Why You Should Connect With Bloggers To Promote Your Business

So, you have a business, but now you are wondering how to get your name out there and in front of people. This isn’t the 80s anymore. We can’t just put up an ad in the yellow pages and wait for people to come to us. Brands need to put themselves out there in front of people and show them how their products and services can benefit them! We need to connect on a deeper level than we can with some nondescript ad somewhere. Are you ready to learn how to do this?

It’s time to connect with bloggers. Yes, I said it. Bloggers. I know, I know, not everyone gets it, but I promise you that after reading this, you will be sold.

Learning why you should connect with bloggers to promote your business will help you move forward in your marketing. Partnering with bloggers is an excellent form of advertising that not enough people take advantage of!

Connect With Bloggers To Promote Your Brand

Connecting with bloggers to promote your business is a great idea that can help introduce your brand to potential new customers. There are over 3.5 billion people online every single day. That is a lot of potential customers. That is a lot of potential profit.

You want to bridge the gap between potential consumers and your product.

There are also over 500 million blogs out there with potential for you to partner with. Many of these blogs have a fiercely loyal following. That said, even though there are that many blogs out there, it’s not as easy as just finding any blogger to partner with.

Several steps should be followed so that both you and the blogger can benefit from this partnership.

Find Someone Who Blogs in Your Niche

Let’s say your business website was professionally SEO optimized and focuses on cute mom tees. Does it make sense for you to reach out to a fitness blogger? No.

Sure, they may have a significant following, but the people who follow them do so for fitness-related reasons, not because they are looking for mom tees. Does that make sense?

There are tons of great resources out there to find great blogs in your niche, but you can easily start with a simple Google search.

Take the Time to Know Who You are Contacting

Some blogs have a super simple “contact me” button located on their homepage, but others will be a little bit more tricky to find. Take the time to find the correct contact information and address it to the correct person.

It’s important to realize that bloggers can spam offers all the time, and if they don’t think that the email offer is authentic, they will send it to spam and never look back.

Additionally, take a little bit of time to look around at the blog. Get to know what they talk about and how your product could benefit their readers so that your pitch can include that.

Give Them a Great Reason to Say Yes

In addition to digging deep and finding out how your product could benefit their readers, you need to give the blogger something to make this partnership worth their time. Blogging is hard work. A blogger will spend hours and sometimes days working on one blog post. They have significant value.

They are never going to work for free, and you need to give them a great reason to say yes to you. You can do this in one of several ways:

• Offer them free products in exchange for a blog post/review.  Note that many, many bloggers will say no to this. They say no because, as I mentioned, a blog post is a considerable investment in time, so for many, this is the same as working for free. However, if a blogger really believes in your product, they may be willing to do this exchange.
• Pay them for their time. Many bloggers require payment for their influencer marketing efforts. This is known as a sponsored post. Many bloggers will have an idea of how much they charge for this, so be prepared with what your budget is. Keep in mind that this number can vary greatly. I know bloggers who charge $200 for a sponsored post, I know bloggers who charge $3000 for a sponsored post. Be prepared with a budget that suits your business.
• Sign them up as an affiliate. Affiliates earn a commission of every sale that comes from their blog post. Many bloggers use affiliate marketing on their sites and are agreeable to this. This tactic generally requires products as well.
• Offer free products for a giveaway. Giveaways are a great way to get engagement on a blog, and if your product is what is driving that engagement, all the better!  Be prepared to provide your product for the blogger to offer as a prize, this is a great way to get bloggers interested in a partnership.
• A combination of all of the above. Like I said earlier, many bloggers won’t want to work for free, but many bloggers also like to develop ongoing partnerships with sponsors. Offering a combination of payment and a free product is a great way to get bloggers to say yes to your proposal.

Do Not Discount Small Blogs

Here’s the thing. In today’s social media ruled the world, many people tend to look at the number of followers as some sign of an influencer’s importance. This is often far from the truth.

What you want to look for when you are looking for a blogger to partner with are consistency and engagement. A small, loyal following is far more valuable than a blogger that posts once a month and is all over the place with their topics.

Don’t forget that followers can be bought; engagement and loyalty are real.

Write a Great Pitch Email

Your email is what will get you in the door. We already talked about the importance of getting to know the blog and addressing the correct person, but now let’s talk about the email itself. Here are a couple of rules to follow when sending out an email to potential blogging partners:

• Personalize. Do not send out an email that screams “form letter.” Use names, mention if you happen to come from the same city, etc.
• Introduce yourself and your business, talk about why you would make a good team.
• Don’t send an offer in the first email. This is to gauge interest.
• Be personable, but professional.
• Proofread for the love of God. Proofread. A person who writes in the blog all day for a living will toss out a poorly written email.

Once you send the email, give it time. You can follow up in a couple of weeks, but don’t be needy. Many bloggers won’t even open up emails from someone who messages them over and over.

Do you still have questions on why you should connect with bloggers to promote your business?  Let’s chat!