One of the hottest forms of marketing to hit the web in the past few years is product reviews on blogs, done by bloggers. The way it works is that a company rep will contact a blog owner and ask if he or she would be interesting in receiving a free copy of the product in exchange for a blog review. The review need not be positive and is usually written with the blog owners own words and opinion. If the blogger likes the product, he or she will state so and if he or she doesn’t like it, this will be stated as well.
Why are these blog reviews so popular? For several reasons, but mostly because it is the new way to reach clusters of people surrounding a specific niche. For example, let’s say you run a travel agency and have a new travel product or service that you wish to get the word out on, what better way to get the word out, then via the (built in) audience of a travel blog. Some travel blogs get hundreds if not thousands of visitors a day and are very well established and popular. These types of blogs will indeed drive traffic and possibly sales your way. But not just any traffic, targeted traffic – the best kind. So with that in mind, if you too wish to avail of the reach and power of blog reviews, then below are a few tips for you.
1. Blogger Outreach Services –
Did you know there are several blogger outreach service providers on the web? These include Tomoson, She Heard and even niche specific providers such as Latina Bloggers Connect. Each one of these companies connects a product with a blogger. I personally have received the following from several companies to review on one of my blogs – Halloween costumes, bottle openers, pain creams, slippers, Kindle Fire cases, and so on. All with the intent of getting me to try them and write about them on my site. If you seek a blogger to review your product, connect with one of the companies mentioned above and they will hook you up.
2. Try A Google Search –
To find a niche blogger to review your product, try a search on Google. This is what you would type in the search field, your niche + blog. So for example, if you seek a beauty blogger then type in “beauty blog” – usually one of the top results will be a popular blog, otherwise why would it be listed in Google on page one for that term. You can and should however still do your due diligence and look for an established and active blog, which you do by looking at several things – the comment section, their Facebook and Twitter accounts and their traffic stats. After you have come across a beauty blogger you want to do business with, send them an email via their contact page. Let them know that you will either; 1. send them a free product for them to try and review or 2. that you will pay them a small fee to write the review. With these two options, you’re more than likely to get a yes from the blog owner.
3. Ask Other Blog Owners –
A good technique for finding niche bloggers is to ask other blog owners. We bloggers know a ton of other bloggers, and if we don’t specifically cover your niche, we are most likely to know someone who does. I know blog owners in a multitude of niches, from finance to eco friendly and home design to travel and everything else in between. I can almost guarantee that I know someone in any and every niche on the web, when it comes to blogs. So just ask me.
