Wednesday 31 May 2017

Streamline Social Efforts With Instagram & Facebook Ad Comments in the Smart Inbox

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The Complete Guide to Twitter Marketing

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Saturday 27 May 2017

#SproutChat Recap: Incorporating Snark Into Your Social Strategy

In a social-first era, more and more brands are coming out of their shell and becoming a little more brazen in their activity. This brazen behavior often comes with snark and a sense of humor is often referred to as “savage”.

In this week’s #SproutChat, Sprout Social’s Social Media Manager, Darryl Villacorta, shared his thoughts on how brands should converse with their audience and where the future of social media engagement is headed.

Remain Professional & Genuine

Maintaining professionalism on social doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your brand voice. Being funny or entertaining  doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be mean. A good social marketer knows their audience and should be able to connect on social while being genuine.

Consider Your Audience

As n you’re crafting your brand voice, keep your audience front and center. Humor isn’t always universal but friendliness can go a long way. Before you launch into a snarky response, first think about who you’re talking to. Listen to how your audience perceives messages and understand why they’re interacting with your brand.

Always Remain Authentic

Brands that remain authentic and true to their audience are the brands that. Stand out by adding humor and wit without sounding condescending or mean. If your audience is coming to your brand looking for support or help stand out by giving outstanding customer service.

Don’t Feed the Trolls

It’s inevitable that your brand is going to experience a handful of trolls on social. Don’t get caught up in the heat of the moment. Take a step back and weigh the pros and cons of engaging with a troll before you respond.

Everyone in Your Community Is a Potential Customer

Think of any social response as a customer interaction. Publicly shaming your audience should be avoided.

The Future of Social Engagement is Evolving

Marketers know that their industry is always changing and social engagement no different. As our industry evolves, response times may be even faster with the efforts of bots and live-streaming. But one thing that won’t change? Brand consistency.

Join us next Wednesday, May 31 at 2pm CDT for #SproutChat to discuss geolocation on Facebook with Sprout All Star, Jeff Higgins. In the meantime, check out our Facebook community to connect with bright folks in the industry.

This post #SproutChat Recap: Incorporating Snark Into Your Social Strategy originally appeared on Sprout Social.



source https://sproutsocial.com/insights/sproutchat-incorporating-snark/
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5 métodos altamente eficazes de monitoramento de hashtags

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5 métodos efectivos de seguimiento de hashtags

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Wednesday 24 May 2017

7 Legitimate Benefits of Using Facebook Live for Business

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Tuesday 23 May 2017

How to Craft the Best Instagram Bios for Businesses

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Monday 22 May 2017

Know Your Limit: The Ideal Length of Every Social Media Post

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Friday 19 May 2017

#SproutChat Recap: Engaging & Growing an Audience With Hashtags

Hashtags are a powerful way to engage your audience and tap into relevant conversations. However, it can be difficult to determine the type of hashtag to use and how many hashtags are too many. In this week’s #SproutChat we discussed best practices for hashtag usage, particularly when engaging and growing a new audience.

Hashtags Have Different Purposes

Best practices on one social platform don’t apply to all platforms. Your hashtag strategy should reflect this and vary across platforms.

There Are Two Major Types of Hashtags

Brand and community hashtags can help you achieve your goal of growing your audience. But each serves a distinct purpose. Branded hashtags are always specific to a brand and typically contain a business name. Whereas community hashtags are broader and are created and used to allow your content to be easily discoverable. As brands try to strengthen their social communities, both hashtag types can often start to be used more interchangeably.

Grow Your Community & Broaden Your Reach

Hashtags are searchable and allow your brand to reach a wider audience. That’s one of the reasons why unique hashtags are the cornerstones of Twitter chats and Instagram communities. In addition to unique hashtags, create a genuine community by sticking with industry-adjacent hashtags and phrases.

Use Relevant Hashtags & Limit the Amount Used

Try to be strategic about your hashtag usage. Remember that you can get more out of less. Think of hashtags that your audience might be searching for and meet them where they’re at. Another way to find relevant hashtags is to research and benchmark against what your competitors are using.

We’ll be back next week Wednesday, May 24 at 2PM CDT to chat about social media savagery with Sprout Social’s very own Social Media Manager, Darryl Villacorta. In the meantime, network with bright folks within the industry in our #SproutChat Facebook group.

This post #SproutChat Recap: Engaging & Growing an Audience With Hashtags originally appeared on Sprout Social.



source https://sproutsocial.com/insights/growing-an-audience-with-hashtags/
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Thursday 18 May 2017

Product Update: New Bronze Plan Pricing | What You Need to Know

We heard you wanted improved performance, better features, and fewer bugs.

So, over the past couple of months, we worked hard to deliver exactly that.

Now, each year, improvements to the app have been accompanied by a pricing increase.

But this year, we decided to make only a modest increase to our Blogger Plan from $49 to $69, effective May 17, 2017, for new users ONLY, so that we can continue bringing you these needed upgrades, faster, at an affordable price.

