“We’d like to work with local bloggers but I’m not sure how to find them.” “I don’t know if we’d get value from our local bloggers” “I’d prefer to work with a blogger from London/America/Mars – anywhere other than someone I know …” OK, I’m paraphrasing that last one but these are some of the statements that bloggers hear a lot. It’s not just in the Tourism Industry that this applies but across the board, from fashion, to food, life-style, family etc. However, things are changing rapidly …
At the Social Travel Britain Conference 2016, I was asked to give a talk on working with local bloggers and tips to the audience of Tourism Industry and fellow bloggers, or ‘Digital Influencers‘ as we are apparently called now. Having spent many years living and working in the North West, I’ve built up a strong network of clients and contacts. In the presentation I shared Case Studies from 3 clients in Cumbria; the Good Life Cottage Company, Kendal Festival of Food and an Arts initiative, Lakes Culture. All of these involved at least one blog post plus social media sharing and have been paid campaigns, part of the client’s overall marketing strategy.
I also shared some top tips on how to collaborate more closely with local bloggers, which can apply to all types of ‘influencers’ from whatever sector.
Top Tips for working with Local Bloggers
1. Identify the specific niche/area you want to focus on
2. Plan ahead to include bloggers/digital specialists in projects
3. Find out who your local bloggers are
4. Research the bloggers to ensure they meet YOUR needs
5. Select bloggers appropriate to sector, demographic, interest
6. Budget appropriately for a blog trip or blogger involvement
7. Be clear (and realistic) about what you want from the blogger
8. Agree content/output/timelines and manage expectations
9. Promote content created by bloggers via ALL media
10. Focus on long-term relationship-building
View the Slideshare presention ‘Going Local: working with the Travel Blogger on your doorstep’ . If you’ve any questions do get in touch here.
If you’re looking for local bloggers and not sure how to find them, try Twitter and Facebook as we usually hang out there. Put out a request with #hashtag of your area ie #bristol #travel #bloggers and ask them to contact you. Google your area name and the sector you are lookking for ie ‘norwich food bloggers’. Ask other marketing/PR people near you.
Great post Zoe – very much enjoyed the presentation and hope your local companies appreciate the great work you are doing promoting Cumbria and the Lakes.
Thanks Heather. It was good to be able to share some learning from working locally and hopefully these tips will enable closer, more effective collaboration between bloggers and clients in future.
Good that you are sharing these tips – hope it helps with business
We have first hand experience of working with The Quirky Traveller and know from this that the Top Tips really do work. Sharing a passion for our local area makes the rest easy. Find your local blogger today!
It’s a pleasure working with you Natalie and hopefully sharing some tips from our collaboration will encourage others to look more closely at working with local ‘digital influencers’ 🙂
Thanks John. At this stage in the development of online marketing and the many ways Content Creation can be used, it’s great to be able to discuss how we can share best practice and work together.