6 questions to ask before working with a blogger

You don’t want to anger—or lose—a client for fouling up blogger relations. Make sure you’re asking these questions.

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In the interest of sharing these lessons, here are six important questions to ask before running a contest or giveaway with a blogger:

What’s the goal? Simple enough. However, it’s from whence all else flows. Do you want exposure, Web traffic, a following on social media platforms, or something else?

Why this blogger? It may be that you want to cozy up to someone because of the sheer size of his or her audience. There are other valid reasons, too. Perhaps a blogger has a small(ish) audience, but is highly influential with readers. Perhaps the blogger publishes content on several media properties, and a contest on that blog is the first step to scoring coverage in those other outlets. Whatever you do, make sure the “why” is laid out clearly.

How do people enter the contest, and how does the entry mechanism serve your goal? The method of entry is perhaps the most important part (and easiest to screw up) ]of running a giveaway with a blogger. If you want Web traffic, ask a question whose answer is only found on your website, thus forcing entrants to go there to find it. If it’s Facebook “likes” you seek, make sure the blogger clearly states this and links to your brand page.

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