I’m surprised that despite evidence bloggers bring customers to business, sometimes swarms of them, companies are still not engaging their services.
A bloggers audience is loyal, targeted and engaged.
Let me tell you about the night Jo Whitton, who blogs at Quirky Cooking, played a practical joke on her friend who had just gone to bed excited she had 100 followers on her new facebook page about coconuts. Jo asked her audience to head over and follow the page. They did. In fact more than 8,000 people clicked follow in less than 12 hours and her friend got the shock of her life when she woke the next morning.
It doesn’t have to be a practical joke to get a blogger’s audience to take action. D-ID jeans had a fashion blogger post pictures of their latest jeans and within an hour of the post going live there were 850 people filling their online trolley.
An $88 Lord and Taylor dress sold out immediately when 50 fashion bloggers posted a picture of themselves at the same time wearing the same paisley dress.
Any business can enjoy this sort of success simply by connecting with bloggers.
Remember it’s not just the blog that your business will be promoted on. A blogger is often engaging with audiences on several social media platforms as well, so expect a mention there too.
Speaking of audiences, some bloggers reach more people than major metropolitan newspapers and a post about your business is there for the life of the blog, reaching new eyes, months even years, after your business has been featured.
I’ve used bloggers to spread the word about my business, and I still remember the first time a blogger wrote a sponsored post about http://catablog.com.au – I had over 200 potential customers signed up and trialing it within the first hour. I’ve never looked back.
If you’re not sure which bloggers to approach just think of your target audience and think about what they’ll be reading. So if you sell children’s shoes then target parenting bloggers. If you sell bridal gowns then target wedding bloggers. If it’s a service you provide then simply think of your target customers and what websites they’d be reading.
Not sure how to approach a blogger? It’s simple. Get to know their blog first. Engage with them on their website or social platforms as a reader. Then email, tell them you’d like to work together because you feel their blog is a good fit for your brand. Tell them about your brand, ask for their media kit or rate card so you know how much it’s going to cost. The bigger the audience the more it will cost.
Bloggers can write a sponsored post about your business, a review, run a competition with your product or service as the prize and attend events you have planned.
If you’re looking for more customers I’d start reaching out to bloggers.
About the author:
Janyne Moore is the Co-Founder of Catablog, an online directory of Australian and New Zealand bloggers and their social influence.
