What are the Best Content Marketing Metrics for Business Success?

If you’re new to content marketing, you might be pumping out some amazing content. But, you might not know exactly who it’s reaching or how well it’s working. To achieve lasting success in your business, you need to understand the power of content marketing metrics.

Content marketing is an important part of modern marketing strategies. It allows you to create valuable and engaging content to attract, engage, and convert your target audience. To make the most impact with your content marketing efforts, it’s essential to optimize performance by keeping an eye on key performance indicators (KPIs).

So, which metrics are important and how can you track them? In this guide, we’ll delve into content marketing metrics. We’ll also explore effective strategies for using them to drive your business forward.

Understanding Your Content Marketing Metrics

Before diving into specific metrics and KPIs, it’s crucial to grasp their significance in the broader context of content marketing. Optimizing content performance with key performance indicators involves more than just tracking numbers. You need a deep understanding of your audience’s behavior. You also need to understand your overall business objectives. By focusing on the best content marketing metrics for your business, you can make data-driven decisions to drive growth.

Measuring Your Audience Engagement

Are people engaging with your content? Or are they scrolling right on by? Savvy content marketers know how important it is to measure your audience’s engagement. This involves analyzing metrics such as time spent on page, scroll depth, and interaction with multimedia content.

By understanding how your audience engages with your content, you can tailor your strategies to create more compelling and valuable experiences. For example, if a particular blog post receives high engagement but low conversion rates, you can experiment with different calls-to-action or content formats to encourage conversions.

Aligning Your Metrics with Business Objectives

What are your overarching business objectives? Are you most interested in lead generation, sales, brand awareness, or customer retention? For example, if your primary objective is to increase sales, you may focus on metrics related to conversion rates, revenue generated, and customer lifetime value (CLTV). Align your metrics with your business objectives. This will ensure that your content marketing efforts drive tangible results and deliver value to your organization.

Using AI for Content Marketing

Are you using AI for content marketing yet? It’s not just about coming up with content ideas. In the ever-changing world of content marketing, businesses must stay ahead to stay competitive.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can be a powerful tool for content marketers. You can analyze past performance and predict future trends and consumer behavior. You can use predictive analytics to anticipate shifts in audience preferences, emerging topics, and content consumption patterns. This lets you optimize your strategies proactively.

Continuous Optimization and Iteration

Content should always be tested, tweaked, and improved. It’s not a one-and-done job. Effective content marketing measurement involves continuous optimization and iteration. This means regularly analyzing performance data, identifying areas for improvement, and making changes to enhance engagement and conversions.

By adopting a data-driven approach to content marketing, you can refine your strategies over time, uncovering insights that lead to more impactful content and better business results. Leverage tools and technologies that facilitate real-time monitoring and analysis. This will help you adapt quickly to changing market conditions and emerging trends. It keeps you ahead of the curve while maintaining a competitive edge.

Essential Metrics for Evaluating Your Content Performance

Traffic Metrics

One of the most basic content (and important) marketing metrics is website traffic. Tracking metrics such as page views, unique visitors, and sessions provides valuable insights into the reach and visibility of your content. By analyzing these metrics, you can identify trends, understand audience behavior, and optimize content distribution strategies to drive more traffic to your website.

Engagement Metrics

Engaging your audience is a key objective of content marketing. Metrics such as time on page, bounce rate, and social media comments, likes, and shares offer insights into how users interact with your content. By analyzing engagement metrics, you can identify high-performing content. This will help you understand audience preferences and tailor future content to drive better engagement.

Conversion Metrics

Ultimately, the success of your content marketing efforts depends on how well you are driving conversions. As we discussed, these may vary depending on your goals. Conversion metrics such as app downloads, e-mail signups, conversion rate, lead quality, cost per lead (CPL), and cost per acquisition (CPA) provide insights into the effectiveness of content in driving desired actions, whether it’s lead generation, sales, or other conversions.

