Customers want to make informed decisions when deciding on a purchase. Ads can help your audience see your products, but it’s rarely enough to make customers buy them.
In short, they don’t trust it, especially if it's the first they’ve heard of your products. So why not present your products through a platform they trust?
Enter blogging. Thought leaders who run blogs in specific niches always have a strong following. Their audience trusts them and values their opinions.
The best way to get these thought leaders to talk about your products or services on their platforms is through blogger outreach campaigns.
- What is a blogger outreach campaign?
- How to choose bloggers to partner with
- Step-by-step guide to blogger outreach
- Blogger outreach email examples
- Blogger outreach best practices
What is a Blogger Outreach Campaign and Why We Do It
Blogger outreach campaigns connect businesses with relevant and trustworthy bloggers. The logic is simple — find bloggers, send an email, and hope for a positive reply.
When bloggers with high-authority sites link to yours, you get more traffic and improve domain authority. Even if they don’t link to you, your brand still gets exposed to a broader audience.
You can leverage your industry experience, ask for a blog guest post, and try to get backlinks. Bloggers can also write reviews for your product or include it in high-traffic listicles.
Use lead finder tools to scrape the contact info of these bloggers and make an email list. Email marketing software can then streamline and automate the process.
Always partner with bloggers who are relevant to your business. Remember, a large following won’t equate to more conversions if the partnership doesn’t make sense.
How to Choose Bloggers to Partner With
We don’t want to spray and pray. Before hitting send, make sure you’re sending emails to qualified bloggers. Here’s a checklist to consider:
Relevancy
No blogs worth their salt will create content for businesses that can’t provide value to their audience. Think of the industry and the specific niche where your business sits.
Bloggers in adjacent industries might also gain value in your products or services. They just have to be relevant.
For example, a hardware supply store can contact bloggers in DIY roof repair, contracting, or even within the HVAC niche. Just be mindful of the type of content these bloggers produce.
Type of Content
Bloggers publish different types of content. Are they focusing mainly on listicles? Do they write reviews? Will they go in-depth with all the features your product/service provides?
Knowing what type of content your products will be presented on helps you strategize for your outreach. For example, if you’re selling a lead generation tool with advanced features in SaaS, you’d want those highlighted in depth.
Getting your product on a listicle is great for raising awareness. However, your product might be glossed over due to the number of other products on that list.
The bigger the blog, the higher the chance of competitors reaching out. Listicles are a great way for them to include more brands in a blog. So, consider going for a micro or macro blogger.
Micro vs. Macro Bloggers
More significant sites with high traffic charge more, regardless of the type of content your products are mentioned on. To get a piece of that traffic, consider contacting macro bloggers.
Smaller or microblogs have less traffic. But just because traffic is low doesn’t mean they can’t provide value to your business. At the very least, you can get a niche backlink from these blogs.
These blogs can also have a more dedicated following, leading to higher engagement rates. Reaching out to these smaller blogs can mean higher conversion rates despite the low traffic.
In some cases, both micro and macro bloggers can have more than one platform on which they share content.
Platforms
Some bloggers have multiple platforms, repurposing content to fit the audience for each one. For example, bloggers can have a YouTube channel where they do a quick introduction to your product. But then, have a link to a blog that dives deep into its features.
Bloggers can also repurpose content on social media platforms like Twitter. They can create threads highlighting critical points of long-form content, placing your product in front of a more direct and engaging audience.
Now that we know what bloggers to look out for, let’s examine how to start setting up our outreach campaigns.
How to Run a Blogger Outreach Campaign
Email marketing is the best way to do blogger outreach campaigns because it’s measurable, can be automated, and easily scaled. Here’s the step-by-step guide to blogger outreach:
Leverage Email Marketing Software
Sending emails sounds like a mundane and easy task. However, manually writing copy, personalizing emails, and sending them takes time, and you can’t scale using that model.
The most efficient approach is using email marketing software to automate blogger outreach campaigns at scale. Instantly is the tool for you if you want to do cold outreach to bloggers.
With unlimited email warmup, users can automate entire campaigns, bulk personalize emails, and ensure the highest deliverability rates.
With email marketing software at the ready, the next thing you need is quality leads.
Find and Qualify Leads
Use email scraper tools to find leads for our blogger outreach campaigns. Next, verify emails with verification tools to ensure high deliverability.
For qualification, you can look at our “How to Choose Bloggers” section to build your framework for what you consider “qualified.”
As a quick recap, choose bloggers relevant to your business, create the type of content fit for your offering, and those with multiple platforms.
Creating Email Copy For Blogger Outreach
Don’t overthink your email copy for blogger outreach. You won’t be the first business to reach out. Most even look at these types of emails as transactional.
It’s all about what you can offer, your products' relevance, and clearly stating your expectations. Here are a few tips to help you write email copy bloggers are sure to notice:
Write personalized and engaging subject lines.
Email software like Instantly can automate personalization using {{merge tags}} as variables. You can personalize using a blogger's name, website, company, etc.
Or, ask them what their rate is. They may already have a number in mind for product reviews, mentions, guest posts, or listicles.
Try something like: “{{first name}}, how much do you charge for a product review?”
Use email icebreakers in your intro.
Here’s where your brand voice or tone can shine in your emails. Being unique with your intros or using icebreakers is an excellent way of easing into your ask.
