Yomego sheltered a lively group of social media dilettantes from the torrential downpour today in their cosy basement-level presentation space. The Glasgow and London-based social media agency’s Annie and Mark talked us through some of the finer points of social media marketing with their talk: A Practical Guide to Effective Blogger Outreach.
To summarise their introduction, blogger outreach has become an appealing strategy for brands as prominent bloggers and individuals with online followings command a great deal of trust from their readers and fans. The statistic cited was that 70% of internet users expressed that they trust friends in their fellow internet community to give good recommendations. With the popularity of sites like TripAdvisor and Yelp, this fact has become all but inescapable for the hospitality industry. Capturing that trust can be key to marketing for films, events, and products across a number of industries.
Annie and Mark explained Yomego’s holistic approach to blogger outreach, and here they recommend a direct mode of communication with niche bloggers. Detailing some key components in finding the right kinds of bloggers, some important factors include demographic, audience size, thinking about the kind of value their client can add to the blog, and looking for bloggers with an established interest in the relevant brand. Influence can be measured through Klout scores, Twitter followers, Facebook presence, and the interaction on their blog, like subscribers and comments.
It’s evident that there are no shortcuts in this approach, and as Annie pertinently pointed out, the best way to reach 100 bloggers and communicate to them that you’ve spent time and read their blog; you’re going to have to find relevant bloggers, take time to familiarise yourself with their sites, and personally contact 100 blog owners.
Connecting with bloggers on a personal level and working to a mutual advantage is key to the success of blogger outreach. When working with bloggers, Annie and Mark also recommend patience, timely and positive responses, and anticipating the blogger’s needs. Though one risk of inviting bloggers to write on your product is that they have ultimate control over the editorial content, the potential rewards certainly seem to outweigh the risks.
Although the potential power of the blogger is well documented, poor practice like mass mailings and unsolicited inbox press release dumps can turn bloggers off in an instant. As companies begin to adopt more active social marketing principles, peer recommendations is becoming a key component in driving more transparent and mutually beneficial campaigns.
If you want to learn more, the slides from today’s presentation are available online: http://www.slideshare.net/Yomego/practical-guide-to-effective-blogger-outreach