Again, the updated pricing is only for new users.

So, if you’re already signed up, then you can continue giving us feedback and enjoying the tool at your current price point.

What’s In It For You?

We have always taken pride in our transparency as a company; so, when we do these pricing adjustments, we want to show you your money’s worth.

Below are some of the new features that you can expect soon.

New NinjaOutreach Features 2017

  • Redesigned Prospect Cards
    We’ve heavily redesigned our prospect cards, and here’s what changed:
    • No more info overload. New prospect cards now only display Location and Email.
      Simplified prospect display
    • If you hover over the card, you can see more information like Profile, Relationships, Sent Emails, and RSS.
      This cleans up the interface while significantly reducing the number of clicks you need to make.
    • You can view and edit your prospect’s information much faster with the now more accessible Edit button.
      Quick Edit Button
    • The search bar for Relationships now features predictive search in the drop-down menu. As you know, we have a set of premade Relationships labels that you can take to manage your prospects.But due to the volume of these labels, it can sometimes be hard to search for and choose one. Now you can start typing directly into the Relationship box like so, and our app will show the closest options. If you find nothing that applies to your project, you can create a new Relationship label by simply typing into the same Relationship bar like so.
    • You can now use the shortcut CTRL/SHIFT + Click to easily select prospects. You can select the entire prospect card (doing so turns the whole card blue) and still do other tasks without the card getting deselected.
  • Server Side Filtering
    • Our search tool can now display ALL the results of a single keyword search instead of just 5k. 
    • For example: Previously, if you made a search and got 2k results, then apply some filters (location, the number of followers, etc) to those, you end up with significantly fewer results.
    • Why? This is because our tool would have filtered ONLY from those 2k results it generated. 
    • So, here’s what we did: we implemented continuous pagination (similar to Google search results display) so you’ll get more comprehensive results from your keyword even after applying a filter.
    • If you search for “marketing” now, you will get over 8k pages with 20 results on each page – that’s about 80k in total!
  • Reactivated Email Notifications
    • We reactivated email notifications to let you know when prospects have replied. You can easily turn this feature on/off in the Settings page.
  • Pulling Message History from Contact Forms
    • In the past, any emails going to and from contact forms get lost.
    • But now, you can track emails you send via Contact Forms.
    • Let’s say you have a prospect that you can only connect with via a contact form. Turning this new feature on will add a reference ID, visible to the recipient (your prospect), at the end of the email template.
    • Once you receive a reply, the app will instantly match that to the correct prospect based on the reference ID, thus allowing you to track email history easily.
  • Redesigned List Management
    • You will notice a few subtle changes to our List Management.
    • When hovered, the list card will change color and display info for the number of emails sent over the total number of emails in the campaign. It should look like this.
    • We repositioned the Create a List button from the end to now appear at the start of the list for more intuitive movement around the app.
    • You can now reorder individual lists according to your preference.
  • Fixed and Reduced Bugs
    • We work hard day and night to maintain a smooth-running app and in April, we reported 50% fewer bugs compared to the previous 3 months.
    • Our goal is to report 66% fewer bugs by June.

New Upcoming Features

We are also working on adding these exciting new features:

  • Redesigned Autosending Experience
    Some updates:
    • We’ve simplified our autosending board to only display the information you need at a glance such as a campaign name and campaign status. No more TMI!
    • You can now see all the steps in the autosending feature to give you better control over the entire process. Previously, the process was largely hidden, feeding you each step one-by-one.
    • We also added a Check Prospects pop-up to allow you to include/exclude prospects with missing fields, unverified or bounced emails, and prospects emailed in past campaigns.
    • Soon, we will also roll out improved segmentation, where you can customize your email campaigns by using more specific placeholders. For example, you can set up something where you can choose to send only to prospects in, say, “List #1”, with the tags “Influencer”, and set a status of “Blogger agreed to share”.
    • You can enable/disable the email verifications feature to avoid disrupting ongoing campaigns. Right now, our email verification feature stops campaigns (without notifying you first) when it detects unverified email addresses. We’re fixing this problem by automatically launching your campaign once the verification is done so you don’t have to worry about doing manual relaunches again.
    • You can now rename your campaigns according to your preference.
  • Segmented Content Prospecting
    • We realized our current Content Prospecting tool is displaying too much information upfront, making it more confusing instead of helpful.
    • We are working to improve the experience. Soon, we will launch more properly segmented searches that are focused on each user’s need.
    • What we’re going to do is divide the search into four categories targeted to each particular case that you might need them for: (1) Finding the most shared content, (2) finding leads, (3) finding promotion opportunities, and (4) finding influencers.
    • The search results, options, and the information on the cards will vary depending on which case you choose. So instead of showing you ALL the info ALL the time, we’ll show you only the results that correspond to your specific use case.
    • For example, if you are looking for “most shared content”, you will receive search results related to most shared topics, most shared websites, etc.
    • Likewise, if you're looking for promotion opportunities, you will receive search results related to guest posting or product reviews, and so on.

