The PR BlogDigital PRInfluencers & AudiencesHow To Write a Blogger Outreach Email (Including Two Scripts)

How To Write a Blogger Outreach Email (Including Two Scripts)

The elements of pitching with grace.

Cover photo: @jerrysilfwer

How to write a blog­ger out­reach email? 

Is there a sci­ence to blog­ger out­reach? Well, I don’t recom­mend using ready-to-go scripts. As a blog­ger, some­how, you can always feel when someone’s pitch­ing you cold with a gen­er­ic copy-and-paste template. 

Pitching blog­gers require lots of work, but I recom­mend writ­ing indi­vidu­al emails. It’s worth the effort.

Here we go:

I. Blogger Outreach Email: What To Include

I have this PR check­list for writ­ing blog­ger out­reach emails. I don’t use it to be sly or in any way to auto­mate my writ­ing, rather I use it to ensure I don’t miss a beat.

These are the com­pon­ents I strive to include:

(Always Include) Honesty

I make sure to express hon­esty. Saying some­thing nice about anoth­er person’s work is polite, and if I can’t think of any­thing hon­est to say, then I shouldn’t be pitch­ing that par­tic­u­lar blogger.

(Always Include) Purpose

I try to state my pur­pose in one sen­tence pretty early on. No super­lat­ives here — I try to keep it plain and descriptive.

(Always Include) Incentive

What’s in it for the blog­ger? The incent­ive is the most cru­cial but is strangely also the most often for­got­ten. I will make sure to be clear about the details here.

(Always Include) Recognition

There’s a reas­on I’m con­tact­ing the blog­ger. We both know that. Therefore, I think it’s essen­tial that I, who ini­ti­ated the con­tact, also acknow­ledge the blogger.

(Always Include) Call-To-Action

Many try to sell soft, hop­ing the blog­ger will know what to do without expli­citly stat­ing it. I nev­er try to hide my sales pitch. Instead, I strive to be clear about what I’m asking.

Read also: The Honeymoon Outreach PR Strategy: Influencer Relations 2.0

II. Example: Blogger Outreach Email Script

This is a made-up example of how I would pitch a blog­ger writ­ing about interi­or design:

Blogger Outreach Email Script - Template
The essen­tial com­pon­ents of a blog­ger out­reach email.

If you include these five ele­ments and strive to keep each part down to one or two sen­tences, you should be able to cov­er the basics. Some prefer to write even short­er pitch emails, but you might risk com­ing off as too blasé if you take that approach too far.

These ele­ments can appear in any order. See, for example, this fol­low-up email example:

III. Example: Blogger Outreach Follow-Up Script

Here’s anoth­er made-up example of how I would do a fol­low-up out­reach to the same blogger:

Blogger Outreach Follow-Up Script - Template
The thank-you email is often forgotten.

Read also: How To Craft the Perfect PR Pitch: A Step-by-Step Guide

IV. Find Your Personal Pitching Style

I try to stay true to my ton­al­ity and pitch­ing style. I don’t try to imit­ate any­one or write as young­er or older because I think it’s essen­tial to pitch with integrity.

However, I mix it up quite a bit between form­al and inform­al. In some cases, I’m “all busi­ness,” and in oth­ers, a lot more per­son­al — depend­ing on the context.


Please sup­port my blog by shar­ing it with oth­er PR- and com­mu­nic­a­tion pro­fes­sion­als. For ques­tions or PR sup­port, con­tact me via jerry@​spinfactory.​com.

PR Resource: How To Categorise Influencers

Lisah Silfwer Taking Photo of the Camera
As an influ­en­cer, you’re the work of art.

Influencers in Public Relations

In PR, influ­en­cers are indi­vidu­als who have man­aged to grow a sub­stan­tial audi­ence which has the poten­tial to affect a spe­cif­ic organ­isa­tion either pos­it­ively or negatively.

It’s there­fore import­ant to estab­lish and main­tain good rela­tion­ships with influ­en­cers who are stra­tegic­ally import­ant for the organisation.

I recom­mend using the fol­low­ing tiers and nam­ing con­ven­tions for cat­egor­ising dif­fer­ent types of influencers:

  • Nano influ­en­cer. Nano influ­en­cers are indi­vidu­als with a small yet engaged fol­low­ing, typ­ic­ally between 1,000 and 10,000 fol­low­ers (but this will vary based on both the plat­form and the niche), often focus­ing on niche interests and hav­ing a sol­id per­son­al con­nec­tion with their audience.
  • Micro influ­en­cer. Micro influ­en­cers have a mod­er­ately sized audi­ence, ran­ging from 10,000 to 50,000 fol­low­ers (but this will vary based on the plat­form and the niche). They are known for their expert­ise in spe­cif­ic fields or indus­tries, lead­ing to high­er engage­ment rates and a loy­al fanbase.
  • Macro influ­en­cer. Macro influ­en­cers pos­sess a more sig­ni­fic­ant fol­low­ing, usu­ally between 50,000 and 1 mil­lion fol­low­ers (but this will vary based on the plat­form and the niche). They have estab­lished them­selves as influ­en­tial fig­ures in their respect­ive fields, often col­lab­or­at­ing with brands for pro­mo­tions and partnerships.
  • Mega influ­en­cer. Mega influ­en­cers are high-pro­file indi­vidu­als with over 1 mil­lion fol­low­ers (but this will vary based on the plat­form and the niche), often includ­ing celebrit­ies and pub­lic fig­ures, who have a massive reach and can shape trends and drive con­sumer beha­viour on a large scale.

Learn more: The Influencers in Public Relations

PR Resource: Influencer Marketing vs Influencer Relations

Influencer Marketing vs Influencer Relations

There are four main types of influ­en­cer mar­ket­ing and influ­en­cer relations:

Influencer Marketing

Influencer advert­ising = The influ­en­cer will pub­lish the brand’s pre-made con­tent in their channels.

Influencer spon­sor­ship = The influ­en­cer will read a script to con­vey an offer­ing fol­low­ing the brand’s instructions.

Influencer Relations

Influencer col­lab­or­a­tion = The influ­en­cer show­cases the brand’s offer­ing by cre­at­ing con­tent sim­il­ar to the influ­en­cer­’s reg­u­lar content.

Influencer out­reach = The influ­en­cer receives invit­a­tions, demos, or exclus­ive mater­i­al with no ser­vice in return asked by the brand.

Advertising and spon­sor­ships are what we typ­ic­ally refer to as influ­en­cer mar­ket­ing. Collaborations and out­reach are typ­ic­ally referred to as influ­en­cer rela­tions.

Organisations look­ing to util­ise the poten­tial reach of rel­ev­ant influ­en­cers will be wise to pay atten­tion to these dis­tinc­tions. 1See also The Influencers in Public Relations (Doctor Spin).

Learn more: The Four Types of Influencer Marketing and Influencer Relations

ANNOTATIONS
ANNOTATIONS
1 See also The Influencers in Public Relations (Doctor Spin).
Jerry Silfwer
Jerry Silfwerhttps://doctorspin.net/
Jerry Silfwer, alias Doctor Spin, is an awarded senior adviser specialising in public relations and digital strategy. Currently CEO at KIX Index and Spin Factory. Before that, he worked at Kaufmann, Whispr Group, Springtime PR, and Spotlight PR. Based in Stockholm, Sweden.

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Get influencer outreach right by knowing the four types of influencer marketing. In this blog article, I've clearly defined them to mitigate confusion.
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