ROI Metrics

Measuring return on investment (ROI) is critical for evaluating the financial impact of your content marketing efforts. ROI metrics, including revenue generated and customer lifetime value (CLTV), quantify the value generated by your content initiatives. By analyzing ROI metrics, you can determine the effectiveness of your content marketing strategy, allocate resources more efficiently, and demonstrate the impact of content marketing on overall business objectives.

Measurement Tools

So, all this is great, but how do you do it? Here are some popular tools and strategies for measuring your content marketing performance:

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a powerful web analytics tool that provides comprehensive insights into website traffic, user behavior, and conversion metrics. By setting up tracking events and audiences, you can gain valuable insights into the performance of your content. You can then optimize your marketing strategies accordingly.

SEMrush

SEMrush is an SEO tool that offers insights into organic and paid search performance, keyword rankings, backlink analysis, and competitor research. You can optimize your content for search engines by analyzing keyword data and monitoring search trends. This can improve content visibility in search results.

Moz

Moz offers a suite of SEO tools, including Moz Pro and Moz Local, that provide insights into keyword rankings, backlink analysis, site audits, and more. With Moz, you can track your search engine visibility and optimize your content to improve organic search rankings.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is another comprehensive SEO tool that offers insights into backlink profiles, keyword rankings, content analysis, and competitor research. You can improve your content marketing efforts by analyzing competitors’ content strategies. You can also identify link-building opportunities to drive more traffic to your website.

BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo is a content discovery tool that allows businesses to identify trending topics, analyze content performance, and track social media engagement. Understanding what resonates with your audience can help you create more engaging and shareable content.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social is a social media management platform that offers robust analytics and reporting capabilities. By tracking engagement metrics, monitoring brand mentions, and measuring the effectiveness of social media content, you can optimize your social media marketing efforts. This helps drive meaningful engagement with your audience.

HubSpot

HubSpot is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform that offers a suite of marketing automation tools including analytics and reporting features to track the performance of marketing campaigns. With HubSpot, you can monitor key metrics such as website traffic, lead generation, and customer engagement. This helps you optimize your content marketing strategy and drive business growth.

Salesforce

Salesforce is another popular CRM platform that offers robust analytics and reporting capabilities. You can gain a comprehensive view of your customer interactions by integrating Salesforce with other marketing tools and platforms. You can also measure the impact of content marketing efforts on sales and revenue generation.

Using these tools to set up tracking and measurement systems enables you to capture relevant data. You can then track key metrics over time. Analyzing performance data empowers you to identify trends and spot opportunities for optimization. You can make data-driven decisions to improve your content effectiveness and ROI.

Bottom Line for Content Marketing Success

Measuring and analyzing content marketing metrics is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of your content marketing campaigns and driving meaningful business results. You can gain valuable insights by understanding the different types of metrics available and their significance. Using the right measurement tools can empower you to create better content that converts.

If you’re like most business owners, you know that blogging is a great way to attract more customers. But what if you’re not sure how to write blog posts that actually get attention? Don’t worry – we’ve got you covered. In this blog post, we will share 10 tips for writing blog posts that attract more customers. By following these tips, you can create content that engages your audience and helps you achieve your business goals!

Tip 1: Start With a Strong Hook

One of the most important things to remember when writing blog posts is that you need to capture your reader’s attention from the start. One way to do this is by starting with a strong hook. This could be something eye-catching or provocative, or it could be a question that piques the reader’s interest. Whatever you choose, make sure it engages your audience and makes them want to read more!

Tip 2: Write Engaging Titles

Another key element of attracting readers is having engaging titles. Your title is what catches someone’s attention and encourages them to click on your post. So make sure it stands out and accurately reflects the content of your article. Keep your titles about 50-70 characters long for optimal visibility in Google searches.

Tip 3: Write in a Clear, Concise Format

When it comes to writing blog posts, you want to be clear and concise. This means using easy-to-read language and avoiding run-on sentences. Break up long paragraphs into small, digestible chunks. Brevity is key – people are more likely to read content that is easy to scan and doesn’t require too much effort. Try to keep your reading level below 12th grade (10th grade is optimal for most audiences). You can use Hemmingway to check your articles.

