How We Constructed the Buffer Visitor Posting Program

Six months in the past, we observed an attention-grabbing phenomenon. Every week, we (the Content material workforce) would obtain overflowing inboxes full of requests to publish articles on the Buffer weblog. This was all over the place, from our emails to our LinkedIn accounts. 

Often, we’d pay these messages no thoughts – visitor posts simply weren’t part of our content material technique. So what modified?

Nicely, we have been additionally understaffed on the time and in search of methods to extend our content material output. It felt like the suitable time to rethink and ask ourselves: what if we arrange a visitor posting program?

Now, this isn’t a brand new factor to the Buffer Content material workforce – there’s precedent. In 2012, we usually had writers like Matt Ragland share their distinctive views on the weblog.

Over time, this observe modified as we leveled up as a workforce and have become extra targeted on content material objectives and we moved away from working with visitor authors due to the modifying time it took. And, after all, there’s an almost decade-long hole between then and now, so we additionally confronted the distinctive problem of determining tips on how to replace that previous program for right now’s Web.

Nonetheless, the concept was taking form, and in a couple of weeks, the Visitor Posting Program was born, to rousing success. We’ve printed 17 visitor posts which have introduced in over 26,000 pageviews to the weblog, with some items performing in addition to in-house content material. We’ve additionally had a lot success from the preliminary article asserting this system, bringing in over 45,000 pageviews and 350 signups.

You is perhaps on a Content material workforce dealing with the identical questions we confronted whereas growing this system. So, on this article, I share how the Visitor Put up Program got here to be and the way we’re interested by its future.

Conducting analysis and setting benchmarks

We dove into the most effective practices of profitable visitor posting applications. Our analysis wasn’t nearly setting guidelines; it was about understanding tips on how to outline our objectives and create one thing useful for us and our writers.

In crafting our visitor posting program, we turned to industry-leading Content material groups for inspiration. Visitor posting assets like Convertflow, Shopify, and Zapier supplied various approaches tailor-made to their distinctive viewers and model voice.

We additionally sourced recommendation from our community of Content material professionals, which boiled down to some key suggestions which have knowledgeable how we method this system.

1. Defining objectives: We set clear objectives for visitor posts so we knew what to reject or settle for from the beginning. Finally, we determined that we’re after extra various views to share with our viewers and high-quality content material. This readability has helped form our method to this system.
2. Prioritizing experience and expertise: Our analysis underscored that high quality contributors usually include a value. Nonetheless, since we didn’t have the finances for paid writers or the luxurious of gatekeeping, we’ve clarified that we don’t pay for visitor posts however deal with them as a chance to reveal your writing to our current viewers. This implies we obtain many pitches we are able to’t publish, nevertheless it has helped us preserve the standard we attempt for on the weblog.
3. Streamlined modifying and publishing: We created a strong course of for submissions, edits, communication, and distribution. Due to our strict processes, we’ve been capable of publish the strongest content material out of all of the pitches we obtain. Robust pitches and publish examples have change into essential in guiding contributors towards our requirements.
4. Beginning small: Initially, we reached out inside our networks for high-caliber contributions. This helped us set a benchmark for high quality and experience earlier than scaling up. We plan to standardize this course of and repeat it extra ceaselessly to get high quality writers within the door.

These insights have been instrumental in growing a visitor publish program that was not only a submission portal for random pitches however a platform for beneficial, expert-driven content material.

Establishing pointers and FAQS

After conducting the analysis, we used the data we gathered to stipulate the weather of this system.

First, we repurposed our current weblog pointers and elegance information. It’s because altering our type for visitor posters would conflict with our want for excellent content material just like what our readers would anticipate on the weblog.

In our Visitor Posting pointers, we share details about:

• Put up size
• Voice, tone, and elegance
• Mechanics round emoji utilization and capitalization
• The kind of content material we’re in search of – and what kind of pitch is probably to be accepted. We’ve since included examples of nice pitches.

We additionally developed some FAQs that may come up, similar to “What ought to I write for the Buffer weblog?” and “What does a typical pitch appear to be?” We additionally included steering on our viewers classes and the anticipated timeline for working with us.

Setting these pointers has helped us internally know when to reject a pitch outright. Nonetheless, we go away room for instinct when pitches that don’t match our pointers nonetheless really feel like our viewers will love them.

Automation has been instrumental within the strategy of growing the Visitor Posting Program. We use a couple of instruments to gather and handle visitor posts.

• Submissions are despatched in Typeform. We gather names, contact data, and the pitch.

• These submissions are then despatched by way of Notion, by way of an integration with Typeform that was pretty straightforward to arrange.

• Communication is dealt with with a mixture of Gmail and Zapier. We ship acceptance emails manually and automate rejection emails due to the sheer scale of pitches we obtain. These emails element potential fixes and go away room for brand spanking new pitches.

