Bloggers can do amazing things for your business. They can connect you with new potential customers, increase your social following and result in a big sales bump.
So, offer bloggers another benefit besides product samples. Ask them if you can write a guest blog.
Bloggers publish high-quality content 'round the clock on their blogs. Blogger burnout is increasingly prevalent, which creates an opportunity for your business.
Find out how to make guest blogging happen for your brand below.
The benefits of guest blogging for brands
Scan this list of the benefits of working with bloggers to get excited for this new tactic.
- Connect you with a new, captive audience. Select blogs that share your target audience to reach a fresh crop of potential customers. Watch your analytics to see how much referral traffic each blog drives.
- Boost your SEO. By including a link to your site, you're improving your search engine placement. Industry experts estimate backlinks account for up to 80 percent of the weight that search engine algorithms give websites.
- Gain the blogger's endorsement. When bloggers publish your guest blog, they're giving you their stamp of approval. 23 percent of consumers say they buy an item exclusively because of a blogger's recommendation.
- Increase your brand's social following. Bloggers instinctively promote their content on social, and they'll do the same for your guest blog. For bloggers with huge social followings, you'll see new followers pour in as soon as they publish.
Securing a guest blog in 4 steps
1. Connect
Learn how to select the right blogger to work with here.
Then, work with them on at least one story. You really want to foster this relationship first.
Only offer to write a guest blog with a blogger you already have an established relationship with. Otherwise, the offer can seem pushy and overbearing — even if you're trying to help.
2. Know the blog and the blogger
Guest blogging is all about personalized content.
Before suggesting a guest blog, you should read at least three of their blogs and scroll through the last five pages of content. Also, search common keywords associated with your business to see what content the blog already has. Read the comments of these related posts to discover commonly asked questions.
When you pitch, suggest one to five story ideas, tailored to this blog. The stronger your ability to pinpoint the content the blogger needs and uses most, the higher your probability of getting published.
3. Make it easy — offer lots
Once you've got the green light from the blogger, ask if they have any guidelines you should follow. Your job is to make guest blogging a supereasy and enticing way for them to expand their content library.
Take high-quality, beautiful pictures. Include more media (videos, infographics, photos, GIFs) whenever possible. Mirror the blogger's overall writing tone and style. Then chock it full of your brand's keywords.
4. Share the love
Once the blog is published, your job isn't done! Now, you need to amplify the content through promotion.
Post a chunk of the content on your brand's blog. Then, direct readers to read the full piece. Send this out to your blog subscribers. Then, share the post on all your social networks.
Also, set up an email alert for new comments. Then, respond as quickly as you can to questions and comments.
