It goes without saying (but we’ll say it anyway just in case) that on today’s digital marketing landscape, blogging isn’t an option.
As noted by HubSpot – and verified repeatedly by our happy customers around the country – blogging drives SEO, pulls traffic, converts visitors into leads, establishes authority and thought leadership, and supports crucial long-term goals such as customer retention and competitive advantage. So basically, if your business isn’t blogging at least three times a week, then it’s time for a full inbound marketing health check-up.
However, there’s another aspect of blogging that needs to be part of the puzzle as well: going beyond your virtual property, and figuring out how to find bloggers to reach your marketplace. Here’s the 4-step game plan:
Step 1: Identify Bloggers
Before focusing on what you want to say or have said about you, head out to the interwebs to find bloggers that have an established presence in your industry, and who are also “vendor-agnostic”. This means they aren’t affiliated with a business that, most likely, will be a competitor of yours.
Of course, it’s fine for bloggers to sell advertising space to make their effort commercially viable (running a professional-grade blog is costly and time consuming). Some of them may even sell advertorials, which may also be OK provided that this is made very clear (usually with a disclaimer before and/or after the post). They may also sell other products, such as ebooks, white papers and consulting.
With respect to how many bloggers you should identify at this stage, try to find at least 5, but as many as 10 potential bloggers. If you’re in a very specialized niche or sub-industry, you may only find a 2 or 3, which is fine.
Step 2: Watch and Learn
On the path to find bloggers, this is the step that many businesses overlook – which is a mistake.
Before reaching out to bloggers and getting on their radar screen, invest time to go through their blog posts and get a solid understanding of their approach and strategy. Do they use an excessive amount of back links in their posts, or do they keep the number low and reasonable? Do they pay attention to formatting and presentation, or are they churning out “walls of text” in tiny font that would be dreadful to read on a tablet or smartphone? Are their posts widely shared across social media? What are the interactions and comments like? Do they post regularly or just once in a while?
These questions all relate to quality and performance, and the answers will help you create a shortlist of bloggers. Those are the ones you want to reach out to first.
Step 3: Get Involved
Armed with a shortlist, your next step is to do what all bloggers want you to do: get involved! That is, participate in conversations by sharing insights, experiences, asking questions, and so on. These should all be legitimate communication and not “comments for the sake of comments”. This will help you build credibility, which you can then cash in when you get to step 4.
Step 4: Reach Out and Deepen the Relationship
Once a blogger(s) knows who you are and has evidence that you add value to their blog, they will typically be more open to repaying the gesture in various ways, such as:
- Inviting you to write a guest post that they’ll publish on their blog
- Paying a visit to your blog, and writing a guest post for you
- Referencing your solution in their posts when applicable
- Introducing you to other bloggers and influencers in the industry
- Connecting with you at industry conferences (many top level bloggers speak at these events, and some of them are sponsors as well)
Learn More
As you can see, trying to find bloggers is a long-term program instead of a short-term activity or task, and there are some do’s and don’ts. To learn more, contact us today. We’ll build a customized game plan that elevates your profile, and helps you reach your marketplace.
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Topics: Inbound Marketing