Even if it boils down to a “transaction,” bloggers could still reject your proposal. Icebreakers ease this by helping you make an excellent first impression.
Show relevancy and how you can provide value in your main body
Why should a blogger write about your products or give you a guest post? Your main body should include why you’re a great fit and the value you can provide to their audience.
Be clear with your call-to-action (CTA)
Your CTAs should be actionable, clear, and direct. If you want your products included in a blog with high recurring traffic, you can try saying something like:
“We’d love to be included in your {{blog name}} blog to help increase our brand awareness. Could you send us your requirements or pricing?”
Understanding the basics of running a blogger outreach campaign helps marketers fine-tune or A/B test the best-performing emails. Let’s take a look at some examples.
Winning Blogger Outreach Email Examples
If you’re unsure what to write in your email copy for blogger outreach, here are some example emails you can use as a jumping-off point. Find what works for you, personalize it, and make it your own.
Outreach Email for Guest Posts
Guest posts are among the best ways to get a backlink from relevant, high-domain sites. Reach out to web admins running their blogs with this email example:
Subject line: Is {{blog name}} accepting guest posts?
Hey, {{first name}},
I’m {{your name}}, from {{your brand}}. We’ve been doing {{product/serivce}} for {{industry}} for {{x years now}}. I was hoping that {{your brand}} could submit a guest post on {{niche topic}}.
We can leverage our years of experience to write in-depth about:
{{suggestion 1}}
{{suggestion 2}}
{{suggestion 3}}
If this works for you, we can send a sample draft ASAP. We’re also open to writing about topics based on your suggestions.
Let us know if this is something you’re interested in!
Thanks in advance,
{{your name}}
Niche Edit Email Example
Niche edits or link insertions get backlinks for your business’s website without the need for guest posting. All it takes is a link to an anchor text.
To get niche edits, find articles you want to be linked from and ask the web admins for a link insertion using an email copy like this:
Subject line: {{first name}}, we did a case study for {{topic}},
Hey, {{first name}}
{{your name}} here from {{your brand}}. We loved your {{article title}} on {{topic}} and even shared a link to our newsletter subscribers.
We just finished updating case studies for {{sub topic}} that further enforce what you explained in your latest article. I think it could also give a lot of value to your audience.
I’d love for our article to be used as a source. We’re also willing to pay $$$ for a link insertion.
Let me know if this is something you’re interested in.
Thanks in advance,
{{your name}}
Product Review Blogger Outreach Email
Customers trust reviews. Data from Statista suggests that 70% of customers read online reviews before purchasing.
If a blogger with a niche audience reads a review of your product/service, there’s an excellent opportunity to rack in a ton of engagement, brand awareness, and even conversions.
Subject line: Product review request — {{your company}}
Hey, {{first name}},
I’m {{your name}}, from {{your company}}. A friend recommended I check out your {{niche topic}} blog, and I was hooked. Loved your recent article on {{recent topic}}. {{short blurb about what you loved about the topic}}.
{{your company}} has been making products for {{niche}} for {{years}}. We're truly proud of our latest product, {{product name}}. It’s designed to {{benefit 1}}, {{benefit2}}, and {{benefit 3}}.
We’d love your insight on it. Do you do product reviews on request? If so, can you send us a quote for your rates?
Hoping to hear from you soon,
{{your name}}
Product Testimonial Request
If you’re in a niche like SaaS and find businesses that found massive success using your product, that could be a gold mine for user-generated content and social proof.
Chances are they also run blogs to attract prospects. So, why not ask for a product testimonial in their blogs?
Subject line: {{your company}} loves what you’re doing with {{product name}}
Hey, {{first name}},
{{your name}} here from {{your company}}. Thank you so much for using {{product}} to do {{task}}. Your success inspires us to continue to improve.
We’d like to ask if there is any possibility for a collaboration between {{your company}} and {{prospect’s company}}? Maybe a guide, review, or testimonial on our product?
We can offer {{your offer}} for {{your terms}}.
Let me know if this is something that interests you.
Best regards,
{{your name}}
Sponsorship Email for Bloggers
Sponsoring bloggers strengthens your relationship with them. They become ambassadors of your brand, and you gain the support of their loyal following. Try out this template for a sponsorship email for bloggers:
Subject line: {{your company}} wants to sponsor {{blog name}}
Hey, {{first name}},
{{your name}} here from {{your company}}. We absolutely love your blog. We’ve been a huge fan since we were introduced to your content {{x years}} ago.
{{your company}} shares your passion for {{topic}} and we’d love an opportunity to collaborate. I’ve attached our proposal letter for a sponsorship post. Here’s a quick rundown: {{summary of sponsorship details}}.
Hope to hear from you soon,
{{your name}}
Key Takeaways
Bloggers can provide a lot of value to any business. You just need to find relevant and trustworthy blogs to reach out to. The best way of doing so is through email marketing. To make the most of your blogger outreach campaigns, consider the following best practices:
- Choose bloggers based on relevancy, type of content, size, and the platforms they use
- Qualify and verify your email list of blogger leads
- Optimize email copy to be engaging, direct, and actionable
- Leverage automation tools and email marketing software to streamline campaigns
For all your email outreach needs, Instantly is the best tool for you. Start scaling your outreach campaigns today! Try Instantly out for free!