• As soon as we’ve accepted a pitch, we create a folder in Google Drive for the author to ship their outlines and articles. All content material is anticipated to be shared by way of Google Docs.

From acceptance, each side of the editorial course of is dealt with manually, as we ship emails backwards and forwards until an article is totally fashioned and prepared for publishing.

Figuring out the assessment and choice course of

We’re strict with our requirements, however the suitable posts get by way of – so you probably have pitch and expertise with writing, your possibilities of getting printed on our weblog are excessive.

We prioritize content material that shares a first-person expertise with the subject. So, in the event you’re pitching to us about rising on Instagram, there must be proof connected for us to maneuver ahead. Alternatively, an awesome pitch aggregates data from a number of sources to create a cohesive, beneficial piece of content material.

We have now two classes in Notion for working by way of pitches:

• Pitch obtained: That is the place Typeform sends all of the pitches we obtain, made potential by way of a useful and easy-to-setup integration. I’ll normally parse by way of the pitches on this record for gems each different day to maintain up with the brand new submissions, then share them with the workforce.
• Pitch accepted: If we agree {that a} pitch seems to be adequate to maneuver ahead, that is the subsequent stage for it.

Reviewing the articles is sort of just like how we function as a Content material workforce. Our essential inner communication instrument is Slack, the place we’ll share new updates from visitor posters. 

Between Kirsti (Lang, a Content material Author on the workforce) and I, we choose which pitches we’d prefer to deal with and transfer ahead with communication from there with our workforce lead, Hailley Griffis. We additionally loop in our social media supervisor, Mitra Mehvar, for social content material.

We work in six levels after accepting a pitch:

1. Define in progress: We request an overview that may make up 30 % of the ultimate article. This permits us to see what path the author plans for his or her article and make corrections earlier than they get too deep into engaged on the publish. As soon as we obtain an overview, we transfer it to the subsequent stage.
2. Define in assessment: That is the place outlines we’ve obtained wait whereas we assessment them. Though we not often have to show a publish again on the define stage, it occurs sufficient that conserving this stuff right here is an effective observe.
3. Article in progress: As soon as an overview has been accepted, we transfer on to the drafting section, when the author is requested to share a date when they are going to have their article to us.
4. Article in assessment: That is the place articles are moved as soon as we begin modifying them. We’ll normally tag one another in Slack with updates about new articles which were added to the Google Drive folders of any author. We very not often should reject totally fashioned articles, as we’ve normally accomplished a number of checks. 
5. Article accepted/scheduled: At this stage, all proofreading and modifying are full, so we schedule it in line with our content material calendar.
6. Article printed: The final section is for printed articles, the place all of the content material that has gone out on the weblog sits. 

Formalizing the method this fashion permits us to see the progress of all of the content material coming in on one dashboard. This fashion, we are able to spot gaps in communication and request updates in case somebody has been missed (which occurs on a regular basis on a workforce as small as ours).

Outcomes up to now

We’ve been operating the Program lengthy sufficient to have some attention-grabbing outcomes. Listed below are a few of the high metrics up to now.

• We’ve obtained 606 pitches to our submission kind in 6 months.
• The article sharing the main points about tips on how to pitch and submit has introduced in additional than 45,000 web page views in natural visitors and contributed to over 350 signups.
• We’ve printed 17 visitor posts which have introduced in over 26,000 pageviews to the weblog.

All in all, the visitor publish program has been extremely beneficial to us as a workforce and to our viewers. 

A few of our favourite pitches and visitor posts up to now

We’ve gotten sufficient pitches and printed sufficient posts that we’ve been capable of determine which of them are prone to be hits with our viewers. Listed below are a few of our favorites.

1. Anna Burgess Yang: Anna wrote the primary visitor publish we ever printed, and there’s a purpose we moved so quick. She offered the suitable mixture of details about herself (her experience) and the main points about what she would write (the pitch). Learn her article right here.

2. Akshita Sharma: With 7,000 pageviews so far, Akshita has written the top-performing weblog publish of the visitor publish program. Whereas her pitch wasn’t pushed by private expertise, it nonetheless ticked two different containers: viewers relevance, and we hadn’t written about it earlier than. Learn her publish right here.

3. Matt Giaro: Matt’s pitch was easy and succinct whereas telling us precisely what to anticipate from his article – and he delivered. His article has introduced in over 1,000 web page views to the weblog up to now. Learn it right here.

We’re conserving this up subsequent 12 months

Going ahead, we wish to enhance the standard of the content material from the visitor publish program. In 2024, we’re seeking to publish a minimum of one visitor publish per week. In step with this objective, we’ll even be rising the strictness of our editorial course of, guaranteeing that solely the most effective articles make their method by way of to our content material calendar.

Do you wish to write for us? Check out our pointers, then submit your pitch!