Is blogging dead? Well, you’re here reading a blog post, aren’t you… so apparently not.
Seriously, though, blogging is alive and well, and marketers still use it as the powerful digital marketing tool it is. In fact, according to the Content Marketing Institute, 70% of marketers say that blogging is the single most effective channel for demand generation (in the awareness stage).
Any company would be foolish to ignore stats like that. But there’s more to blogging than just creating content. There’s also blogger outreach.
In this article, we’ll cover blogger outreach, why it’s so effective, and the best practices to make your outreach campaign successful.
What is blogger outreach?
Blogger outreach is a subset of influencer marketing where marketers contact influential bloggers to collaborate, build strong relationships, and promote their brands, products, or services.
Think of blogger outreach as a partnership. You will provide the blogger with valuable, relevant content while you gain access to their loyal following.
Some examples of blogger outreach efforts are:
- Send a product sample: A tech company sends their latest gadget for a niche influencer to create a product review video.
- Benefit: The new content featuring the product will increase the influencer’s exposure and engagement, and the tech brand will benefit from the exposure to the influencer’s audience.
- Sponsor a post (or series of posts): A hotel sponsors a trip in exchange for a mention in a “Guide to X Location” post, video, or other content (e.g., ebook).
- Benefit: The influencer is paid a fee for the sponsorship and enjoys the trip at no cost, while the hotel sees increased brand awareness.
- Offer a collaboration: A fashion brand collaborates with a blogger to feature their latest collection on Instagram.
- Benefit: The blogger and the fashion brand expand their audiences and increase brand awareness simultaneously.
Blogger outreach isn’t confined to traditional bloggers creating content on websites. Today, websites, social media, and email marketing all play a crucial role in the process.
Before we dig into the meat and potatoes, let’s get clear on how blogger outreach differs from guest posting.
What is the difference between blogger outreach and guest posting?
Blogger outreach and guest posting may seem similar, but they’re not synonymous. All guest posting is technically blogger outreach, but not all blogger outreach is guest posting.
Blogger outreach
In blogger outreach, the blogger does the work for you. They write the content in their style (to fit their blog) and include images (pictures, videos, graphics, etc.) that add value to the blog post.
A big draw of blogger outreach is the authenticity it grants to the brands the blogger supports.
According to Capterra’s 2023 Live Commerce and Influencers Survey, consumers trust recommendations from influencers 44% of the time and brand websites 57% of the time. They only trust ads on TV 41% of the time.
While recommendations from friends and family top the list at 81%, partnering with influencers (or relevant bloggers) can gain your brand some major clout with customers. When the name of the game is “Know, Like, and Trust,” it’s a good idea to work every angle to your advantage.
Guest posting
In guest posting, you do the work. You write the article, following the blog’s style guide and editorial guidelines, and provide visuals (if required). You may or may not be credited for the content.
The site you post for will publish the content you write, and most sites do not allow you to post it anywhere else. Once you deliver it to them, they own it.
When you find a reputable site with decent Domain Authority that allows you to post with a byline, guest posting is great for building authority. It builds credibility and looks great in your portfolio. It’s also good if you want to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
10 best practices for blogger outreach campaigns
Blogger outreach involves much more than emailing a popular blogger or influencer and asking them to work with you. It takes planning, research, and a strategic approach. For instance, you can use timetoreply software to track their response time and know their availability for emails. And yes, you’ll need to do more than write a quick “Love your work!” email.
Here are ten best practices to follow to ensure the success of blogger outreach efforts.
- Identify and define your goals
The first is to set clear, tangible goals. These help you measure your success over time and guide you in making necessary strategic adjustments.
Your goals might include:
- Releasing information about a new product launch
- Driving organic traffic to your website
- Increasing customer reviews
- Building backlinks
- Boosting sales
Your goals should be SMART—Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Based. For example, a SMART goal would be “Acquire 5 positive product reviews within 30 days.”
A poorly defined goal is: “Increase product awareness.” Although it’s relevant and may seem attainable, it lacks specificity, a time limit, and isn’t measurable, so you’ll never know when you achieve it.
SMART goals set you up for success.
- Find your blogger (and their contact details)
Also known as prospecting, this is the part where you search for bloggers and influencers in your niche who would be a good fit for you and your brand. There are various ways to do this, and we’ll tackle the few most common ones.