We Want to Make Your Life Easier

So there you have it! We hope these new features will help you create more successful campaigns and we are always happy to improve our app to serve you better.

If you still have any questions about these updates, don’t hesitate to drop us a message via our Live Chat!

The post Product Update: New Bronze Plan Pricing | What You Need to Know appeared first on Ninja Outreach.



source https://ninjaoutreach.com/product-update-new-bronze-plan-pricing-need-know/
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Wednesday 17 May 2017

6 Essential Steps to Increase Facebook Organic Reach & Grow Your Audience

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Tuesday 16 May 2017

The Not-So Secret Dangers of Instagram Automation

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Monday 15 May 2017

12 Little Known Instagram Hacks Brands Must Try

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Friday 12 May 2017

#SproutChat Recap: Running an Employee Advocacy Program

Marketers know that a happy and engaged employee can be a brand’s number one advocate. However, it can be difficult to get buy in from executives to run an employee advocacy program.

This week at #SproutChat, Sprout All Star, Jen Kirk of Jenius Consulting joined us to discuss the benefits of a social-first advocacy program and ways to convince leadership that it’s worth the investment. From setting up and rolling out an advocacy program to educating employees on social media best practices, our community offered a wide array of insights on the topic.

Set Employees up for Success

Employee advocates shouldn’t have to work more to spread the word about a brand. Make sure you communicate to employees in a clear and concise way. Social content should always be accessible, shareable and include pre-approved, suggested social copy. The less barriers there are for employees to advocate for their organization, the better.

Educate Teams on Social Media Best Practices

When working in social it can be easy to assume that everyone is as up to speed as you are. By giving employees guidelines and social media best practices, you’re giving them the tools to effectively communicate about your business. Advocates should be consistent in messaging, so provide them with the necessary training and resources.

A Little Recognition Goes a Long Way

Offering incentives or rewards for being an employee advocate can prove to be useful, but try to stray away from using it as motivation for opting into the program. Focus on your community and recognize them for their awesome work and contributions. These moments can help to maintain engagement and also foster new relationships.

Grow Your Program With Consistent Communication

Maintaining a consistent cadence of communication with employees can help keep them engaged, but tapping into your existing base by running referral programs can help grow your community. Once you have buy in from executives to run an employee advocacy program, ask them to lead the pack and highlight their engagement as an advocate.

Join us on Twitter at 2 p.m. CT every Wednesday for #SproutChat. Next week, we’ll discuss all things hashtag from analytics to the difference between branded and community hashtags. In the meantime, network with bright folks within the industry in our #SproutChat Facebook group.

This post #SproutChat Recap: Running an Employee Advocacy Program originally appeared on Sprout Social.



source http://sproutsocial.com/insights/running-employee-advocacy-program/
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5 estadísticas de Instagram que debes conocer

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5 estatísticas do Instagram que você deveria conhecer

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Thursday 11 May 2017

Los 8 básicos para armar tu estrategia de contenido

Sin duda el Content Marketing es una muy buena opción como estrategia en Social Media y sobre todo porque es potente y eficaz. Claro está que se podrá obtener buenos resultados si se tienen los conocimientos necesarios de cómo funciona, y un plan de implementación. Si transmites información sobre lo que vendes y lo haces de forma atractiva, el éxito para la empresa será un objetivo alcanzable.

Durante todos estos años en varias pláticas, reuniones y presentaciones llegué a la conclusión de que siguen pensando que el manejar redes sociales y generar contenido es publicar por publicar, lo primero que nos guste o se nos ocurra. Grave error. Por esa razón muchas empresas fracasan en sus acciones de Social Media.

Al tener que explicar una estrategia a mis clientes, o en la parte de clases/conferencias el proceso para generar una estrategia de contenido (Content Marketing) lo resumo en estos 8 puntos básicos.

 

  1. Objetivos:

El peor error es publicar por publicar y lo primero que se deberá hacer es establecer los objetivos. Sin ellos, no podremos saber qué tipo de estrategia tenemos que generar o si vamos por buen camino.

Para que puedas definir bien tu objetivo te recomiendo usar el método SMART

  • S (Specific) – Específico
  • M (Measurable) – Medible
  • A (Achievable) – Alcanzable
  • R (Realistic) – Realista
  • T (Time-Bound) – Limitado en tiempo

Ejemplos:

  • Aumentar los seguidores de la comunidad
  • Atraer a nuevos clientes potenciales
  • Obtener una base de datos de suscriptores al boletín

 

  1. Definir las metas

A pesar de que se puede ver igual que los objetivos, no lo es.

Ejemplo:

Un objetivo: Aumentar la comunidad de seguidores en Facebook

La meta: Obtener 250 nuevos seguidores al mes

 

  1. Audiencia de tu contenido

Una gran parte de las estrategias de contenido de marketing implica conocer realmente a tu audiencia. Hazte preguntas sobre tu target: ¿Qué edad tiene?,¿dónde está?, ¿qué le interesa?, ¿cómo encuentra tu contenido?, ¿a qué hora interactúa? Necesitas entenderlo, que le gusta y en que tono le tendrás que hablar.

