The rise of digital as a premier means of communication, rapid adoption of mobile, growing penetration of the internet, and changing consumer behavior are just a few of the factors that drastically changed the concept, practices, and modes of marketing.
Guest blogging and blogger outreach are just two of those tactics that modern marketers employ to gain brand visibility, website traffic, business exposure, and qualified leads. If you are looking for a steady way to achieve your marketing results, these channels could prove to be very beneficial.
Before we jump to the core topic – explaining the difference between blogger outreach and guest blogging, let’s first understand the basics. If you’re new to digital marketing or outreach, this should help you understand the core concept and build the foundations.
Guest Blogging:
Guest blogging is a practice where you take advantage of a third-party website’s visibility and traffic. You write an article on the subject of your mutual consent and post it as a guest on someone else’s blog. Here, you’re relying on their blog to pass on some traffic, leads, and potential customers to your websites.
Guest blogging has several potential advantages for the business and writer. It not only helps in attracting traffic to your site but also helps in building a relationship with good industry players. A strong network with guest blogging platforms is a must-have for businesses in 2018.
Why does Guest Blogging Matter?
Several surveys and industry reports endorse the importance of guest blogging for businesses. Several businesses were able to grow their traffic by over 100% simply by posting relevant content on authority websites.
This is the reason 65 percent of marketers aim to increase their use of guest blogging in 2018.
According to HubSpot’s Demand Generation report, a customer 47 percent of buyers check three to five pieces of content before engaging with a company’s sales rep. Over 60 percent of consumers feel positive about a brand or company after reading their content. On the writing side, 64 percent of marketing professionals outsource blog writing or hire a guest writer to write their content.
However, despite this wider utility and business advantage, just 6% of the bloggers publish the majority of their original content as guest posts.
Advantages of Guest Blogging:
Guest blogging offers several advantages to the business.
Brand Exposure: Since you are leveraging the power of an already-built brand, guest blogging enables you to promote your product or service through a known site. It also builds your brand as a writer, an authority on a particular subject and niche.
Backlinks: Link building is a known marketing activity that helps businesses attract higher and better rankings in search engines – a key SEO tactic. With the help of guest blogging, you can attract good links to your website, helping it to rank higher.
Personal Brand: If you wish to be known within your niche as an authority, guest blogging offers you numerous advantages. A regular contributor to the known blogs you can post regularly
Blogger Outreach
Blogger outreach is part of the same process – content marketing. However, it has a different way of getting your content posted on other sites. Here, you reach out and engage bloggers to write about you or your business, educating the audience (favorably) about opting for your product or service.
However, the ultimate goal is the same as you aspire to get your content posted on third-party sites, get some quality backlinks, and attract referral traffic – or probably some marketing-qualified leads.
Since it is a pure business deal, you have to provide some compensation to the writer/blogger in return. Some companies compensate bloggers in monetary terms while others offer them discounted or free products or subscriptions. Whatever option you choose, it has to be a win-win for both parties in the business.
Blogger outreach is a perfect marketing choice for businesses and people who cannot write well but aim to get visibility and attraction taking advantage of someone else’s repute, credibility, and writing skills.
Mix with Influencer Marketing
In more recent times, another term ‘influencer marketer’ has seen making headlines, but with a little deeper meaning. Many experts believe it is the new name for blogger outreach, but we tend to disagree a little here. While it is true that blogger outreach is part of influencer marketing, the word influencer has a wider meaning. Any individual who can stimulate the buying behavior or attract the target audience is called an influencer. He or she can be a celebrity, a leading business icon, a blogger, or a social media activist.
Why does Blogger Outreach Matter?
Blogger outreach helps businesses convey their message, enhance their market reach, and create a buzz for the target audience. When you are working with a website and want your content to be posted there, it becomes quite a headache, sometimes.
First of all, you have to do a lot of research on the subject and prepare the blog copy. Once the copy is there, the next stage is to get it approved by the editors of the targeted publication. The whole process can take weeks if not months.
Conversely, blogger outreach is less painful. All you have to do is to hire a reliable blogger and negotiate better engagement. Due to the ease, blogger outreach and influencer marketing are gaining more popularity.
- If Google trends and keywords analysis are believed, interest in influencer marketing and outreach has increased by 90x since 2013.
- Collective Bias conducted a survey involving over 14000 respondents, and the survey revealed that 30 percent of the consumers are more likely to buy a product or service recommended by a non-celebrity blogger as they take their opinion authentic.
- 70 percent of millennial consumers are influenced by the recommendations of their peers in buying decisions.
- Influencer marketing delivers 11 times more ROI as compared to other digital channels
- 49 percent of people make their business decisions following advice from authority bloggers and influencers.