Google Alerts
First, you can set up Google Alerts for a target keyword. For example, if you create one for an “organic skincare routine,” you’ll receive an alert whenever new content containing that keyword appears online.
Screenshot provided by author
You can customize your alerts with the dropdown menu (“Show options”) and have them sent to your email address.
Screenshot provided by author
Depending on your alerts, you can examine the results and decide whether to contact the bloggers about collaborations.
Google Search
Although you can do a simple Google search and sift through the results for relevant content creators to contact, conducting more advanced searches can yield more focused results. Try adding “contribute” or “guest post” to your search, as shown below.
Screenshot provided by author
Combining Google Alerts with Google searches will set you up for some easy wins without spending a dime. You can also use blogger outreach tools to streamline your outreach process.
As your outreach efforts grow, managing everything manually can get overwhelming. That’s where automating your outreach can make a big difference helping you stay consistent with follow-ups, manage contacts efficiently, and scale without losing the personal touch.
One essential tool for automating your outreach is Hunter.
It’s an email finder and email verification tool. You can also add Hunter as a browser extension, so you automatically see a list of relevant emails related to that site when you visit.
Another is BuzzStream.
It’s an all-in-one link-building tool that allows you to research prospects, find their emails, and set up scheduled email campaigns.
- Vet your bloggers
Not every blogger is fit for your business. To narrow down your list, evaluate the following:
- Relevance to your niche: The blogger should write relevant blogs related to your niche or industry. Returning to our organic skincare example, although many beauty bloggers fit the bill, you don’t want just anyone representing your brand. A blogger focusing on clean beauty, sustainable products, or eco-friendly lifestyles could be the perfect fit.
- Content quality – Read through their blogs. Do they write quality content? Are the pieces of content well-written and thorough? How does their content rank in SERPs (search engine results pages)?
- Alignment with your branding: Ensure both brands (yours and the blogger’s) align in style and voice. Avoid partnering with content creators who use language or whose style clashes with your brand identity.
- Audience Engagement: Review the blogger’s social media profiles to determine the number of followers and comments. Also, check the blog for likes, comments, and shares. Pay attention to how the blogger engages with their audience (e.g., by responding to comments). This will show whether the blogger’s audience actively engages with their content.
- Reputation and credibility: Remember that once you partner with another brand, their reputation becomes tied to yours and vice versa. Before committing, investigate their online reputation—Google reviews, social media (Facebook), Yelp, local directories (if you’re a local business), industry review sites (e.g., BrightLocal, TripAdvisor, Angi, NextDoor), and others.
Once you have a list of bloggers that meet your criteria, it’s time to move on to the next step in your blogger outreach strategy: Create your pitch.
- Create your pitch
It’s time for the feature presentation—your pitch.
Think about all the emails in your inbox. Which emails do you ignore, and which do you open? If you open one, do you read it to the end?
Which ones do you reply to, and which ones do you just scoff at and delete? What’s the secret sauce to earn that open?
Let’s look at some statistics.
In the U.S., email marketing manages a respectable 45.62% open rate, according to GetResponse’s 2024 Email Marketing Benchmark Report. Some elements that contribute to that success are:
- The right number of characters in the subject line (61-70 is ideal)
- Include a preheader and personalization in the email body
- Avoid emojis and personalization in the subject line
- Including video and images in your emails
A great outreach email combines all these elements with your brand’s unique value proposition and style. It should make the prospect eager to know more.
Pitch examples
Every pitch should contain two things:
- Your goal for the partnership
- The benefit to the blogger for their participation
It’s always a good idea to begin by acknowledging and respecting the blogger’s time and appreciating their talent. (Why else would you reach out, right?).
Be direct. Tell the blogger what you want and what value you can offer them. You only have a few seconds of their attention, so don’t waste time.
Personalize your emails as well. Did they write any recent articles that you can relate to? Do you have an experience with one of the tools they mentioned? If so, mention it briefly and in an appropriate context.
If you want to express appreciation, do so as long as it’s genuine and specific. What exactly did you like? When you message them, give specific examples so they know you read through their site.
