The thought provoking kelby Carr has inspired me to list some great ways that marketing/ Pr people can honor a blogger. Bloggers sharing info about what moves us is the best way for marketers & PR reps to craft successful outreach approaches. We can work together with marketers to effectively generate positive word of mouth about products & brands. As Kelby’s post notes, many marketers do get it right, let’s help a few more to join her great list!
Curating a List to Honor Great Bloggers?
1. Do your homework - don’t just throw together a jumble of names from different niches, remove the phrase “Mommy Blogger” it’s been done to death & well, we hate it!
2. Make your list relevant - featuring a beauty blogger on your fishing lure website has zero meaning to anybody.
3. Ask before you list - Contact each blogger you are honoring, ask if they want to be listed. Request a short bio and the contact info they’d like you to publish.
4. Do NOT create lists that are voting contests! We see right through this ploy & loathe being pitted against our friends in order to drive traffic to your website.
5. Do not harass a blogger into promoting your list, do not drop links to your list on the blogger’s Facebook Fan page or website, if they want their readers to know about your list, they will tell them!
Direct Email Outreach
1. Address the blogger by name – terms like “Dear Mommy blogger” will get your email promptly deleted.
2. Know something about the blogger – I recently received 2 outreach mails containing quotes of things I’d written, both PR reps wanted small favors.. and got them!
3. Be Clear in purpose - We’re both busy, tell me in your 1st paragraph what this is about. I can’t work with you if I don’t know what you want.
4. If you want a favor – Just ask for it! Tell us you need help, explain what consideration you’ll give us going forward, don’t BS us with flowery words about how urgent it is that we share your info with our readers.
5. Follow Through – If you didn’t get a response to your press release, do not email the blogger demanding to know why they haven’t reviewed your widget or promoted your info. I’ve had several of these emails lately & hope this isn’t becoming a trend.
At a Event
1. Carefully Create Your Invite List – Invite bloggers, don’t make them “tweet to win” invites for weeks, it’s demeaning & a turn off to the customers you’re hoping to attract.
2. Be Clear about the Event – Is this a cocktail party, is it a formal sit down presentation? Will there be hands on time with products? Please Let us know.
3. Consider the Comfort of Your Guests – Your goal in hosting this event is to create positive buzz about a product, service or company. Structure your party around proving comfort for the bloggers invited!
4. Swag – Everybody loves a thoughtful free gift but make forming a connection the focus of your party. Have knowledgeable reps present, have products there for hands on time & pictures. Ship your gift to the bloggers after the party.
5. Follow up – Do not assume that you can now expect the blogger to write about or promote various events simply because he/she stopped at your trade show booth or attended your wine & cheese party. Do thank the blogger for coming & include info about the products featured at your event including pictures. Outline any upcoming campaigns or promo’s you have coming up & let the blogger know how she/he can be included in them if possible.
So here’s my list of outreach that works & approaches that leave me cold. Have you been approached by a marketer/ PR rep in a way that made you feel honored as a blogger? Any approaches that stopped you cold & turned you off? Let me know.
I love you Jean, and I hope companies read this post. It’s excellent.
Jean, this is perfect and *cough* so timely! I’ve gotten some great pitch emails and some terrible ones and I completely agree with your lists!
Great list. I think this definitely can work both ways and find that it’s really important to keep all of these things in mind when working on brand outreach.
Thanks for the great tips!
Jean, this was excellent. Now I realize that I have been getting pitched much more than I realized. They’ve just been sucky pitches that I thought were spam-a-lam-a-ding-dong.
I feel a little better now knowing that I am at least getting rotten pitches. That’s better than none at all, right? Now here’s hoping that I can start getting some worthwhile ones, too.
“Dear Mommy Blogger”??? Seriously???
Dude! That’s just…rude! Very condescending!
Thanks for this, Jean. It’s helpful to know, now that some of these things are appearing in my mailbox, what is what!
We can only hope they will start taking this advice. When I get a pitch email and it doesn’t have my name or it is about something completely unrelated to my blog, I delete it instantly. I spend too much time each day dealing with emails that I have no interest in.
Here’s what I love…when PR people pitch me and address my e-mail as such:
Dear Keenly,
Blah blah blah….
My blog is Keenly Kristin. What person would think my name is “Keenly”?
Seriously. That’s just lazy, ignorant, disinterested, and/or stupid. They can’t even get my name right, but I should jump through hoops and promote the heck out of them and give them 110%. Usually, for free. Yeah, that makes sense.
Bottom line: I hope PR people get this message. I don’t have to be treated like a queen. But I could be treated a little better than I have been. That being said…not ALL PR people get it “wrong.” Some get it really right.
Not a blogger, but wondering if any of you have responded with “Dear PR Rep”?
Best. Post. Ever.
Even worse than “Dear Mommy Blogger” is “Dear Mommy Blogger” when you’re a dad.