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The whole idea of a blogger outreach program is to find the right and influential bloggers to market your ideas and products. Although it may seem pretty easy to hire a blogger who would write for you but the mere presence of a million bloggers floating on the internet does not really help. Not to forget that, there are many who run hobby blogs. But, what the marketers look for is a highly influential group of bloggers who can promote their brands. So, they are not only looking for bloggers with good writing skills but they also need to have a sizeable audience base. But one does not simply bump into these potential bloggers on the internet. How to find the ones that will help you create and expand the market for your product? How to choose the best ones out there and make them act as your brand ambassadors? Here is a set of great tips to run a successful blogger outreach program.

• Locate the Blogger

There are two approaches to hire the right digital influencers. One, you simply put out advertisements and messages across social networking platforms and choose from the applications you might eventually receive. Or two, your team decides to swarm the internet. You review the blogs of various bloggers. Yes, that does involve extensive work. You will read the blogger’s articles, his/her “about me” column, the reader’s comments, shares, views and likes. The second one stands out to give you a better pool. You could also keep an eye on blogger events, meets and conferences.

• Create a Database

Once you have reviewed a good number of blogs on the internet. You need to separate the ones that will work for you and the ones that may not. Create a database. Put down the details of the blogger, their names, their genres, the work done, what you think will work in favour of the brand and what won’t.

• Know the Blogger

Since you will be hiring the blogger to endorse your brand, it is necessary to know whether the blogger will be able to understand and sell your ideas through his/her blog. Once you have created a database. It is time to dig out all such details. A thorough reading of the kinds of content the blogger writes and promotes. Was the blogger part of any marketing campaigns in the past? If yes, with how many brands or products was the blogger associated with? Is he or she still working to promote products? Collect all the required details.

• Establish a Relationship

To start with you could connect with him on social media or subscribe for newsletters or emails. You can leave comments or give feedback for the articles published by the blogger. You can also retweet /share his/her posts on social media and/or participate in discussions or conversations happening around his blog. Not only does this initiate a relationship with the blogger, it also lets you know if the blogger really writes for the audience or for himself/herself, in other words, if the blogger could go beyond being a hobby blogger.

• The Audience Base

What counts for your brand at the end of the day? Is it a large audience with no particular niche or is it only a certain group of people you wish to market your product to. You need to consider the blogger’s audience. At the end of the day if the writing outcomes are excellent but the blogger does not have an audience, the whole agenda of hiring a blogger for promotion fails. Get to know the number of people that follow the blog. Keep an eye on the likes, comments, shares, Facebook promotions, tweets etc.

• Engagement

Read through the comments left by the followers. Does the blogger have a consistent fan base? Are there enough people who read the blog? Who are these people? Do they present any scope for word of mouth marketing? It is necessary to know the level of engagement the blogger’s articles receive from the audience. Also, the consistency of the fan base is important.

• Link Between Blogger and your Brand

Before you decide to make a pitch to the bloggers, it is necessary you find what links the blogger to your brand. What aspect of your brand will the blogger be able to promote? Does the blogger appeal to the aesthetics of the brand? Does the audience of the blogger match with the target audience of the brand?

• Make a Pitch

Once your potential bloggers’ list is ready, it is time to make a pitch.  The blogger needs to know about your brand. What particular aspect of the brand is expected to be emphasized? How does the blogger fit the bill? Also, how does the brand cater to the interests of the blogger’s audience?

• Understand the Blogger

It is necessary to know if the brand interests the blogger. There exist bloggers that promote only their ideas and opinions and are great at it in their own way. And there are bloggers whom you can make work your way. So figure out the personality type of your blogger.

Do you find the blogger’s creative instincts and personality suitable for your product? It is necessary to weigh all the possible traits of blogger that could affect the online image of the product.

How do you want to reach and influence the blogger’s audience? You can either sell the product by just leveraging the fan base and appeal of your blogger or you can promote your product by emphasizing the technicalities of your product that help it stand out.  Work out a strategy!

• Educate the Blogger

There are bloggers who will woo the audience into buying your product. But you also want that audience to stay and grow. The blogger should be well acquainted with the negatives and the positives of the product. He/she should be well informed and educated about the product.

• Compensate the Blogger

The blogger gives you his/her audience. You need to compensate the bloggers, for they are marketing your product. And the traffic they get is not the only compensation that is being talked about here.

• Add Dimensions to Your Product

A single blogger obviously does not cater to a large audience provided the brand is looking for small numbers only. Also, hiring a similar group of bloggers is not a good idea. The promotions of a product can be divided qualitatively as well as quantitatively. Not each blogger caters to the variable target audience. Some audience is run by emotion, some is run by age and some is run by hard-core facts. It is necessary to hire distinctive bloggers who can appeal to the varied tastes of the audience. Not only does this add dimensions to the product. It also increases the fan base for the brand.

• Monitor Each Dimension

You may identify one dimension to be the marketable while the audience is wooed by another. It is ideal to promote all possible dimensions one thinks could arouse the audiences’ interest. Monitor the results for each dimension. And then proceed to increase the promotions for the particular dimensions that generate more market.

• Impress the Client

You need to present your bosses i.e. your clients with the best you can give them. It is real numbers that matter and not all is based on words in business. Show them the progress and the outcomes. Surveys and polls to monitor the progress and popularity of the product can be employed. Social media conversations can also be tracked to measure awareness.

• Customize

Analyze the results. Find out what works and what doesn’t. Then customize your outreach program. Focus on blogs that deliver results, eliminate blogs that do not deliver and continue to look for new, potential blogs that can effectively contribute to the success of your outreach program.

Author: Swati Dewan

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