Tip 4: Start With the Main Point

When you’re writing a blog post, it’s important to start with the main point. This way, your readers know what to expect from your article and they can easily follow along. Plus, it helps keep your content focused and on track.

Tip 5: Use Strong Images

Visuals are an important part of content creation. They help break up text and add interest to your content, which encourages readers to keep reading (and sharing). So make sure you use strong images when possible – it’ll make a big difference!

Tip 6: Don’t Forget Your Call-to-Action (CTA)

When writing blog posts, don’t forget about your call-to-action! This is the part where you tell readers what they can do next, such as subscribing or following you on social media. It’s important that this section stands out from other content so people are more likely to take action after reading it all the way through.

Tip 7: Use Links Wisely

Links are an important part of content creation, but they can also be a bit tricky if not used correctly. If you’re writing about something that’s related to another blog post or page on your site, linking back is great! It provides your readers with more information and helps keep them engaged throughout the article. But too many links in one place can make things look cluttered and overwhelming – so try not to overdo it when possible (or use text instead). You should also avoid using any broken links as these could cause problems for search engine optimization efforts later down the line.

Tip 8: Write for Your Target Audience

When writing blog posts, it’s important to keep your target audience in mind. This means tailoring content to their needs and addressing the issues that are most important to them. By doing this, you can create content that is relevant and useful – which will encourage readers to stick around!

Tip 9: Use Quotes or Statistics

Adding quotes or statistics to your content is a great way to add authority and credibility. It also helps break up text and provides information in an easy-to-digest format. So if you have any interesting stats or quotes related to your topic, be sure to include them!

Tip 10: Proofread & Edit

The last step to content creation is proofreading and editing. This helps ensure there aren’t any mistakes in your content – which could turn off readers or cause them not to take action. So make sure you spend some time on this part of the process before publishing anything new. I always use Grammarly to proofread my writing in real-time. I also like to read the words in my head (as if I’m reading aloud) to make sure the article sounds good.

Need Help With Content Marketing?

By following these tips, you’ll be able to write content that attracts more customers and helps your business grow! Need help with content marketing? Contact Top Tier Media, a content marketing agency for small to medium-sized businesses. We specialize in creating content for health, beauty, and lifestyle brands.

Blogs, newsletters, white papers, website content, landing pages, infographics, e-books, social media content – who has time to write all of it? Whether you’ve launched a new product, re-launched a brand, or started a podcast, you need a partner who can help guide you.

The world of content marketing is virtually limitless. So let’s break down the ins and outs of what a content marketing agency can help you do. Learn what a content marketing agency does, what services they typically offer, and how it can help your business grow.

What is Content Marketing?

What exactly is content marketing and why is it an important part of a digital marketing plan?

Content marketing is the strategy of generating, creating, and distributing content to attract, acquire, and retain a clearly defined target audience, and to drive profitable customer actions. The content’s primary goal is to attract and interest a site’s visitors and to move them toward action.

What Are the Different Types of Content Marketing?

Blog Posts

Most people are familiar with blogs. It seems like almost every type of company has one. Blog posts are written articles related to your business or service. They offer a fast and easy way for brands to communicate with their intended audiences, such as fans, current customers, and potential customers.

According to HubSpot, brands that have blogs receive 55% more website traffic than companies that don’t. Furthermore, companies that blog have 434% more indexed pages (which means it has been crawled by Google and will appear in search results).

It’s important to share blog content on a regular basis and to optimize it for the appropriate SEO keywords. A content marketing agency can help make this fast and seamless.

Website Content/Landing Pages

Website content is extremely important for conversions, but it’s also what drives you to the top of Google searches. Landing pages are used to direct customers to specific pages on your website. This is the tool that you use to engage your target audience and convert them through your sales funnel.

Newsletters

E-mail newsletters are a great way to stay in touch with your current customers, as well as to attract new ones. A segmented e-mail newsletter can help you communicate directly with those who matter most to your business.

White Papers/E-books

Have you heard the term, “lead magnet”? White papers and e-books are heavily used by businesses to generate leads online. When you create something of value, like a white paper or e-book, people will be willing to give you their e-mail address to receive it. From there, you can move them to your segmented e-mail lists and send them into your sales funnel.