 

  1. Definición de estrategias y tipos de contenido

Esta es la parte más interesante. Tener objetivos y ver cómo le vamos a hacer para cumplirlos y sobre todo, el desarrollar las tácticas para lograrlos.

Ejemplo:

La estrategia será generar contenido gratuito para incrementar la base de datos. El tipo de contenido podría ser: ebooks, plantillas, tutoriales, entrevistas, infografías, etc.

 

  1. Medios a usar

Dependiendo del tipo de contenido y la estrategia podrás definir los medios y cuáles deberás usar. Las más comunes son: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn.

 

  1. Calendario Editorial

Recomiendo crear un calendario editorial para programar todos los contenidos por tipo, fecha y dónde serán publicados. Esto se debe hacer pensando estratégicamente y analizando cuidadosamente el contenido que se ajuste más con cada tipo de red social.

 

  1. Definir métricas

De nada sirve el hacer todo un plan de contenido de inicio a fin si no vas a medir tus resultados. Por lo tanto, con base en el plan de objetivos, metas y calendario editorial, debes establecer tus KPIs.

Ejemplo:

Un objetivo: Aumentar la comunidad de seguidores en Facebook

La meta: Obtener 250 nuevos seguidores al mes

KPI: Nuevos seguidores

 

  1. Medición de resultados

Finalmente, después de haber ejecutado tu estrategia durante el tiempo predeterminado, analiza detalladamente las estadísticas para ver lo que funcionó y lo que no funcionó. Para esto, te recomiendo hacer un análisis a fondo de las métricas generadas por los contenidos publicados.

 

Sobre el punto número 4, donde tendrás que desarrollar los contenidos te comparto algunos consejos:

Planifica tu contenido de acuerdo con objetivos

Recuerda que generar contenido no es una actividad que debe dejarse al azar. El contenido debe ser un proceso planificado y, sobre todo, seguir los objetivos de comunicación establecidos para la marca y acorde a las plataformas en que se va a publicar. Planificar no quiere decir que seas inflexible. En el proceso mensual de tu calendarización puedes tener lanzamientos, eventos e inclusive eventualidades que deberás cubrir y postear. Hazlo sin modificar la línea comunicacional.

 

Crea contenido de valor y “compartible”

Sabes bien que un contenido sin valor y que no es compartido difícilmente tendrá el alcance que buscas. Comienza identificando qué contenido será interesante para tu segmento de mercado objetivo. Después plantéate qué plataformas y herramientas les vas a dar a tus contenidos para ser vistos y compartidos. El contenido compartido crea conciencia de marca, incrementa el ROI y multiplica tu base de seguidores. El contenido de valor es el centro mismo de una presencia online efectiva.

 

No todas las plataformas son iguales. Crea contenido para cada una

Es un hecho comprobado que cada plataforma funciona de forma diferente, los mensajes que son efectivos en una red social, tal vez no lo sean en otra diferente. A veces no es tan sencillo hacerlo, pero vale la pena no tomar el camino fácil de enlazar tus redes sociales para replicar contenido. Dale a tus usuarios motivos para seguirte en cada red. No lo harán si no encuentran diferencia entre una y otra. Recuerda también -y es una consideración básica- que cada plataforma tiene su propio código y cada comunidad es diferente.

 

No aburras a tu audiencia, diversifica el contenido

Seguro te ha pasado si sigues alguna marca en alguna red. Dejas de seguirla por lo repetitivo y aburrido de su contenido. Lo conveniente es que desarrolles estrategias para diversificar tu contenido, de modo que puedas permanecer relevante sin aburrir a tu audiencia. En este punto es recomendable recurrir al storytelling que se adapta perfectamente a las redes sociales pues consigue apelar al lado emocional de las personas, generando una relación de confianza y fidelidad hacia la marca.

 

Publica de forma constante y consistente

Apóyate en el punto número 6, en el calendario editorial donde establezcas los días que vas a publicar un nuevo post. Una vez que sabes los días que debes publicar, establece cuál es el mejor momento del día para hacerlo. No seguir un patrón constante y consistente generará cierta desconfianza en tu público pues denotará que el perfil tiene cierto abandono reflejado en la anarquía de las publicaciones. Para esto es el calendario editorial: para planificar los contenidos y no permitir que los perfiles luzcan descuidados.

 

Cuida la calidad gráfica y audiovisual

Es increíble, pero muchas veces por limitaciones de tiempo, recursos o presupuesto se recurre a imágenes de mala calidad o que no van acordes con el objetivo del contenido. El aspecto visual es otro punto importante a tener en cuenta para ofrecer a los usuarios una imagen de seriedad y generar en ellos una sensación de confianza hacia la marca. Los usuarios tienden a pensar que si un perfil no tiene un diseño de calidad, la empresa a la que pertenece tampoco será capaz de proporcionar productos o servicios de calidad. Así como es importante cuidar la reputación de la marca, es esencial que cuides la calidad de tus publicaciones tanto en el formato gráfico como el audiovisual. Apóyate en expertos en diseño web y edición de videos para estandarizar una identidad visual que brinde una imagen atractiva y profesional de lo que ofrece la marca.

