Blogger outreach is rewarding especially once your backlinks go live. It can be a frustrating process though. And it’s even more brutal for those who are new to the game.
However, those who come in with a game plan tend to find more success connecting with relevant bloggers and influencers.
If you’re one of those people who can’t seem to get the hand of blogger outreach, then you’ve come to the right place. Today, we’re talking about how to develop a blogger outreach strategy from the ground up.
This should help you jumpstart your outreach strategy and obtain high-quality backlinks to boost your SEO performance.
Here’s how you develop an outreach campaign from scratch.
1. List Down the Goals of Your Blogger Outreach Campaign
As with developing any strategy, the first step should always be to lay down your goals. Ask yourself: “What do I want to achieve?”
Once that becomes clear, it’ll be easier for you to know which bloggers to contact and what you should ask them for.
Let’s use an example. If you’re looking to promote a product or service, then you should look for influencers who can share your product page on their social media accounts or talk about your brand on their YouTube videos.
However, if your main goal is to improve your visibility on search engines, then you should do blog outreach and ask bloggers about inserting backlinks. You can ask about writing a guest post.
The more specific you can get with your goals, the better it will be for your overall influencer marketing strategy.
2. Find the Right Bloggers for Guest Posting
Finding the right blogger can refer to many things. The most obvious would be to find bloggers in the right niche. It wouldn’t make sense for you to work with someone in the wellness industry if your products are all about carpentry, right?
You also want to look into each blog’s domain authority (DA) or domain rating (DR). Both metrics measure a site’s quality. The higher the number, the more impact your link building efforts will have on your domain.
Digital marketing experts and most link builders can find relevant websites for their outreach efforts manually. What they do is create a searchable and filterable database for easy reference.
However, it’s recommended that you use a third-party tool when gathering leads. Not only will automated tools simplify the process, but they’ll also help you keep organized.
Plus, some third-party tools have features that consolidate each blogger’s contact information be it their email or social channels. This makes it easier to get in touch with bloggers when the time comes.
3. Do Your Research on Established Bloggers
Not all blogs are the same. To increase your chances of success, you better research what kind of guest posts your target bloggers accept.
Read some of their guest posts and take notice of how they write, their tone, and their target audience.
It will also be a good idea to get to know each blogger a little better. This will help you connect with them better when you reach out. Their social media pages will clue you in on their sense of humor and general interests.
You can use this information when you send them an email, especially when you have common friends or acquaintances. Have you both attended the same conference? You can mention that too.
The most important thing is for you to know enough about the blogger. They’ll notice if you didn’t do your homework.
4. Get Promising Outreach Prospects to Notice You
Before you make your pitch, you might want to make some moves that’ll get you noticed. It doesn’t take that much. And you don’t have to do anything extraordinary.
Even simple things could go a long way. For example, start liking and resharing posts from your target bloggers. If they see your name often, they’ll be able to make the connection when you send your pitch.
Sending them an email talking about stuff they’ve written in the past can also work.
You can also partake in their community. Interact with their audience and talk about the things you’re passionate about. This approach is better than just emailing a blogger out of the blue and asking for a backlink.
It’s also a good idea to offer positive feedback about previous works they’ve published.
5. Make Your Pitch to Relevant Influencers
When you think you’re ready, that’s when you make your pitch for a guest post. The best way to conduct blogger outreach effectively is by being personal. Use their first name. Reference the articles they published. This is where all of the research you’ve done on blog owners will come in.
More importantly, you should make it clear what’s in it for the blogger. It should always be mutually beneficial for both parties concerned.
Here’s an example: Help a blogger identify broken links. Having broken links is bad for bloggers since it lowers their chances of ranking high on Google. And for your troubles, you can recommend that they link to a related blog post in your domain.
If you’ve already established a connection with the blogger, this process will go down smoother.
6. Stay Connected With the Most Promising Outreach Prospects
Finally, you’d want to maintain your connections with bloggers you’ve contacted. And you should do this even with those who did not respond to your requests. After all, you never know who’d be willing to work with you in the future.
Just imagine disappearing after getting a backlink from a blogger. What message would that send?
You want to maintain your relationships not just to open the doors for opportunities down the line but to maintain your brand’s reputation. Remember: You are representing your company in all communications.
Continue interacting with the blogger on social media and engaging with their community. Share their posts with your own audience every now and then.
And if you need another backlink in the future, see if they’ll be interested in working with you again.
Bonus Tip: Using a Blogger Outreach Agency
As you’ve probably realized by now, finding guest blogging opportunities can be time-consuming. Finding the right contact details alone is a full-time job. But the good news is that you can hire a blogger outreach agency and have it take care of your outreach needs.
Not only will an agency know how to run blogger outreach campaigns, but it can also help you build relationships with influential bloggers.
But if you’d prefer to do it yourself, just follow this blogger outreach guide and you should be on your way to generating backlinks.