Infographics

Infographics are a visual way to display information (and usually numbers, facts, and figures) at a glance. While, at first glance, these may seem to be passive content, infographics actually promote authority and credibility, and they are highly shareable.

Social Media Content

Everyone needs social media content! Creating content for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and other social media channels is a key part of any digital marketing strategy. It also falls under the umbrella of content marketing.

What Makes Content Marketing Different from Other Marketing Techniques?

Content marketing is a “pull strategy” – pulling in potential leads with useful, educational, or entertaining content. It’s a long-tail marketing strategy (unlike digital ads) that positions you as a thought leader, boosts your website’s SEO, and keeps potential customers coming back for more.

Content marketing should be one part of your overall digital marketing strategy (which usually includes SEO, SEM, public relations, PPC ads, etc.).

Creating Effective Content That Resonates With Your Audience

First, you need to know WHO you are trying to reach. Is it your current customer base? Do you want to keep them coming back for more? Or are you trying to reach a new audience by targeting a particular interest or demographic?

Successful content marketing is not just about being able to create a themed piece of content and pushing it out. It is about getting your audience to actively engage with your content. It is about having a constant emphasis on building an audience and engaging your audience with content that is specific to their needs. The key to success is having content that is consistent and producing measurable results.

Do You Need a Content Marketing Agency?

Is your content not getting the attention or results you want? Does your content marketing strategy feel out of control? You probably need help. If you’re strapped for time, unable to keep up with the trends, or simply don’t have the budget for a dedicated writer or content marketing team, you may want to consider outsourcing your content marketing to a content marketing agency. It’s no secret that businesses struggle to find the time and money to do everything themselves. From developing content to carrying out social media campaigns, it’s cost-effective to hire a specialist for certain tasks. That specialist may come from a digital marketing agency or from a content marketing company.

There’s a lot of talk these days about creating content that matters. However, we’ve found that even the most forward-thinking companies struggle to fully comprehend how to create and implement the strategy that is best for them.

Our clients have found that we’ve helped them create a comprehensive, lasting, and successful content marketing strategy. Contact us to see how we can help!

Important Tips for Sharing Content on Social Media

According to U.S. copyright law, it is illegal to publish someone else’s work on your website or blog without their permission. It doesn’t matter if you give proper attribution and link to them. If the artist or writer never gave you their permission, then it is theft.

Content Theft On Websites Vs Social Media

Now, that’s how it works when it comes to scraping text or copying photos, cartoons and videos off other people’s websites and publishing them on your own. But when it comes to sharing on social media, things are a little different.

Sharing someone else’s work is very different from stealing it. You don’t have to look very far on social media to find users who will copy someone else’s images, erase their signature or watermark from the images and then share them as if they themselves had created them. That is theft, and if you do that sort of thing, you will eventually get reported and have your account shut down.

Social Media Sharing: Best Practices

To protect yourself from crossing the line into copyright infringement and content theft, there are a couple of simple steps you should take before copying and sharing someone else’s art, photography or writing on social media.

First, look over the person’s profile to see if they specifically request that people not share their work without permission. Remember, many of these creators are making a living from their work, so they are losing money when people share their work without permission or without attribution. So if they specifically ask not to share, then don’t share without their permission.

Most content creators and influencers will be happy to have their work shared with attribution – that’s why they’re posting their work on social media in the first place. But it doesn’t hurt to check their profiles first. And ALWAYS ask for permission before posting.

Second, when you do share, always tag the writer or artist or account from which you took the content. This is just good etiquette and common courtesy. But don’t just tag them in the photo. Instead, tag them in the caption or text so that your followers will see the tag and click through to see more from that creator.

Many content creators love shout-outs like this to grow their business. So if you enjoy their work and want to support them, then be sure to give attribution in a way that will send more people to their page. But, do be careful not to share from the same person over and over. There’s a fine line between sharing content and scraping/stealing.