 

Ofrece promociones exclusivas para seguidores

Lo que resulta atractivo es darle a la gente un buen motivo para acercarse a tu marca, una recompensa y una red social para conectarse. Ofrece contenido y ofertas exclusivas para premiar la fidelidad de tus seguidores y motivar a otras personas para que se unan a tu comunidad. Las promociones alineadas a las necesidades estratégicas del producto podrán apoyarte para incrementar leads y seguidores.

 

This post Los 8 básicos para armar tu estrategia de contenido originally appeared on Sprout Social.



source http://sproutsocial.com/insights/basicos-para-tu-estrategia-de-contenido/
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Tuesday 9 May 2017

5 Instagram Metrics That Truly Measure Your Efforts

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Monday 8 May 2017

How to Create Achievable Social Media Goals

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Friday 5 May 2017

#SproutChat Recap: Collaborating With Multiple Team Members

From multiple people responding to social posts to several stakeholders creating and planning content, collaborating on social can be a challenge.  Luckily there are several strategies that help make sure wires don’t get crossed.

In this week’s #SproutChat we discussed some tried and true tips for maintaining consistency on social accounts. And, if we learned anything this week, it’s that communication plays a key role in ensuring a team is successful.

Communication Is the Key to Consistency

Giving employees who work on a brand’s social accounts basic knowledge about the brand will be helpful in the long run. A brand playbook and style guide will ensure that everyone on the account is on the same page. Additionally, looping in social team members during the development and planning of larger marketing campaigns is also helpful.

Research Cultural Norms When Working on a Global Brand

All communication is not universal and, when you’re managing a global account, it’s important to take the time to research cultural norms of the regions you are working with. Research social influencers in the area to get an idea of what conversations and trends look like and familiarize yourself with commonly used language and audience interests.

Keep Team Members Informed

If you’re struggling on a strategy or how to respond to a customer, check in with a team member that might have some insight.

Utilize the Appropriate Teams for Specific Tasks

Be sure to reach out to your agencies and other departments for best practices or advice about the content you want to create. People outside of the social media team can bring more awareness to your projects and help secure buy-in from senior leadership.

Convince Leadership That Collaboration Tools Are Vital to Success

There are many tools that social teams can use to share their plans across an organization or department. By fostering this level of transparency, teams can do their jobs much more efficiently. Sprout Social offers many team collaboration features that help save time and streamline communication.

We will be back next week chatting about employee advocacy with Sprout All Star, Jen Kirk. See you Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at 2 p.m. CDT on Twitter. Until then, be sure to join our Facebook group to connect with others in our community.

This post #SproutChat Recap: Collaborating With Multiple Team Members originally appeared on Sprout Social.



source http://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-team-collaboration/
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11 Tips To Boost Your Social Media Marketing Productivity

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Thursday 4 May 2017

Coordina la planificación de contenido con las mejoras en el Calendario de publicación

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Agilize a planificação do conteúdo com as melhorias no Calendário de publicação

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Streamline Your Content Planning With Publishing Calendar Enhancements

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Wednesday 3 May 2017

7 creative Ways to Use Social Media for PR

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The Ultimate Guide To Guest Blogging - How To Get It Published

Guest blogging is a strategy where you write for other blogs that could help you get enhanced traffic, quality backlinks, and increased brand exposure. Neil Patel has called guest blogging the best inbound marketing strategy. One guest blogging case study even showed how a blogger generated 30k-plus users for his email list!

Convinced, but overwhelmed at how to start your own campaign, what with all the lengthy tutorials out there?

Below, I’ll take it easy on the too-much-information part and head straight to actionable steps. Read on as I take you on a beginner’s step-by-step guide to prepare your own guest blogging campaign.

Ultimate Guide To Guest Blogging

A Beginner’s Step by Step Guide To Guest Blogging

Preparing Your Guest Blogging Campaign

Step 1: Find Guest Post Targets

Before you start writing your guest post, you need to find the right blogs to target. Below are several methods you can take to find these guest posting prospects:

i) Search strings

Performing focused Google search is an art that can help you reach the right people. Here is a list of relevant search strings that can help you get the best of blogs from your niche:

