PR and Blogger Relationships Blissdom

PR-Blogger Relations

Dina Freeman, Kelly Olexa, Presenter: Anna Lingeris

Bloggers are incredibly valuable. Online Influencers are essential part of PR.

Goal today is to make it better.

What’s behind the Corporate/PR curtain?

Current situation

• Evolving

• Rapid growth

• Experimental

• New frontier

PR deal with

• Budget
• planning process/timing

brands

• Value
• Quality
• Reach
• Resources
• Legal
• Approvals and More Approvals

Both sides need to have trust

Have to start somewhere

Things to include in Pitch

1.       Who you are?

2.       Why are you interested in working with us?

3.       What sparked your interest?

4.       What is unique and differentiated about you vx others?  Let your personality shine

5.       Short & Concise

6.       Follow Up

It’s all about the approach.

Remember to

• Same thing you ask of us…we ask of you
• Know who you are contacting
• Give them a reason to believe
• Attempt to understand their business
• Cultivate a relationship
• It’s a 2-way street

Sometimes no means no now, but may still work together in the future.

To find out who the PR person is, Google the product or look for a press release. Name often on press release or media section of website.

It’s all about relationships. Keep in touch.

PR teams contacting you for editorial purposes.

Digital agency is more from a advertising purpose. Educate them on your blog. You write editorial pieces and they could purchase an ad (if you accept ads).

Bloggers Being Paid

Each case is different. If have proposal, send the full plan and fees. Yes, should be paid for time. Pay-for-post can be dicey. In the beginning stages of figuring out where the money comes from. The PR people get this and understand, but they are having to translate all this to those in the company who don’t get it.There are companies that can not get the money internally to pay for this stuff. But if you want to build the relationships now, do it! The money could come down the line when the budget is there.

No idea is too small. PR look for good ideas. Want you to write about experiences. If you have a good idea, pitch it (well).

ROI when dealing with bloggers – Need objective & goals. No magic numbers (of blog posts or impressions).Goal was to provide experience and create buzz.

If given a pitch and you are not happy with the dollar amount, provide a counter offer. Give the specifics of what you can do, offer stats and what you want. May or may not get that, but doesn’t hurt to try. (Be prepared to lose the opportunity)

Paid media vs Earned Media

PR job is to sell their story because it’s good and unique. PR want someone else to cover it. You are more willing to believe if coming from 3rd party than from company. In the PR world, they do not want to pay for media. The higher ups think that paying bloggers means you tell them to write a good post abuot the product whether you like it or not. They view it as paying for good reviews. These are the reasons it’s sometiems tough for PR to pay bloggers. It’s the hurdles they run into in their companies.

PR want to know:

Who are you? What sparked your interest and What do you want?

Yes, brands do look at stats, but it is not all they look at. Keep doing what you are doing. PR are watching. Consistent posting, comments, community, Twitter, Facebook, references and many other things factor in.

We are all figuring this out together and there is still a lot of confusion.

Things that make you say No, not going to work with that blogger:

• Bad spelling in pitch
• Doesn’t fit the character of the company or brand
• Poor quality of posts (press releases just copy/pasted into post)
• Bad pitches
• Gimme Gimme Gimme from the blogger and it’s not a 2 way street. Should be give and take on both sides.
• Unreachable
• Entitlement
• Drama
• Not professional
• Not following deadlines

Controversial is different than being dramatic.

What PR does want? Be unique! Be ambitious, respectful. Be YOU! Keep Working at it! PR needs bloggers.

Related articles

• Blogger Outreach Remains Crucial for PR Pros (socialtimes.com)