It’s one thing to get an influencer to mention your brand or product. But an even bigger win would be getting them to create content for you, putting their name and reputation on your own site.
But how could you ever make that happen? In this video, Mark and Eric explain why getting an influencer to write for you is valuable and how to do it.
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Transcript
Mark: Everyone’s talking about influencer marketing these days. But usually, they mean by that getting some influencer to mention your brand or your product or even recommend it.
Eric: Right.
Mark: But let’s take it to another level, Eric. Now, what if you wanted to get a real influencer in your market space to write for your site, to actually publish content under your brand? That would be even more challenging, right?
Eric: Right, because the level of commitment is so much higher. Producing an original piece of content takes way more effort than doing a few retweets or giving someone a shoutout. But it’s also way more valuable. When a respected authority publishes on your site, his or her reputation is reflected onto your site.
[Tweet “When a respected authority publishes on your site, his or her reputation is reflected on your brand.”]
Mark: And potentially, they bring a lot of their audience to your site as well.
Eric: Indeed.
How to Get an Influencer to Write for You
Mark: So if it involves a lot more commitment and work for the influencer, it follows that it must be harder to convince them to do it. Now, how do you help our clients to get top influencers and subject-matter experts to write for them?
1. Does the influencer have the time or desire to write for you?
Eric: Well, first, you have to assess whether they have the time or desire to write for other sites. Some are so busy they rarely or never do. And for others, that’s just not their thing.
Mark: So you shouldn’t put all your efforts into reaching out to just one influencer and you should do your homework to know who’s worth targeting.
2. Is writing for you going to help, not hurt, that influencer?
Eric: Yes. Next, you have to ask if writing for your particular site is the best use of their time. An influencer is going to get a lot of requests. You have to be sure that your pitch really stands out. But even more important, the influencer needs to be sure that being on your site won’t damage their reputation. That means you need to get them to know you and your brand before you reach out to them so they’ll have a feel for you and come to trust you, and they’ll feel safe being associated with you.
Mark: And I’d imagine that they not only want to be sure being on your site won’t hurt them, they also want to know if it will help them in some way.
3. Clearly express the value of writing for you to the influencer.
Eric: Exactly. They’ll want to know what’s in it for them. I know that sounds like point number two, about the best use of their time, but this goes beyond that. You need to include a clear statement of the value to the influencer. What audience will they be exposed to that would be helpful to them? How will the post be promoted, for example?
Mark: Okay, or maybe you could offer to share some compelling data with them that they could use for the content.
Eric: Or sometimes, it might even just be that you can show that you share a lot of the same values or goals. The main thing is that it needs to be a mutually beneficial partnership. The influencer has no doubt that you’ll get something out of it, it’s only fair that they do, too.
Mark: Well, thanks, Eric. Our viewers may want to know that you’ve written an in-depth article on influencer marketing where you offer a number of hacks and tactics that site owners and publishers can use to increase their chances of getting influencers to write for them.
Don’t miss a single episode of Here’s Why. Click the subscribe button below to be notified via email each time a new video is published.
Approaching an industry influencer always seemed like beyond our reach until we came across this article. We actually never gave a serious thought to this marketing strategy. But after reading this it seems quite doable. Again what will be more beneficial – endorsement by celebrity or industry influencer?
That would depend on your type of business and intended audience. For some brands (for example, fashion or sports-oriented brands) a celebrity influencer connection may be valuable. But would someone shopping for business software really care if Kim Kardashian “likes” it? In such cases, having content by (or associated with) a true expert in your field would be a better bet.
Influencers won’t write free. but if you pay them a good money they will write for you. it’s all about MONEY.
Great tips Mark. I think reaching out with the right mindset is key here. But I wanna know, which social media platform do you suggest we optimize and use in reaching out to influencers?
Hi Emmerey, in general, the best platform to reach out to an influencer is the one that they aree most active on. What you need to do is research that, and start building a relationship with them where they are natually active.
Not always the case at all. Sure, there are influencers who will only write for money, but those aren’t the kind we were addressing in this episode. There are plenty of experts and influencers who, if you approach them in the right way with a proposal that brings value to their brand of business, will be happy to write for you, especially if your site has built a good reputation in the same or a crossover industry, and you have an audience that influencer would like to reach.
Actually, Eric and I are great examples of that. We are considered influential in our field, and we’re happy to create or co-create content for free with the right sites that have an audience we would love to reach.
Sounds like a great plan. Thanks Eric for the tip 🙂
That video was hilarious, definitely, I’ll subscribe to your channel.
Reputation, it’s the most valuable thing an influencer got, obviously, they will not endanger it by writing about a questionable brand or pal, there’s got to be a benefit for them, either money or an audience they want to reach by writing about you / your brand.
jajaja so funny 😉
It’s impressive that this article is still relevant today!
Great work.