- 75 percent of marketing professionals plan to allocate more budget for influencer marketing in 2018.
The listed statistics indicate key market trends, highlighting the wider adoption of blogger outreach, and the steady rise of influencer marketing.
Advantages of the Blogger Outreach
Blogger outreach has several advantages for businesses.
Qualified Leads: When you have an influencer talking about your business or product, it helps you in attracting a qualified audience who may turn out to be potential customers. Influencers’ ability to drive qualified leads is a proven fact, and global marketers opt for it.
Brand Awareness: If your brand is unknown and you hire a blogger who has a huge following, he/she can help in creating brand awareness. Particularly, if the audience is very close to your target market, the chances of success turn even brighter.
Quality Content: 47 percent of marketers agree that creating quality content is their number one challenge, and they are constantly short of producing enough food for thought. With the help of blogger outreach, you can find a good stream of quality content.
What is the Difference?
Now, that we have understood the basics of blogger outreach and guest posting, let us move to the next stage – finding the difference between the two.
While both are excellent marketing channels, you need to define your goal and end objective. If you wish to be known, as a blogger and authority on the subject, then guest blogging should be your top priority. It will not only help you improve your digital exposure but also help in networking and PR.
However, if you are not much focused on building your brand as an authority blogger, or do not have enough time and resources, then outreach is a better option.
The rest of the advantages – like, backlinks, traffic, business leads, downloads, etc. are the same and can be achieved in both channels. Yes, the cost might be a bit different as some websites offer free guest posting, but outreach is not free of cost.
If we compare the advantages, outreach is best when you don’t want the audience to divide attention between the company and writer, and want them to focus purely on the message or product being propagated. Conversely, the case of guest blogging is slightly different where you aspire to attract attention towards both – the brand and the writer.
While both are good options if your brand is endorsed by an already established name, an authority blogger, or an influencer, they serve the core purpose much better. However, we cannot say what is more suitable for your business, because every use case is different. Experience and trends analysis can help you make a better choice. Maybe you could choose to work with both and divide your budget and effort accordingly. Outreach is more suitable if you are looking for business results and don’t have time to write the content etc.
Tips for Success
Just like any other business function, outreach has certain best practices to succeed. Generally, when we participate in these networks – guest blogging or outreach, we assume that since we are reaching out, they will accept the request, which is a wrong assumption. Just because someone is receiving free content or some money, doesn’t guarantee that your end goal will be achieved.
To increase the likelihood that your prospect accepts the offer, you must start building a network quite ahead of your actual business transaction. You can do this by adding them on LinkedIn, following them on Twitter, commenting on their blogs, sharing their articles, and giving them random feedback on the quality of their content. When you show engagement like that, it’ll attract their attention – and you’ll be on their radar.
Secondly, one size fits all does not work in any business communication, particularly email. Just like quality email marketing, personalize your message to them. Typical emails like “Dear Editor” or “Dear Webmaster” will not work unless you specifically name the person (visible) you’re reaching out to. Similarly, show that you actually care about their business, like their writing style, and look forward to a lasting business relationship that helps both parties. Emphasis on mutual benefits will allow them to be comfortable with your request.
Tertiary, Never offer money in the first email or beforehand. This is something that some people dislike a lot, and you may end up with a modest shut-up call. As we suggested before, you can simply write them an email about how you found them and what you like about their writings or blogs. Then you can ask them what it takes to get a (favorable) post published for your business, and instead of asking for the price, ask for requirements. When you talk about the requirements, it shows the prospective blogger that you care about them.
The fourth suggestion is equally vital – and many people ignore ending up with frustration. Always ensure that your blog/guest post offer is fit for their blog. If you are selling auto parts or smartphone apps, and you reach out to a pet blog, will they show interest? Moreover, before you suggest an idea or post, make sure the topic is fit for the site and has not been covered extensively before. If you come up with an innovative angle or pitch some unique idea, the chances of success (Particularly in guest posting) turn brighter.
Last but not least – if you find it hard to reach the posting/outreach guidelines and follow them accordingly, or you do not enjoy a good network of bloggers, simply hire blogger outreach services. Since outreach service providers have a good network of bloggers for every niche, they can get you instantly posted on several high-quality and authoritative websites. Moreover, they have expert writers on their panel, giving you complete relaxation.
At MagFellow, we have been serving clients across various niches with an expert team of writers and bloggers. We understand your business needs and will recommend a list of blogs that suit them the most. In addition, since we have a very diverse network of bloggers, you can get yourself posted on authority websites and magazines like Forbes and Huffington Post. Get in touch with our customer support, and let us satisfy your concerns with samples.
