As both a personal and business blogger, and one immersed in the social media world, I feel I have a unique perspective on what does and does not work from the standpoint of reaching out to bloggers with hopes of receiving coverage. All bloggers are different, so what works for some may not work for others. These tips aren’t guidelines as much as they are things to think about as you prepare a blogger outreach campaign.
1. Keep Outreach Relevant
Begin by creating a list of blogs that includes all the pertinent information – URL, email addresses, blog name, blogger name(s), and coverage topics. Your list should include any and all potentially relevant blogs. Even if they aren’t relevant now, they may be in the future. Only reach out to the ones that are relevant for the press release, announcement, or other outreach purpose at hand.
2. Part of Outreach is Knowing How to Reach Out
Visit each blog’s About section and read it. It will most likely have information on how to reach out to the blog. Include this in your master blog list and – this is important – follow the directions! Do not make contact via Facebook wall posts or messages.
3. Timing is Important
When you reach out is important. As with any press, make sure that you give the writer plenty of time to do the proper research, ask questions, and write. Sometimes it takes bloggers a while to get through their emails (some receive 50, 100 or even more per day!) so as much lead time as possible is always appreciated.
4. Catch Attention with a Catchy Subject Line
The subject line is the first thing people see when it comes to email. Catch their attention, be brief, and be descriptive. If the blogger receives lots of emails each day, they will likely be skimming quickly and won’t pay attention to a lengthy subject line. Likewise, make sure the Author line is clear and concise as well.
5. Get to the Point in your Body Copy
Personalize it but be professional. Keep the opening brief. Including something personal is a way to connect with the blogger, and including the most pertinent information up front is equally as important. Specifics can come later in the email once you’ve grabbed their attention. Make sure anything pertinent is easy to find, such as an event location or product launch date. If all else fails, focus on creating a traditional press release and include it in the body of the email (NOT in a Word document attachment).
6. Always Include Additional Information
Always include links to where the blogger can find more information (bios, product descriptions, photos from previous events, company boilerplates, etc.). Make sure that any photos you provide are high resolution. If you include an attachment, be mindful of how large it is. You don’t want to overwhelm their inbox with a 12MB email, so providing a link to where they can grab that 12mb file might be a better idea (a press page on your business website, perhaps).
7. Consistency Consistency Consistency
Be consistent and brand your message. Using a branded email newsletter template is one way to develop consistency, but keep it simple. We like Campaign Monitor for our email newsletter but have kept press releases simple with text, links, and an occasional image attachment only. Also, don’t forget to adhere to CANSPAM compliance.
8. Do the proper Follow Up, but don’t Overdo it
It doesn’t hurt to follow up. In Gmail, seeing a message that has a (2) or (3) near the subject line can grab attention better than the subject line itself. However, don’t bombard the blogger with emails. One or two follow-ups should do it, and don’t be discouraged if they never respond.
9. Timely Responses are Imperative
As bloggers are all about getting information out, be prepared to answer questions quickly and in a timely manner. Anything beyond 24 hours may be unacceptable – they could very likely take a post live before you have a chance to respond.
10. Appreciation, Kudos, and A Job Well Done
Set up the appropriate alerts to monitor any coverage that may be posted from your outreach. Note that due to a lack of time, not all bloggers will let you know they provided you with coverage. If something is posted from your outreach by a blogger, send along a little appreciation email. Bloggers like to know you noticed and often appreciate kind words. And, when you reach out in the future, definitely include a little personal note about the coverage as preclusion to your next request.
There it is – 10 tips on blogger outreach for small business. Feel free to drop a line and add your own tip if you’ve got one. We’d love to hear it!