“Search Term” + “Search value parameter”
Keyword + “guest post”
Keyword + “write for us”
Keyword + “guest article”
Keyword + “guest post opportunities”
Keyword + “this is a guest post by”
Keyword + “guest contributor”
Keyword + “want to write for”
Keyword + “submit blog post”
Keyword + “guest column”
Keyword + “submit content”
Keyword + “submit post”
Keyword + “This post was written by”
Keyword + “guest post courtesy of ”
Keyword + “suggest a post”
Keyword + “submit an article”
Keyword + “contributor guidelines”
Keyword + “submit news”
Keyword + “become a guest blogger”
Keyword + “guest blogger”
Keyword + “become an author”
Keyword + “become guest writer”
Keyword + “become a contributor”
Keyword + “submit guest post”
Keyword + “submit article”
Keyword + “guest author”
Keyword + “send a tip”
Keyword + inurl: “guest blogger”
Keyword + inurl: “guest post”
intitle:guest post guidelines
intitle:guest blog guidelines

ii) Follow the guest post trail of an influencer in your niche

Some writers disclose the other blogs that they write for, and this can ultimately lead you to an exclusive list of quality blogs in your niche.
Below is a screenshot of such a resource page that could give you links to other blogs to guest post for:

Image Source: Backlinko

Here are a few examples of search strings you can also use to find more resource pages like the example above:
Author Name + “posts on other blogs”
Author Name + “guest post”
Author Name + “guest blogs”
Author Name + “posts on other blogs”
Author Name + “I’ve been featured on”
Author Name + “sites I’ve written for”

iii) Image Search

Google Image search is another way to find more related works of a target blogger.
Just go to the author bio in a blog post, copy the URL of the author’s headshot, and paste it in the Google reverse image search box. Hit enter, and you will get a list of sites the writer has also guest blogged for.
Take the example of this Copyblogger guest post by BRIAN CLARK. Scroll to the bottom to find the author bio. Right click the image and select ‘Copy image address’.

Next, paste the image address to the Google Images search bar.

The results will list all the links mentioning Brian Clark, including social media profiles, blogs, and websites. Proceed in the same manner until you build up your list of quality blogs to target your guest posting efforts on.

Google Images search result

iv) Search on social media platforms

Using Search strings on social media platforms can yield entirely different results.

For example, you can type “web development + guest post” on Twitter’s search bar to get guest posts on web development.

In the resulting Twitter page, you can single out the best results. You can also use their advanced search feature to refine your search.

web development + guest post twitter search

Follow the same process on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other platforms to get some quality results for selection.

v) Reverse Engineering

Use a backlink tracking tool like Ahrefs, RankWatch, SEMrush, Majestic & Moz, etc, to track the top referral link sources of your first and second page competitors.
This reverse engineering method will yield some juicy guest posting candidates. Most of the sites that you will find through this process do not actively invite anyone for guest posting, so it’s harder to find them through usual search strings because they usually don’t have a Write for Us page.

Ahref tool homepage

vi) AllTop.com

Alltop.com lists quality blogs from assorted verticals. Just type your keyword on the search bar and click your selected niche in the result that appears next. You may then contact the webmasters to know if they accept guest posts.

Alltop result page

vii) Blog Commenting

Do you often get comments on your blog posts? If yes, it’s a good sign of engagement and an acknowledgement that your blog is actually being read.
So why not go a step ahead and interact with those who comment on your blog?
For example, if someone compliments you on one of your posts, why not ask him or her if they would accept your guest post for their site?

Blog Commenting Example

Image Source: Backlinko

Here’s a template script you can use to reply to comments like the ones in the screenshot above

Hey [Name of prospect],
Many thanks for commenting on my guest post at [Example.com].
I never thought about the fact that [write something they mentioned in the comment box].
That’s indeed a valid point.
I have in fact an interesting guest post idea that could be great for your website. It’s called: “5 Smart Tips for [related topic]”
Just let me know if you feel the idea is good enough. I could sent you the post this week.
Thanks again for your comment!
Best,
[Your name]

viii) Target Lists

A Google search with the right search strings can help you pull up list post type articles on blogs that offer guest posting opportunities. Here are some search terms you can use:

  • Keyword “guest posting sites”
  • Keyword “accept guest posts”
  • Keyword “guest post sites”

ix) Use NinjaOutreach

This super tool helps you speed up your guest blogging campaign by letting you do all your prospecting and outreach tasks quickly, easily, all within a single platform.

With NinjaOutreach, you can:

  • Search prospects for guest opportunities areas
  • Refine search results for your related niche
  • Save leads and categorize them into lists organized under defined campaigns
  • Filter out results by number of social shares, comments, and other SEO metrics such as traffic volume, domain and page authority
  • Start sending outreach emails, track, and manage conversations from within the same platform

It also has a free chrome extension called NinjaOutreach Lite so you can use some of the tool’s features immediately from your browser, without the need to sign in to the web app.
Below is the content prospecting tab, which lets you search according to the content type.

NinjaOutreach Interface

The screenshot below shows how you can use the tool’s Your Prospects tab to search for author prospects.See Additional Data About Twitter Influencers

Once you’ve selected your targets, you can label them under the Add Relationship tab to help you remember the actions you’ve already taken for that particular prospect.

That way, while in the thick of your outreach campaign, you won’t mistakenly send the same outreach to the same person more than once.