Ready to outsource your digital marketing? Top Tier Media provides a full range of social media marketing and influencer outreach services. Contact us today to find out more.

How to Find and Pitch Beauty Health and Style Influencers

If you are running a small business, chances are that publicity and marketing for your brand and product line are on your mind. Without a dedicated publicist, contact emails, editorial calendars and the all-too-important relationship with your chosen print or broadcast editor, this type of media may be out of reach. Or maybe you simply want to increase awareness faster than the 3-4 month lead time that magazine editors require and are looking to work with bloggers and influencers.

Many businesses understand the value of partnering with influencers such as bloggers, YouTube creators and Instagram influencers to endorse their particular brands, but they don’t know where to begin and what criteria should be put into place to discern between someone of influence and someone who is a hobbyist. Not to mention, what are the rules of engagement? How do you approach them and maintain a positive relationship?

As bloggers ourselves at Top Tier Media, we have a few tips you will find helpful.

Where to Find Influential Influencers:

1. Pinterest
   Pinterest is a blogger’s dream. It is the place where blogs get pinned and re-pinned with very little effort. Pinterest overflows with millions of professional pictures of blog-worthy outfits, delectable recipes and brag-worthy adventures. Behind many of these pictures are bloggers. Many have enormous followings and earn regular incomes because of this. Take a look at their Pinterest statistics. Their number of followers, pins and likes will show how influential they are in the marketplace and how often they are active on the site. Strategically partnering with a blogger with a large enough following can send loads of traffic back to a site with eager customers.
2. Instagram
   Hashtags are the best ways to find beauty bloggers on Instagram. Try searching hashtags such as #beautyblogger, #lifestyleblogger, styleblogger #fashionblogger, etc. Want to find a beauty blogger in your specific niche? Try #crueltyfreeblogger, #veganbeauty, #over40style, #greenbeauty, #drugstoremakeup, etc. The hashtags can help point to a particular authority in that field. Look for Instagram users who post regularly, stay within a theme and have true engagement in the form of likes and comments. While follower numbers are important, if the engagement doesn’t jive with the follower count, then it is likely that the Instagrammer may have “bought” fake fans. If the influencer doesn’t have a physical blog linked to in their bio, they typically have their direct contact information listed.
3. YouTube
   YouTube is the ultimate tool for finding influencers to endorse a product. With any given topic featured on YouTube, the most popular content creators show up at the top of the search results. Try searching keywords like you would on Instagram.

Remember – microinfluencers, celebrity influencers, and those with large followings will likely charge a fee for their services. You must not only be willing to send free product, but (oftentimes) have the budget to pay their fees for promotion.

What to Avoid When Pitching Bloggers:

1. Leaving a comment on a blog post/video/social media post regarding your brand, product and that you’d like the blogger to write about it. Some brands have even posted entire press releases in the comments – that’s a HUGE no-no and a big turn off.
2. Tagging a blogger telling them they must try your product with a link to it. (And more so, doing this incessantly when the blogger does not respond.)
3. Ignoring how they want to be pitched (which is usually found in their About/Contact section.)

How to Pitch Influential Beauty and Health Influencers:

1. Send relevant press kits. Of course you wouldn’t send pitches for beauty products to a food blogger. But, go one step further and read the “About” section and a few posts before contacting – for example – don’t make the mistake of pitching a product with animal ingredients to a vegan beauty blogger!
2. Perfect your pitch. Address the blogger by name – make it seem personal and not like a mass email (even if it is – but we don’t recommend mass pitches in general.) Don’t forget to include information about your product, small photos or pdfs (don’t clog up in-boxes without asking; “Photos available upon request” works beautifully), a link to your product’s website (you won’t believe how many people forget the link), your contact information, when the product will be released, prices, etc.
3. Use the magic words. Include the phrase “press samples available” instead of asking to send products for review. This is a subtle way to encourage bloggers to ask YOU for the product. While there is no obligation for bloggers to review your product (unless you have a written agreement to pay for an “advertorial”), they will be more likely to do so if they have requested the product samples.

Need help pitching influencers? To start a conversation with Top Tier Media regarding blogger outreach and your social media strategy, contact us today!

