Do you want to up your blogger game? Get yourself on bloggers’ radars and have them writing about you and talking about you on social media? If that is the case, then you need to hold a blogger event and invite them and get to know them. But how do you do that when often bloggers are inundated with event invites and freebies, so how do you compete and cut through the clutter to make yours an event every blogger wants to be at?
You need to work out what exactly you want to achieve from the event, is it to create a buzz around your brand or are you looking more specifically to smash it on social? Do you want backlinks to gain authority? Or do you want to connect with local bloggers and other local businesses?
There’s no point putting on an event if you don’t reap any rewards from it, so write a list of specific goals outlining what you want to get out of this event. For example, do you want to gain a blog post which includes a backlink to your website from every blogger attending the event? Or perhaps you want a two-minute vlog from each of the vloggers to go up on YouTube?
Do you want all the bloggers to Tweet about the event throughout the day using a specific hashtag? Whatever it may be, get it written down and have them in mind from start to finish, so you don’t lose sight of what it is you want.
You want to put on an awesome event, right? So you’re going to need time, creativity, and drive. Even with a small budget, you can get a great blogger event off the ground and gain exposure for your business and brand. Here are the steps you need to follow:
Start With The Basics
Start by planning the simple things such as a timing plan including the date, and a structure for the event, how long the event will last? Think about when bloggers are most likely to be free and plan your event at a convenient time.
Next Look At Your Budget
You’re going to need at least a bit of money behind you, but you can run a blogger event on a small budget, especially if you can supply the venue yourself. Set a maximum budget and make a spreadsheet of all the expected expenses, including decorations, equipment, activities, food, and goodie bags.
Now You Can Choose The Location
Having a big enough space for all these bloggers is only the start of it, you want to choose a venue that reflects your brand and the bloggers you invite. If your business is a hotel, bar or restaurant, then your location is sorted, however, if you need to rent a space, go for somewhere that’s a blank canvas so that you can put your own stamp on it to represent your brand and your event’s theme. Find out if you can decorate and how much scope there is, from balloons and banners to graffiti artist hire, if you have a blank canvas you could go all out and have a really Instagrammable venue. You also want to make sure you have a space that encourages networking and involvement as well as looking awesome.
And Then The Best Bit…
The theme! This is an essential part of making an event enticing for bloggers. You want to select a theme that represents your business and look at several variations before deciding on a final idea. The best way to approach the theme is to write down as many themes as you can think of and then narrow it down to the best three. For example, are you inviting food bloggers, fashion bloggers, beauty bloggers? Whatever it may be, partner up with suitable local businesses to make it a success and give a unique offering to the bloggers. With your final ideas, create a mood board which includes photos and ideas about how each of the event themes would look like, include all your ideas for activities, decorations, canapes etc. Then, decide which theme looks to be the most relevant and appealing for the bloggers you have in mind, but also keep in mind and be realistic about your budget.
Now What Will Your Bloggers Be Doing?
You need to give your bloggers something incredible to write about and take photos of. Look at your own skill set and your business, what is your unique selling point? Can you get the bloggers engaged with your company and hooked on your USP? For example, could you put on a masterclass, workshop or live demo? What about VIP Treatments? Can you offer bloggers a complimentary facial, manicure, hair styling session or massage?
What about a speaker? You want the bloggers to have plenty to write about so either you could give a talk yourself or get a speaker in. Following that, you could also offer Q&A Sessions and one to one interviews with industry specialists and guest speakers. This is often popular with bloggers as they can create exclusive content for their blog as the answers to their questions won’t have been shared publicly with everyone at the event. You could also offer tours of the venue with plenty of opportunities for bloggers to take photos. If you run a business where you can give bloggers an interesting “behind the scenes tour” and show them the masters at work, how things are made in test kitchens for example, and they can learn about the development process of your product from start to finish.
Finally, you need to think about what food and snacks you’re going to be putting on for the bloggers, if you have a restaurant then you’re sorted, if not, could you collaborate with a local cafe or food supplier offering them the incentive of free publicity from the bloggers as well.
You could do the same with goodies for the bloggers to take away, get some local businesses to donate something for the bloggers.
Make sure you connect with everyone on Social Media to promote the event and also to follow up with everyone after it. Good Luck!
