Our digital world may present new challenges for marketers, but there are also all sorts of new and exciting opportunities to get your brand noticed. And if you want to make a name for yourself, getting involved on social media is a must. Those posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter can pack a big punch: social media sites and blogs reach eight out of 10 internet users in the U.S., which makes these tools extremely valuable.
One group that has extensive knowledge of the social media marketing game? Bloggers. And because there are all sorts of blogs out there — fashion, lifestyle, food, travel, and tech to name a few — there’s no shortage of potential collaborators for your digital marketing campaigns. Working with bloggers gives you the opportunity to expand your reach and make a huge impact.
But if you want to improve your overall visibility, web traffic, and sales revenue, you need to understand how to connect with these influencers. When your blogger outreach efforts are successful, you’ll create a partnership that will stand to benefit everyone. But if you go about it in the wrong way, all you’ll be hearing back are cricket chirps. These three tips should improve your blogger outreach and will allow you to collaborate on killer digital marketing campaigns together.
Personalize your pitch
Well-known bloggers (and even some lesser-known ones) get tons of emails every day from various brands. A sure-fire way your email will get instantly deleted is to not include the blogger’s name (or address the recipient incorrectly). And even if you plug in their name, it might not do much good if you don’t take a little bit of time to personalize your pitch and include relevant bits of information. You’d be surprised how many marketers fail to do this! Spending a few minutes to include something you liked about a recent post can make a huge difference in how they respond. It’s fine to utilize a template of sorts, but take a bit of extra time to let them know why you want to work with them on a particular campaign.
Focus on authenticity and quality
Sponsored ads and posts are pretty common these days, but they’re a lot less effective if the collaboration isn’t a good fit or the content marketing is extremely obvious. Instead of reaching out to hundreds of influencers who may not produce great results, focus on building relationships with bloggers who you genuinely like and who can promote your products or services without seeming disingenuous. While getting a plug from a very popular blogger or Instagram user can be a real coup, their followers can tell when the endorsement doesn’t feel legitimate. In general, try to seek out blogs and accounts that make sense for your brand and that will produce high-quality content. If you work with a bunch of influencers who just want free swag or whose audiences don’t jive with yours, your marketing efforts probably won’t be worth it in the end.
Sweeten the deal
Inexperienced bloggers might be willing to create content for not much in return, but ultimately, those aren’t the partnerships that will benefit you. To make your campaign more attractive to those coveted influencers, you need to make sure your collaboration offer is worth their while. Not every company will have an extensive budget for bloggers, but since their reach is so vast, you should devote at least a portion of it to these partnerships. Top-notch influencers put a lot of time and work into their content (some are even able to pursue it full-time), and that doesn’t usually come for free. If you want to send a product for review or ask for a social media mention, expect to negotiate additional monetary compensation. Most bloggers will have specific rates laid out for different kinds of collaborations, but some are willing to negotiate. Don’t expect them to do work without getting paid for it in some way. You should also make sure the terms of your collaboration are laid out clearly in writing and that all parties are in agreement.
Want to raise your brand awareness through digital marketing? Social Magnitude has you covered. To get started, get in touch with us today.