Tips for Optimizing Pinterest Photos

We know that you want to receive as much traffic as possible when you write a blog post. Unfortunately, you may be missing some of that traffic and interested visitors if you aren’t paying attention to the important factors of correctly placing images on your website. Fortunately, we are here to help you and can offer some tips on optimizing blog photos for visually-oriented social sites like Pinterest.

Use Text on Your Images

Sites like Pinterest can be helpful when a person is searching for home interior ideas, crafts or recipes. Let’s say that you are a food blogger, and you have a delicious chicken Marsala recipe that you want to share with other people. It does take extra time, but you should be sure to add text onto your images. If you have a picture of chicken Marsala, pull up a fun font on your image editor and watermark your picture with the words, “Tasty Chicken Marsala.” This will catch someone’s eye when they’re browsing images and increase the chances of them visiting your website. You may also want to include your logo or website URL so people can find your site easily. You may also want to use longer, portrait-style photos rather than horizontal images. Putting your text toward the top of the image can also help get clicks and saves.

Use Keywords In the URL

The next tip is to use the main keywords of your post in the URL. On most content management systems such as WordPress or at blog creating websites, this can automatically be done when you have the settings take your post title and use it in the URL. Your URL should look something like this,”http://www.yourfoodblog.com/recipes/tasty-chicken-marsala-recipe/.

Title Your Image With Keywords

We’re pretty sure that taking these next two tips and incorporating them into your arsenal will help boost your traffic and increase visitors. We would also bet that many bloggers fail to use these techniques, and this may help put you above your competition. Be sure to use descriptive keywords when you title your image files. If you use something like, “tasty chicken marsala.jpg” and not,” image356.jpg,” it will help boost your images in search engine results.

Don’t Forget to Use Alt Text Correctly

Here’s a golden tip on why you should make sure that your alt text for each image is descriptive. Did you know that Pinterest takes the words from an image’s alt text description and places them automatically into their pin description? By using “tasty chicken Marsala” in the alt text area of your image, you are automatically giving a Pinterest user the description for their pin. This top tip will definitely help pop your images to a highly visible area when someone is searching for specific keywords.

What tips do you have to share? What has worked for you?

How to Host a Successful Influencer Event for Your Brand

While media events have been a staple for many decades, the rise of influencers has created an entirely new approach to this brand-building activity. However, it is important to understand the potential pitfalls and take care of the basics if you want to have a positive experience with any influencer or blogger event. If there is any time you want your brand and company to shine, it’s in front of those who will be writing about it to deliver your brand message to their captive audience.

Define Your Objectives and Deliver Substance

As influencers play an increasingly important role in how your prospects and customers view your brand, they are more demanding in what they expect from brands. In other words, bloggers understand their value and know that they don’t just serve as a conduit to bring attention to your new product or service.

Start your planning for a blogger event with the perspective of an influencer.

Ask, as if you were a blogger, “What are you going to find out by attending the event that will enhance your position as an authority and industry insider with your readers and base of followers?”

With that approach, you will shape the event to provide information that is useful and significant. This might include unveiling a new product (letting the influencers be the first to try it) or providing a unique experience that influencers will want to participate in. The essential goal is to provide something the influencer or blogger couldn’t have simply picked up from an email or press release.

Take Care of the Details

To avoid a blogger disaster such as that experienced by ConAgra Foods, translate your goal into an event that fits the influencer culture. For example, provide your key information to the attendees in digital form, not just a bag full of old school printed materials.

Other such details include:

• Using a hashtag that will help track media mentions across all platforms (not every blogger uses all the same platforms to channel information.) Remember, your hashtag serves as a keyword that allows you to track comments concerning your event.

• Capture your event with a stellar video and post it as quickly as possible after it closes. Also, create a microsite for the event if it fits your objectives. Consider filming a live stream of the event via Facebook or Instagram.

• Make sure to hand out goodie bags with product for influencers to take with them, as well as a printed card with your brand’s social media handles and hashtag for the event.