The third screenshot below shows NinjaOutreach’s outreach mode. This is where, once you’ve decided to reach out to a prospect, you can simply click on the outreach mode button, and the app triggers a pop-up that lets you label the influencer and write your email. (Take note that you need to connect your email app to NinjaOutreach first)
The tool automatically crawls for the prospect’s email address so there’s no need for you to do it yourself manually. The tool also has templates you can choose from.

Automatic Email Outreach Campaigns

Step 2. Zero in on your target blogs

Once you’ve set up your list, your next task would be to filter out the list and retain the prospects that will benefit you the most.

i) Quality metrics

Several technical aspects play an important role in enabling you target the most worthwhile publishers for guest blogging. Here are top three quality metrics to help you identify the quality of a blog.

  • Google Pagerank: Indeed, Google has officially killed Pagerank, its overall authority measuring tool, way back March 2016. However, we still consider it to be among the best tools to measure and figure out page authority and its linking signal strength in order to select for top notch sources. It comes as no surprise that Google itself is still using this tool, which motivates us to keep embracing it.
  • Domain Authority (DA): Established by Moz as a proprietary metric, it ranks the quality of a website on a logarithmic scale ranging from 0 to 100. Like PR, the higher the DA, the better. Online tools like MozBar or Open Site Explorer, Smallseotools, etc. can help you measure the DA of websites. Experts suggest sites with a minimum DA of 40 to target for guest blogging.
  • Alexa Score: This analytics site gives you an idea of the traffic that a particular site receives. Just opposite to PR and DA scores, it has reverse ratings, hence the lower score, the better. For example, a site with an Alexa score below 1000 means it has strong traffic.

Other factors like unique referring domains, relevance to your niche, audience interaction, and overall quality of the blog (branding, design, content, online reputation, etc.) also help in effectively choosing a blog to target for guest posting.

ii) Single out the seasoned blogs

After checking quality metrics, it becomes easier to identify the best targets for guest blogging. Below are some more points to consider:

  • It should contain an authoritative link profile
  • The blog should be relevant to your niche
  • It should relate to your blog or website
  • The blog’s content should be highly informative and of superior quality
  • Make sure the blog can drive qualified traffic
  • It places your link in the content body and not in any off-the-focus location
  • It should have genuine subscribers (Read: not bots)
  • It should have a decent number of followers over social media (again, not bots)

iii) Get close to your targets

After refining your list, the next step should be to get into the good books of the target webmasters before pitching.
For instance:

  • Be a Twitter friend: Interact with them on Twitter at first, and respond to their tweets positively.
    Commenting Counts
  • Comment on their blogs: React to their blog posts. Contribute valuable insights that could get you in the radar of the blog owner.
  • Email communication: After exhausting the first few outreach methods, proceed to email the site owner. Congratulate him/her for the informative content he/she posted. Shoot this email at least a week or two before pitching for a guest post.
  • Find The Perfect Guest Post Topic: After this warming up process, it’s is finally the time to break the ice. You can now submit a killer idea and check out with the webmasters if they would like to accept your guest post about it.
  • Send relevant posts: Keep in mind that the topic should be relevant enough. It won’t benefit anyone if you send a post on ‘10 tips to be a pro ping pong player’ to a Soccer inspired blog.

iv) How to choose a topic

  • Outdated blog post: Find a reputable site and look for good posts that are outdated. Write a similar post updated with the latest information.
  • Go through published Guest Posts: Most likely, others should have already written great posts on your niche. Take a clue from these posts and come with a new guest post on a similar topic.
  • Try differently: Alternatively, try to send your target blog a unique post. For instance, if the blog has social media write-ups and already posted two to three articles on ‘Facebook Marketing Tips’, you could provide a guest post on ‘How to become a LinkedIn influencer’.

II. Pitching your guest post

Make an effort to craft a well-written and professional guest post pitch. Below are some outreach practices to avoid.

Don’ts of guest post pitching

i) Unprofessional subject line

Avoid excessively praiseworthy subject lines. These would do more harm than good to your reputation.

Some cringeworthy examples below:

  • “Looking for a guest blogger? I am your lucky charm. Hire Me!
  • Don’t you dare to miss an amazing blogger like me.
  • Hey! I dreamt that your blog got a million views on a single day. Guess who wrote that post. Its ME! So why not transform your dream to reality.

Instead, use a straightforward subject line that specifies your intentions clearly. Such as “Request for guest blogging”.

ii) Misleading email address in the ‘To’ line

These types of email ids are no less than suicidal. They can end your guest blogging prospects before starting. Please don’t use them if you want to go pro.

Some cringeworthy examples below:

  • iamyourcutiepie@aol.com
  • hifiwriterforyou@gmail.com
  • worldstopblogger@comcast.com

The best email address should ideally have this format: yourname@yourcompanyname.com

iii) Addressing an unknown recipient

Forget about starting your mail with lines like “To whom it may concern” or “Dear concerned”, etc. A simple “Hi” followed by the name of the webmaster would be fine. For example, “Hi Peter”.
See below for an example template.

