How To Reach Out to Bloggers

With the explosion of the internet over the past decade, every PR pro knows that no public relations campaign is complete without blogger outreach. Bloggers target certain niche audiences that may be hard to reach otherwise. Blogs also have a lot more credibility than ads that are paid for. Making strong connections with bloggers can prove to be very beneficial because they tend to have a loyal audience who are always willing to follow their recommendations.

Blogging is a fairly new media outlet and for most PR professionals interacting with bloggers is a whole new ball park. Bloggers are extremely diverse. Some write because they are passionate about their subject matter. Some write for profit. Some do both. This is why one approach may be welcomed by one blogger but not well received by another.

I don’t believe there is one right way to pitch to bloggers, just like there isn’t just one way to pitch to any other media outlet. Just keep in mind bloggers are people too. They enjoy well thought out pitches that are sincere, relevant and useful to their audience. And who can resist a good story?

Here are some tips to help you achieve better results from your blogger outreach:

1.    Do your research: Before you approach the blog owner with your pitch make sure you know what the blog is about, the content of the posts as well as what kind of audience they are reaching out to. You can do this by reading a variety of posts and comments from various months/years to get a good idea.

2.   Interact with bloggers way before your campaign: When you reach out to a blogger to pitch a story, it is always better to already have a relationship with them before hand. Bloggers could get offended if you only approach them when you have a campaign you’re working on. No one likes being used! To start building a relationship long before your campaign starts, read and comment on their blog posts, follow their social media accounts and recommend them within your personal network. Going the extra mile will definitely help you out in the long run.

3.   Be natural: Bloggers write in everyday, conversational language. When pitching to them, make sure you lose the formal, corporate language. 

4.   Provide more than they need: Make their job easy by providing them with all the essentials to publish a high-quality blog post. This could include photos, videos, quotes, pre-written tweets/status updates and always offer them interview options.

5.   Offer valuable content: Try to pitch stories that will grab a bloggers attention. Most of the time bloggers will be more inclined to publish a story about free products, giveaways, special offers or exclusive interviews rather than a boring press release. You need to make sure your story has potential to go viral, will attract traffic to the blog and help to build profit by enticing subscribers.

        

Have you ever had to reach out to a blogger before? If so, what was your experience? Let us know!