This week we’re kicking off a new series, looking at examples of how brands have worked with bloggers to reach new audiences. We’ve got some great case studies lined up for you over the coming months, but we thought where better to kick things off than with an example from our very own blogger in residence, Jo Middleton, aka Slummy Single Mummy.

That’s me! I’m going to switch awkwardly into the first person now so I can tell you all about my recent project with Direct Line for Business.

So, business insurance. It’s not sexy is it? It’s one of those things that a lot of people need, but no one really cares about. Unless they have their laptop stolen or get sued of course. How then do you reach out to people and get them interested in a product they might not even know they need?

Through bloggers, that’s how.

My audience is your classic 25-45 year woman, and a lot of them, like me, are self-employed. The majority, as it turns out, don’t know much about business insurance. They don’t know for example that if they are giving social media advice to brands, they probably should have some professional indemnity cover. When they hear that from an insurance company though, they’re not convinced. When they hear it from another 25-45 year old self-employed woman, who they trust and who they can relate to, it’s a different story.

Head of Marketing at Direct Line for Business, Sue Wilson said, “We worked with Jo on a number of occasions creating engaging content which was distributed across various social media channels. The content very quickly reached a targeted audience who were interested to learn more.”

To reach as many people as possible, my project with Direct Line for Business consisted of several elements. I love it when brands come to me with an idea that consists of more than just a sponsored blog post, as it shows they appreciate the value of working across multiple platforms to amplify their message. My advice to bloggers, when approached by brands, would always be to push for something bigger – a brand might have have thought for example of the benefits of a Twitter chat, so tell them! You’re the expert here.

So what did I do with Direct Line for Business?

Well, the foundation of the work was a series of blog posts, aimed at raising awareness of the need for business insurance, in the context of running your own business. We created a post about the important things to think about when self-employed, and looked at the potential risks associated with not being properly insured.

We’ve talked before about the importance of video, and Direct Line for Business understood this. Together, we created an informal, interview style video with Nick Breton, Head of Direct Line for Business, that was hosted by them, but also shared by me. The video has had several thousand views already, and is a great ongoing resource.

Finally, we hosted an hour long Twitter chat, all about the highs and lows of working for yourself. To support this, and amplify the reach, I spoke to the Government’s Business Support Helpline, and they came on board as a partner. They have a great following on Twitter, and this really helped to give the chat a boost.

All three of us promoted the chat extensively, I crowdsourced questions in advance, and we were all on hand during the chat to answer questions. By using a specific hashtag, we were then able to review the success of the chat by looking at impressions and reach.

“Working with Jo and other influential bloggers helps us reach a large community of people who may not naturally be looking for insurance related information,” said Sue Wilson. “Many home businesses don’t understand what insurance they may need but by starting a conversation with bloggers, we can highlight the various business risks and create awareness about insurance and the need for various products.”

‘Influencer outreach’, as mentioned, will be a series of blogs from Jo, so please stay tuned / keep your eyes peeled / look out.

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