Do’s & Don’ts of Blogger Outreach

With influencer marketing getting more and more popular, almost 60% of fashion and beauty brands have a strategy, while a further 21% plan to invest in it over the next 12 months. The reason why influencer campaigns show such great results, is that valued bloggers and influencers have the same effect as family and friends. Their followers can identify with them and trust their opinion, and are actively looking for inspiration on social channels when it comes to fashion, beauty and lifestyle. A recent Google study found that 70% of teenagers who follow YouTubers and Bloggers “relate more to those than to traditional celebrities”, which means that they pay more attention to what the influencers says, does and wears, than to ads. Traditional ads are getting ignored, while influencer are the ones they get ‘inspired’ from when it comes to what to buy. This offers many opportunities for brands, by promoting their products in a more natural way.

If you think that influencer marketing is the right thing for your brand, you should start thinking about what kind of influencers are similar to your customers. Factors such as gender, age, demographic and personal preference play a big role in this process. These are important to specify upfront to get the most from your budget.

Our infographic shows the main Do’s and Dont’s when working with influencers to get the most from your collaborations. Let’s have a look at the Do’s and Dont’s that lead to a successful influencer campaign.

Infographic by Hind Hassan

DO’s

• Be on-brand
  The variety of bloggers is as wide as the brands we work with. To choose the right blogger for your collaboration and brand, it’s important to target the right audience, but also to make sure that the content of the campaign is in line with the message of the brand marketing and philosophy. This is essential when it comes down to brand values, which could be a mismatch with those of the influencer.

• Build relationships
  Not only you, but also the bloggers you work with, will benefit from a long-term relationship. It’s important to get to know each other– ideally in person – in order to understand what the expectations are from both sides. Once you’ve found a blogger that represents your brand and understands your values, you should hold on to those, as it’s easier and more cost-efficient to maintain a good relationship, rather than to search and outreach to new bloggers. This, can be very time-consuming if you are looking for influencers that are both on-brand and willing to work to your budget.

• Stand out
  To be able to meet the two points above, research is required before outreaching, but also during and after the campaign. Create personalised outreach emails, taking into account the blogger’s personal life and recent blog posts and interacting with their content. The easiest way to do this is to follow the blogger you are working with (or planning to work with) on their social channels and to react to big events such as achieving specific goals, engagements, birthdays etc., by congratulating them via email or even sending a small gift if this is within the budget. Make sure these are always personal e.g. adding a hand-written card. To gather personal informational about a blogger is important. However, you should consider the working culture and communication that exists in the country the blogger is living in. Bloggers in other countries might be used to a more formal or informal approach. Another way to stand out, which might sound unusual is to help the blogger with any SEO questions or to point out errors on the website, don’t only ask for work, but work with them in order cultural to build partnerships. Build friendships, rather than just partnerships!

• Set deadlines
  To avoid disappointment it’s essential to set deadlines right from the beginning. The expected date for the blog post should ideally appear in one of the first outreach-emails, to prevent planning in too much detail when the scheduled deadline can’t be met. Especially when it comes to campaigns where many bloggers are involved or cross-referring to multiple blogs is involved, communication and good planning are key.

• Measure
  Even when revenue and sales are not necessarily the main-focus of blogger campaigns, it is still important to measure the effect of every campaign, to calculate the ROI and be able to estimate the potential impact of future campaigns. The easiest way of doing this is to track implemented links in each blog post. This also needs to be communicated with the blogger at the beginning of the outreaching process. Tracking links can be created with tools such as Campaign URL Builder.

DON’TS

• Connection
  As mentioned above, qualitative outreaching can be time-consuming and therefore, costly. Therefore it is important to maintain contact with bloggers who are a good match for the brand and are easy to work with. Always look for different options and varieties, but keep in touch with bloggers you’ve worked with before. You will realise quickly that they know the brand’s expectations and the work procedure, making every new collaboration easier than the last.

• Numbers
  High numbers of followers on social channels will help to reach a large audience. However, don’t be blinded by a high number of followers on social media, as this is not necessarily an indicator of quality content. Make sure to check each blog’s DA and ensure that there isn’t any spammy content.

• Too many rules
  Before starting any campaign, we tend to have a very precise picture of the intended outcome. Although bloggers might have a slightly different concept in mind, as long as the main objective doesn’t get lost, this is the right way to create authentic content which reflects the blogger’s style and point of views. Trust the bloggers you have chosen and don’t set too many rules to maintain authenticity.

• Burden
  To ensure long-term relationship and a smooth campaign, it’s best to be well prepared before starting any campaign and organise as many things as possible upfront. Don’t burden the blogger with ordering processes or time-consuming phone calls with suppliers. Make sure that the collaboration is as easy as possible for the blogger you are working with.

• Overstuff
  As mentioned above, the aim is to make the collaboration as smooth as possible. To make it easier to understand what the campaign is about, don’t overload your emails with unnecessary information. Concentrate on the key data to make sure that the essential information doesn’t get missed.

As you can see, there are lots of different things to consider before, while and after approaching the blogger. However, these are likely to vary between different bloggers and different countries. In my experience, German bloggers particularly prefer a personal approach, whether that’s phone/video calls or even a face-to-face meeting, where they can get all their questions answered. French bloggers on the other hand, prefer email contact, allowing them to come back to you when it’s suitable for them. This is just an example of a cultural difference, so whenever you start outreaching for a new market, it’s important to carry out enough research and approach the situation without any preconceptions about other markets you’ve worked with.

Sources:
https://www.statista.com/topics/2496/influence-marketing/
https://econsultancy.com/blog/67443-eight-influencer-marketing-stats-for-fashion-beauty-brands
https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/youtube-stars-influence/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhall/2016/04/17/the-influencer-marketing-gold-rush-is-coming-are-you-prepared/#5183931834fb