Guest blogging seems to be a popular topic among social media and inbound marketers, but the concept of creating and spreading content across media outlets is nothing new to public relations professionals. The only different between now and then is the number of blogs has given companies more opportunity to strategically connect with people.
We've Been There Done That
EXXON published a series of editorials in the 70′s to influence the oil embargo crisis with remarkable success. “The California HealthCare Foundation generated 55,566,970 media impressions with coverage in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, Reuters, and television and radio broadcast media through California for its Health-e-App.” And, in my overall media strategy for one client, I wrote guest columns as a tactical exercise to interject the company’s thoughts on financial planning into the retail cooperative hardware story industry. In each one of these cases, the approach was successful. EXXON moved policy in the oil industry. The Health-e-App became a hit in California, and my strategy grew my client’s business.
While these organizations used traditional media as a means to publish content, nothing today has changed, save new media. Even that, however, has only added to the media mix, giving companies more options for publishing and a strategic advantage of engaging bloggers with very close knit followers.
That beings me to research which supports earned media largely and I would submit guest blogging too.
What Does the Research Say
To document whether to speak into issues that affect one’s business, research from The Institute for Public Relations found the frequency of media coverage a company received increased sales closure rates. There’s real ROI you can take to the bank.
See (Exploring the Link between Share of Media Coverage and Business Outcomes)
According to the study, a company’s sales force closed deals faster when the organization’s media coverage increased and less likely to do so when coverage decreased. That research is apropos because my hunch is that earning guest blog posts will only enhance other forms of media outreach.
With this information, it should be clear that guest blogging is but one part of a larger media relations strategy that drives sales. That's read ROI you can take to the bank.
Say, however, you want to add guest blogging to a media relations strategy, here's what you need to do next.
Planning Tips for Success
From the research, we can pull a few points that can help your plan incorporate guest blogging into an overall media relations strategy.
- Plan to attack your competition’s weakest link and write goals, objectives and tactics to support.
- Create positive messages that resonate with readers in the weakest link.
- Persevere because you must at least get your message heard seven to 15 times before people begin to recall it.
- Set goals against outcomes and focus on media where exposure is most likely to happen.
- Measuring your results in isolation won’t yield much useful information, rather measure your share against the competition.
- Be precise in your evaluation and measure against objectives.
- Measure over and over again.
Now you know why this stuff is important, here's what you should be reading to learn about guest blogging.
Guest Blogging Tips From the Masters
While I have made the case of guest blogging as part of a larger media relations strategy, that’s not much help unless you’re equipped to act on it. Right? In the list below, I have brought together the very best in current thought on guest blogging best practices, which includes a comprehensive article explaining the right way to pitch bloggers.
- Guest Blogging — What You’re Doing Wrong
- The Essentials of Guest-Blogging Strategy for SEO, Traffic, and Audience-Building
- Guest Blogging Strategies – Whiteboard Friday
- Guest Blogging vs. Guest Posting – Imagine A World Without Links
- Content Marketing Strategy: 3 Steps to Avoid a Guest Blogging Fail
- How to Write the Perfect Outreach Email: The 9-Step Script for Emailing Busy People
- Link Building Through Guest Blogging in 2013
This only scratches the surface of guest blogging. There’s much more to think about and do to make guest blogging successful, such as creating a message platform, understanding the art of pitching, how to create and use an editorial calendar, knowing when to send a press release, and how to write one.
If you need help developing a media relations program that incorporates guest blogging and drives sales, please contact me.
