blogger relations ragan

Bloggers are your friends

How to build and leverage relationships with the online masters

to power your online campaign

Why Bloggers?

• Bloggers are real, relatable people• People read blogs• Bloggers are “social”- they share what they

post• Bloggers provide backlinks• Blogs drive traffic

The benefits

• Product/brand feature • Quantity of results • Social media & PR • Shareable content; User generated content • Brand ambassadors

Getting Bloggers on Your SideThe Do’s and the Don’ts

The Do’s

• Personalize: Learn names and use them• Read their blogs: both about me & the posts• Ask for what you want • Take demographics into consideration • Be consideration of their time and content

The Don’ts

• Fake it…in other words, don’t LIE• Belittle a blogger• Assume• Stereotype • Spray & Pray

How To Do It Right!

Lesson 1: The Campaign

Create an offering

• Bloggers aren’t there to just serve you. It must mutually beneficial. Offer them something in return for their services:– Social media mentions– Products to review – An expert article or tip sheet – An exclusive example to feature – An interactive project

Dessert a DayCookie company wants to engage dessert bloggers for National Dessert

MonthOffers each a chance to participate: Every day one dessert is shared that

the blogger makes with cookies provided to the by the companyBenefits:- Creates tons of backlinks- Engages ideal audiences and provides one-of-a-kind content- Photos, videos, and recipes to share with both audiences - User generated content - Builds a person connection between brands and people - Google results galore

Oxygenics $50 a DayShowerhead company wants to increase brand awareness specifically

by growing Facebook fans Purchases gift cards to top retail outlet (that carries their product) and

build a Facebook tab to giveaway one gift card every day Target giveaway blogs, sweepstake Facebook pages, etc, with a

predominantly female audience to help spread the contestResult was adding over 9,000 fans to the pageBenefits:- The female audience was an ideal target for the company and prize- The blogs and FB pages targeted were able to spread it that far over

only 3 months - Reached goal of fans. Fans were engaged, boasted of buying the

product even if they didn’t win, and referred / shared with friends

Tips• Plan a campaign with a specific and measurable goal• List out your offerings, what exactly you would like to see, and what

you will do in return for the blogger• Make sure you provide links to website & social media channels • If you have no prize to giveaway, make the campaign creative and

worth the effort• Ask for photos

Lesson 2: The Research

Find ‘Dem Blogs!• You’ll want to start first by figuring out what style of blogs appeal to

your target demographic: “mommy”, travel, food, pet, etc. Know your niche

• Use tools use as AllTop, Technorati, and even a simple Google Blog search (for those of you who don’t have fancy systems like Vocus)

• Use networks of bloggers such as BlogHer to find appropriate blogs • Keep a running log of all blogs you find with URLs, notes, and contact

info

Assess • Read the content. Think: Is this the kind of blog that would post your

content or participate in your campaign?• Read the About Me: Some bloggers specifically state “No PR people

allowed”. Respect that • Visit their Facebook fan pages, Twitter accounts, etc, to see if their

audience is: the type you’re looking for, varies, is engaged, etc.

Lesson 3: The Outreach

Start Your Engine• Begin drafting a personalized pitch to each blogger. This is time

consuming, and a bit of a template can be used for each, but make sure you’re smart about it. Remember our pitching blogger rules!

• Bullet points are great: they keep bloggers from having to read huge paragraphs. They have lives, too

• Make sure you keep up on communications after the first email. Let them know when samples are sent, when you’ve kept up your end of the bargain, and be generally attentive.

Close It• Make sure to follow-up and see if they need anything further• Don’t put too much pressure on the post date- just enough for them

to know you’re excited• Ask if you can get copies of the photos. And make SURE you give full

credit when posting and provide the link back to their blog• Give extra social media shout outs to everyone who participates• Send a thank you email

Thanks for listening! Constance Aguilar, Social Media Strategist at The Abbi Agency

@ConnieAguilar Facebook.com/theabbiagency

www.theabbiagency.com/blog & www.constanceaguilar.wordpress.com

That’s me!

Got any questions?! ASK AWAY!