K Street Cafe

Last week, The Cato Institute placed a full page ad in many major newspapers with a statement that showed there is not full agreement among economists about Obama’s stimulus plan.

But long before the ink was ever set to paper, thousands of people across the country had already seen the ad, and were commenting on it and sharing it with friends online.

By making the ad available to bloggers before it ran in the papers, Cato was able to generate a media buzz long before our main product even existed. Most of all, we gave bloggers the opportunity to scoop old media giants like The New York Times.

Here’s how to do it:

1) Start with well-known allies: When running a campaign, make a list of the bloggers you know are not only going to post your product, but will actively help spread the word.

2) Make your product available in a number of different forms: Not everyone likes a PDF, and not everyone fancies an embed code. Give bloggers the option. Send them the PDF, JPG and the embed code of your product so they can choose how they want to share it.

3) Lead by example: Be sure to post the product on your blog first. How’s it going to look if you’re asking all these bloggers to post something, and you haven’t even posted it yourself?

4) Engage your Twitter community: Be sure only to ask for retweets when necessary. In Cato’s case, we want to make sure people know that if we ask for retweets, it’s something very important.

5) If bloggers help you spread your message, thank them: In the blogosphere, the hyperlink is the highest form of gratitude. At Cato, I try to keep bloggers engaged by linking to them on Cato@Liberty every few days.

6) Follow up: Even if your campaign is nearly over, be sure to take advantage of the opportunity by making personal contact with bloggers who helped you along the way. If they live in the area, treat them like you would a mainstream reporter and take them to lunch. After all, they helped fight for your cause.

7) Create two versions of the product for both old and new media: For example, Cato created a special online version of the ad that bloggers can put on their own site during the stimulus debate. Any blogger can simply copy and paste the code found here by clicking on “Spread the word.”

By taking a few extra steps to engage bloggers, you will keep your campaign alive long after last week’s newspapers are crumpled up and thrown into the recycling bin.