Blogger Outreach for Tourism: How to build successful relationships

Tourism industry professionals, both do-it-yourself marketers and public relations agencies, have a hard time figuring out the best way to reach out and build successful relationships with bloggers.

As both bloggers and social media professionals, we’ve been on both sides of the playing field – doing the outreach and destinations/brands reaching out to us – which has helped us gain a very clear understanding of what to do and what not to do. Now we’re here to help you!

Here are a few tried-and-true best practices to build mutually successful relationships with bloggers:

Send a personalized introduction email

Adding a blogger to your mailing list without permission is not only considered bad manners, but you’re missing out on an opportunity to build a more personal and effective relationship. Instead, write a personal email to the blogger introducing yourself, your company, and how you found out about their blog (go ahead, butter ‘em up!).  Tell them you’d really appreciate the opportunity to occasionally send them information about your destination that might be of interest to their audience. Then ASK if you can add them to their mailing list.

Make genuine comments on blog posts

Bloggers take pride in their writing and love comments and creating conversation surrounding their blog posts. You can win a blogger over by becoming a regular visitor to their website and leaving genuine comments or participating in the conversation. Make your own ‘Blogger Outreach’ list and take the time to visit these sites at least once a month.

Update… Personally

Know this: Many bloggers receive a dozen or more press releases and story pitches per day. Most are intimately titled “Dear Blogger” or “Dear Ms. <name of blog>” or simply “Dear <space left blank>,” or most without anything at all. If you’d like to set yourself apart and build successful relationships with key bloggers, try personally touching base with updates. Although it might take a bit of extra time, you’ll find the success rate far outweighs the extra time you have spent building a solid relationship.

Create a VIP blogger program with perks

Create a VIP blogger program that gets people talking about your destination. Grab some top-notch bloggers who already love your destination and allow them to help you spread the word.

One example is Mexico Today, a joint public and private sector initiative designed to help promote Mexico as a tourist destination. A diverse group of talented bloggers offer their own opinions and experiences about everyday life in Mexico.  Writers, of course, are compensated for any content created on their blogs for Mexico Today. In addition, dynamic Mexico Today Twitter and Facebook accounts help to promote Mexico as an amazing destination.

Contest Time: You be the judge!

Are you running an online contest to see who has the best vacation photo? Do you need a few judges? Enlist your favorite travel bloggers!

This is a win-win situation for both the blogger and destination… you’ll both gain exposure and get to know a broader audience. Earlier this year, iExplore announced a Photo Safari Contest for the chance to win a $9000 Classic Kenya Safari. Judges were accomplished photo journalists and bloggers. Remember, it’s about cross-promoting for maximum exposure.

Add bloggers to your social media profiles

Do you use your Facebook profile for business? Do you have Twitter or LinkedIn accounts? Consider connecting with key travel bloggers on various social media platforms to build relationships. This is a great way to keep in touch without the hassle of email and know what’s going on in their lives. It’s relationship building.

(Photo credit: Source Blogger, skitch, ScentTrailMarketing, BlogCDN)