Hi [name],
I’m a long time reader. You may have noticed my comment on your post on [name and link of blog post] — (awesome article, by the way).
I am one of your long time readers. You may have checked out my comment on your post on “Smart tips for [name and link of blog post]”. It's indeed a great write-up.
Inspired by the quality posts on your website [Example.com], I would also like to contribute to it as a guest blogger.
I have already been thinking about some interesting topics that would be valuable for your readers. Here are few selected ones:
-Topic #1
-Topic #2
-Topic #3
I’ll make sure the piece provides all the valuable information that the readers would find hard to get from anywhere else.
Just to give you an idea of the quality that I could introduce to your website, Here is a recently published guest post on [Example.com].
Cheers,
[Your name]
====

Let’s dissect this email template:

  • It kicks off with something specific about the target blogger’s site.
  • It is concise (wrapped within 150 words).
  • It makes it easier for the blog owner to choose from among the proposed topics.
  • Helps the latter to get an idea of your experience and published posts.

Here is another good example guest blog pitch from a Udemy Instructor:

guest blog pitch from a Udemy Instructor

iv) Not going through the guidelines

There is no better way to show respect to your target blogger than by reading the guidelines of their website (if there are any). Nothing instantly destroys a good guest posting opportunity than an outreach email or submission that blatantly defies the blog owner’s guidelines.

Take note if the webmaster wants you to pitch an idea first, or directly submit a complete post. There might be certain guidelines about the format of the post, topic preferences, linking guidelines, and so on.

III. How to write appealing titles for Guest Posts

Step 1: Recall your previous successful posts.

Adding a numerical touch to the title is usually a winning recipe

  • Top 10 points that make your content better
  • 15 ways in which you could become a social media celebrity
  • Here is how 10 studies prove that consisting blogging make you a popular writer

For more examples, the image below from coschedule compares the best performing and worst performing titles.


Step 2: Use Psychological Turn-ons

As per research by blogging experts, titles that could trigger the emotions of the readers are most likely to succeed. For instance, Neil Patel talks about five key elements that help the guest posts to get maximum shares on social media: Curiosity, Amazement, Interest, Astonishment, and Uncertainty.

Step 3: Use specific words that could stimulate the reader straight away

Using certain words have the tendency to enthrall the audience. For example, words that prompt one to take an action or speak about the quality of a service, like ‘affordable’, ‘download’, ‘exciting’, ‘interesting’, etc.

Step 4: Use templates to write headlines

Several websites like Copy Hackers, Michael Hyatt, Crazy Egg, Copy Blogger, Jeff Bullas, Brain Traffic, etc., provide you with useful headline templates.

If you are running out of ideas, these custom-made headlines can help.

Here are few template examples:

  • What {#} Studies Say About {Subject}
  • How To {Verb} Your {Noun} For Massive Growth
  • Do You Have The Courage To {Do Something Desirable}
  • The secret of _________________
  • The Ultimate Guide To ____________
  • How To Rock A {Noun} That Will Save You Tons Of Time

Step 5: Use headline generator tools

Below are some blog title generators from authority websites.

IV. Writing your guest post

Step 1 background research (mention the need to support statements with case studies, citing authoritative sources, and what forums/platforms to use to streamline research)
Step 2 including screenshots (only 1 to 2 ex. of tools they can use)
Step 3 the type of angle to take (editorial, case study, tutorial, list type post, ultimate guide, mini step by step guide, etc)

V. Including a Call to Action

Don’t forget to include an appeal or call to action for comments. Engagement will help increase the visibility of your guest blog.

VI. Writing your guest bio

This is the place to promote your link, product, or service. Your goals should define you should write in the guest bio.
For example:

  • Provide a link back to your website if your aim is to get quality backlinks
  • If you want decent traffic to your site, include the link to your custom landing page or product page.
  • If you want to increase your followers, include an appeal to the concluding line of your bio, which says “Follow me on [mention your social network profile link].”

VII. The concluding step

Once done, submit your write up. But, don’t forget to:

  • Share on various social media platforms
  • Reply to comments
  • Thank the audience

So there you have it, a beginner’s step by step guide to guest blogging. Should you wish to add to the tips already mentioned here, you can always type in your suggestions in the comment box. Until then, Happy Guest Blogging!

 

Ram Babu is a passionate Digital Marketing Expert. He possesses penetrating knowledge of SEO and Paid Advertising and has more than 11 years of experiences under his belt. Currently, he also owns SEOBookLab.com – a promising Digital Agency. Besides, he works as Digital Marketing Specialist at Techies India Inc. and is a Technical Search Contributor at RankWatch, one of the prominent SEO tools among digital marketers. Also SEO Manager for Code&Co, Big Slate Media & Agile Continental. His conventional SEO strategist has helped varied clients from assorted industries to come up with relevant and traffic driving content. His zeal to help others get the best results with thriving online marketing strategy makes him the man of difference. Ram can be followed on social media at @RamBabuSEO, +RamBabuSEO, Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

The post The Ultimate Guide To Guest Blogging - How To Get It Published appeared first on Ninja Outreach.



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