Planning is the key to a successful event, and it’s very helpful to review some of the more successful events that got a lot of subsequent mentions on the right channels. Vet the influencers in your niche and review their coverage of past events to make sure you’re inviting the right people.

Top Tier Media specializes in planning influencer events. Contact us if you need help setting up a stellar event!

How to Pitch Beauty, Health and Style Influencers and Bloggers

Got a great beauty, fashion, health or lifestyle product to share with the world? Beauty, health and style bloggers can be a great way to reach your target audience. Influencers can get the word out! But how do you reach them? What are the unspoken rules? Not sure how to craft your pitch? Read on!

Here are some tips:

• Send relevant press kits. Of course you wouldn’t send pitches for auto parts to a food blogger. But, go one stop further and read the “About” section and a few blog posts before contacting – don’t make the mistake of sending a cheese product to a vegan blogger!
• Perfect your pitch. Address the blogger by name – make it seem personal and not like a mass email (even if it is – but we don’t recommend mass pitches in general). Don’t forget to include information about your product, small photos or pdfs (don’t clog up in-boxes without asking; “Photos available upon request” works beautifully), a link to your product’s website (you won’t believe how many people forget the link), your contact information, when the product will be released, prices, etc.
• Use the magic words. Include the phrase “press samples available” instead of asking to send products for review. This is a subtle way to encourage bloggers to ask YOU for the product. While there is no obligation for bloggers to review your product (unless you have a written agreement to pay for an “advertorial”), they will be more likely to do so if they have requested the product samples.
• Be professional and courteous at all times. You should cultivate relationships with bloggers the same way you would with traditional editors and press staff. Remember, when you submit a product for review, you are not paying a copywriter to write glowing words about your product – you are asking for an unbiased review. Many bloggers have a wide sphere of influence on the web through blog readership and social media channels. It’s best to keep relationships friendly and mutually beneficial!
• Follow Up. If you have sent a product, but not received a review or an ETA, follow up. You are much more likely to get a review if you maintain communication with the editor. Be careful not to be pushy or demanding, or you may sever future relationships.
• Don’t call. Phone calls are a thing of the past in the online world. Many bloggers see phone calls as negative and intrusive. Send your pitch via email and feel free to follow up, but don’t call unless you have permission.
• Never demand a write-up in exchange for a promotional event invitation. It is implied that bloggers will do their best to write about events they attend, event sponsors, etc. It is considered poor form to demand a blog post, just as it would be considered tacky to invite a TV or newspaper editor to an event on conditional terms. Relax. Even if you don’t get a write-up, you’ve made a connection. Never discount the power of networking!

Need help finding and pitching influencers in your niche? Top Tier Media can help!

How to Credit Bloggers for Their Images

In this day and age it is so easy to do a quick Google search to find the perfect image for a blog post or advertorial. This is, in fact, what many people do to find compelling content. But they’re missing the critical step – crediting the original source for the image.

Contrary to popular belief, Google images, Flickr, Tumblr and Pinterest are not original sources for images. Many times, those sites lose the information on the original content creator, which is sad, especially when it’s a compelling image. So you must take another step to find the original author if you find images by those means. You want to follow the image back to the blog or site it originated from to credit that blogger or photographer. To find the original image source, upload the image to http://images.google.com. The original source will usually be the first or second link listed.

When you are a blogger and you spend hours on your blog creating images, you don’t want someone taking those images and using them without proper credit. To give proper credit, it’s as simple as the following:

Image: Sugarpill Minty Blues eyeshadow via Phyrra

If the text can be hyperlinked (if you’re posting on a website), you want to hyperlink the blog name with the URL for the creator to give them proper credit.

If it’s for Facebook, Instagram or Twitter be sure to tag the influencer or blogger:

Source: @Phyrra

All images are copyright to the photographer that took the images, unless that photographer signs away those rights. So typically, you need to have permission to use that image, unless they have licensed their work for Creative Commons. Most bloggers are happy to have their images used with proper credit. If you’re ever in doubt, just ask! And if a blogger asks you to take down an image, you should do so immediately to avoid a lawsuit.