How to: work with influential bloggers

61% of people have purchased based on a blogger’s recommendation.

Some bloggers come firmly in the category of micro-influencers. We have previously written about how you can work with influencers when promoting a product or service – but you may also want to consider how you can specifically work with influential bloggers to boost your visibility.

01 Plan

Start by planning out your strategy for Influencer Marketing. The more you plan – the more successful your Influencer Marketing Strategy should be.

You need to be thinking about what will work best for you. your brand, your market, and your voice/values. Bloggers are one option and are usually considered micro-influencers. They are smaller influencers but have a committed and loyal following (under 10k) with a high-engagement.

Write a list of potential bloggers  – think about blogs that you both read and enjoy and those that have a similar target audience (or crossover with yours). Ignore any competitors (although you can look at them later for inspiration for your campaigns).

Once you have your initial list:

• Research which bloggers are right for you – It is important to do your research and work out which bloggers are right for you and if you are right for them. For them to even begin to consider working with you – you have to be relevant/suitable for them to work with and suitable and relevant for their audience – their audience and customers are precious to them.

 

• Look at their audience – When looking for potential influencer don’t forget to look at their audiences. Are they your target audience? Does their audience align with yours? Is their audience likely to be interested in your product or service? Are they likely to align with your values / USP?

 

• Look at the level of engagement (across all platforms). Are they engaging with their audience? Are they getting likes and comments on their posts? If they get low engagement on their blog don’t dismiss them straight away they may have high social media engagement. Consider the package as a whole. Some influential bloggers also publicise their stats so you can also check things like the number of mailing list subscribers (although this doesn’t always equate to high-engagement).

• Subscribe to their blog, read and comment on it. Follow them on social media.
  

 

 

Most bloggers will have their diaries/schedule planned out in advance. Most will work 2-3 months ahead if not more – so keep this in mind when you are planning out your strategy and when you are approaching them. Remember bloggers are just ordinary people – they have busy lives too.

02 Reach Out

Once you have identified your potential influencers and you have done your research the next step is to reach out. Drop them an email or message on social media.

Before you reach out to influencers – make sure you know what your budget is. Some may be willing to do it for free while others will expect to be paid for the collaboration – after all, they are a business too.

If you can’t pay for a collaboration, another option will be to send a product for free and hope that they feature/mention it. If you are sending them something for free take the time and effort to personalise it for them and make it as tailored as possible. For example, you might do something in their favourite colour and include a hand-written note. However, just because you are sending them a free product – don’t automatically expect them to feature it. Also, just because you have agreed a price doesn’t mean that you have control of the process.

03 Build Relationships

If you are sending them stuff, be authentic and on brand. As mentioned earlier, make sure you and your brand align with theirs. Personalise goodies and make your interactions personal, don’t do carbon copy interactions or collaborations with everyone. Make it personal and special.

Remember there is a real potential for a long lasting relationship. Get off on the right foot and work together in the right way and you could be working with a particular blogger for years. Also don’t forget to share, promote, thank and like. Share their work and content (particularly if you are getting unpaid promotions from them).

Finally, don’t forget them once the campaign is over, check in with them at regular intervals and continue to build your relationship.

04 Track and Analyse

It is not always easy to track and analyse. However, there are some easy things that you can do to track links and traffic to your website:

• Google Analytics
• Social Platform Specific Analytics
• Discount Codes
• Feedback Forms.

Of course, you won’t always be able to track everyone and many of your customers will have been touched by multiple touch points and this will make it almost impossible to identify the right source. However, if you analyse what you can it will give you an idea of what works and doesn’t work for next time.