Dear [Blogger’s Name],
My name is [Your Name], and I write at [Your Blog]. I’ve been following your blog for some time and absolutely love your posts on [mention a topic they write about].
I’m reaching out because I have a fresh guest post idea that aligns with your content, and I believe your readers would find it very informative. Here’s a brief overview of the topic:
[Briefly explain your topic].
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and potential collaboration.
Best, [Your Name]
Email templates can be an amazing way to speed up the outreach process and streamline your workflow. To avoid sounding like a broken record or a robot, personalize your emails.
- Show your value
Bloggers are more likely to work with you if they see the benefit. Therefore, make sure your pitches clearly communicate their value.
Value-adds can include:
- Backlinks to their blogs or landing pages
- Access to exclusive content or events
- Social media shoutouts
- Free products
- Free service
Get creative! And don’t be afraid to ask them what they value. It could be anything relevant to their business or your partnership. Just remember, it needs to make sense for both of you.
- Fine-tune your email
Before sending your pitch, you’ll need to address some final details.
First is your email address itself. Make sure it’s professional. Use an email that contains your company’s domain. This way, bloggers will know you’re part of that company and not just a random person.
Using a professional email signature can also make you look more credible. Having all your information in one spot, combined with a professional headshot or your company’s logo design, adds a layer of authority to your pitches.
It may sound simple, but these little things can help add a spark to your outreach emails and make your emails stand out from the crowd. This attention to detail is especially important in nonprofit email marketing, where building genuine connections with potential supporters drives successful collaborations.
- Follow up on your message
Most email marketers fail on the follow-up. They don’t want to be pushy or annoying, so they give up too soon. But the truth is that those folks are missing out on a ton of opportunities.
Follow-ups are essential in cold email outreach. In fact, according to Yesware, between 21% and 25% of contacts won’t respond to your first follow-up but will respond to the second.
Just look at the following chart. Yes, the response rate has declined, but 10% of recipients still respond to the 8th email! Imagine all the responses you miss out on if you never even send them.
Just sending follow-ups isn’t enough, though. They need to be sent at the right time and in the right cadence. This information tends to vary according to your industry, so you must do your research and follow industry standards for the best results. A well-structured cold email campaign doesn’t just stop after one or two messages—it leverages strategic follow-ups to maximize engagement and conversions.
- Use a blogger outreach service
Manual blogger outreach is best since it allows you to curate authentic relationships with content creators and influencers in your niche. However, if you don’t have time for manual outreach or prefer to let experts handle your campaigns, you can hire blogger outreach services to do the heavy lifting.
They already have partnerships with influential bloggers, so you don’t need to build a relationship with them from scratch.
The key is to work with reputable companies. Check reviews on major sites like G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot to ensure the company is legitimate and can meet your expectations.
Some top blogger outreach services include FATJOE, Outreach Crayon, and LinkBuilder.
- Know your metrics
Finally, you must know what success looks like. What metrics will you track? What tools will you use to monitor and measure those metrics?
Metrics should always relate to your goals. If your goal is to increase organic traffic to your website, you should track the following metrics:
- Open rates
- Click-through rates (clicking through to your website)
If your goal is to sell more of a product or service, pay attention to:
- Open rates
- Click-through rates
- Conversion rates
To track this information, you’ll use your email marketing tool (e.g., MailChimp, HubSpot, Constant Contact) and its embedded analytics.
For more information on where your traffic comes from, you can use tools like Google Analytics, social media monitoring tools like Sprout Social, Statusbrew or Hootsuite, Ahrefs, or Semrush.
Track your campaign results in a spreadsheet or other reporting tool. Review them monthly, quarterly, and annually. If your results do not meet your goals, assess the reason for the failure, make adjustments, and try again.
Regularly clean your email list by removing the email addresses of contacts who have not replied after your prescribed number of follow-ups or requested removal.
Final thoughts
Whether you’re a small business or an established brand, blogger outreach is a powerful strategy for your digital marketing toolbox.
Blogger outreach can help you showcase your business more authentically, reach a new audience, and improve your SEO.
The key is building a win-win relationship with the right bloggers. Clarify your value proposition, create a stellar pitch, follow up, and track your metrics.
Once you develop some winning partnerships, you’ll be well on your way to bigger and better business successes.
Cheers!
