook page or elsewhere on the web, or b) take action and start a blogger outreach program. (Hint: choose b)

Great choice! Having your product reviewed on a widely read blog is like having an Amazon review turned up to 11; they’re typically more in-depth and are read by loyal followers instead of randos browsing on their lunch break. Other perks of a blogger outreach program include:

  • Loyal Followers. Adding a trusted blogger to your team means gaining all of their followers as well!

  • Increased Traffic and More Content. More bloggers means more referrals to your site, as well as fresh content about your brand!

  • Trusted Word-of-Mouth Advertising. Consumers often look to blogs for honest opinions on products and services that they are considering. If you have a good relationship with the bloggers that are talking about your brand, you’re much more likely to receive positive recommendations.

So now that you’ve decided to take the plunge and have established your goal of getting more reviews on your awesome new product, it’s time to find your bloggers. Lucky for you, just about every industry has it’s very own pocket of the internet teaming with them and their loyal readers. Finding this pocket might take a little digging but you seem like you’re up for the challenge.

You begin searching for potential bloggers by looking through your current social fan base. While looking through the comments on your blogs posts and likes on your Facebook Page, you stumble across a few active bloggers. This is great news! These people already know about your brand and maybe even about your new product—they’re perfect for the job.

After you look through your social audience, you decide to take a peek at your Google Analytics data. Here, you can see that your brand is already getting love from one or two blogs that have linked to your website…awesome! Reach out to them and get them on board!

Continuing in your search, you look through online forums and find someone advocating for your product. They’re answering questions, posting how-to videos, and giving honest feedback about how awesome it is. Check to see if they have a blog and a large social following. If so, get them on your team!

Further along in your search, (that has by now, taken you into the deepest depths of the world wide web) you hit the motherload. You found a whole community of bloggers talking about your industry— let’s say your awesome new product is a syrup holster and you just found a whole network of blogs and readers dedicated to everything waffles. How to make waffles, where to find the most delicious waffles, waffle irons, waffle accessories, everything waffles. This is definitely one community you want to be a part of so you go through and identify which blogs are the best fit for your brand and product.

Throughout your quest to find bloggers, you keep in mind some other demographics your product might appeal to (pancake enthusiasts?) while making sure that your product is relevant to both the blogger and their readers. We can pretty much guarantee that having your holster reviewed on a fashion blog will not end well, so make sure you do your homework before reaching out.

Now you’ve come to the end of your search. Woohoo! You have a fabulous team of bloggers ready to sing your praises. And while most bloggers will require a bit of compensation for their effort, the benefits you will reap  from a blogger outreach program are well worth the exchange.

For more information on creating a fabulous blogger outreach program or for ideas on how to use one contact your SocialToaster Account Manager today! Don’t have one? We can fix that too! Give us a call at 855.628.6278 or visit us here to get started.

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