Pitching Media and Bloggers in Five Steps

"Ryan Vogelsong"
San Francisco Giants Pitcher Ryan Vogelsong shows us how to pitch.

We all know that we should be pitching the media, both print and online, our unique story angles. Yet finding travel bloggers and reaching out to them is often intimidating. 

I’ve put together an outline of five simple steps to contacting the media and bloggers.

I put this presentation together as a speaker for the CA Downtown Association Conference taking place in Sacramento, California. 
If you attended this session, I hope you will heed my call to action by introducing yourself in the comments section below.
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5 steps to blogger outreach

Five simple steps to blogger outreach:

  1. Research
  2. Social Media
  3. Unique Selling Point
  4. Bloggers Are Different Than Print
  5. Think Outside The Block

1. Research

The most important thing to remember is to target your media. Take the time to read the blog before you send a pitch letter or introduce yourself; it shows us that you have done your homework.

2. Social Media

Connect with bloggers where we live; online. The easiest way to find bloggers is via social media outlets such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook to establish relationships with the media.
3. Unique Selling Point
Ask yourself  “What’s different about my destination?” and “Why should a blogger care?”
We receive plenty of e-mails asking us to write about your destination. Look at our blog and how we position ourselves. As a blogger, do we specialize in luxury travel, boomer travel, equestrian travel, accessible travel; what is our niche? Next, dial in and fine tune your pitch to the travel blogger.
4. Bloggers Are Different Than Print Journalists
Bloggers need different tools at their disposal than do traditional print media writers. To keep bloggers happy and productive during FAM or press trips, please schedule some down time into the itinerary for us to write at night.
If you would like us to tweet, use Facebook or post pictures to Pinterest and Instagram during the trip, you’ll need to provide us with free WiFi at the hotel. Ideally, provide a list of your client’s destinations, restaurants and shops on Twitter. We might start talking about your destination before we step out of the car or off the airplane.
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Travel Bloggers need different tools than print journalists.

5. Think Outside The Block

READ  Guest Blog by Nancy Brown: The Book Passage Travel Writers & Photograpers Conference - A Review.
Still not sure how to reach out to travel bloggers? Ask if you can guest post on a blog. Or if that doesn’t sound like something you want to do, just leave a comment on a blog. Try re-tweeting posts by bloggers so they can see that you’re interested in what they have to say. You can also promote useful or interesting blog posts on social media.
These are all easy and inexpensive steps for you to improve the travel blogger’s experience, which, in turn, should create better media coverage for you and/or your client.
What am I forgetting? Please share your insider tips on how to work with media and travel bloggers.
Related Post:
Ryan Vogelsong photo courtesy David Watson. Steps photo courtesy Flickr Carson Ting.

3 thoughts on “Pitching Media and Bloggers in Five Steps”

  1. “Pitching” As the word implies needs some attention but it doesn’t need any special trick , and the same thing I learned from your post. By following above 5 steps , I am sure there would be something in return. Thanks Nancy

  2. I have seen video increase click-through on blog posts by 5 fold. I highly recommend including video in every blog post to increase interest.

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