I’m opening a discussion with bloggers and PR professionals about engaging with the Blogosphere from a PR perspective. I’ve seen a few blogs recently talking about communication with PR agencies and how they should deal with them.
As you are all aware, blogs are journals that generally represent the personality of the author. The majority of bloggers like to post information about things that interest them, and their posts tend to show some form of bias. Tom Hume has raised an important point on his blog about blogging and pr.
Tom mentions that he has recently received a lot of emails from PR companies informing him of latest tech news and/or offers to review or meet tech companies. I’m sure many other bloggers share the same view as Tom in that they are divided over how to deal with these PR approaches.
On the one hand, if you target the right blogs, they will be genuinely interested in the news you have to offer, but as soon as it gets to the point when the author is posting information about a product or service that they don’t like, this is where things go wrong.
One way to avoid this situation is for the author to always make their own thoughts and opinions known. If they don’t like product X, they should let their readers know why. People like to read blogs because they are an engaging source of news relevant to their own interests. They also like to know what others think about a specific product or service. This way, the author gains the trust and respect from their readers. Blogs are, after all, a global forum for debate.
When communicating with bloggers, it’s important to communicate at the same level. Using blog “word of mouth” is essential for promoting your product or service. It’s important to remember that many bloggers are not paid journalists and they don’t want to sit there and read through endless press releases to find the bits of information worth reading (many journalists gave this up years ago as well). The majority of bloggers have full-time jobs and write their blogs in their spare time.
A more effective method of contact is the following:
“ Hey xxxx
This new product X does Y for guys who want Z. Why don’t you check it out
here http://link.com ”
It’s vital to include a link to the story, otherwise how will readers find it? Send only targetted linkable information.
Obviously this view may not be shared with all bloggers. I am aware of many sites that like to receive press releases and have a dedicated email address for this. It all boils down to understanding who you are trying to contact.
Read the blog on a regular basis first in order to understand the views and opinions expressed by the author. Get a clear feel for how they write and how they view the industry or issues they are writing about. Also read the comments made by their readers in order to get a taste of what their views are. Without this knowledge, how do you know that they will be interested in your piece of news? Add them to your news feeds so you always know what they are talking about.
Diane Ensey at A List Review raises another interesting point, in that the agency needs to be transparent – give bloggers the information they need and tell them why they have been approached. But don’t send over too much information, give them little tasters and make them ask for more.
I fully agree with Diane in that you must remain open and honest with bloggers and don’t try to pull the wool over their eyes. You have to be prepared to take their criticism and feedback as well because this is what the Blogosphere is all about. If you receive negative feedback about your product or service, go to work directly with that person and find out exactly what the issue is. Do it publicly via the comments in their blog and ask them and their readers how to make the product/service better.
Following on from the discussion over how to engage with bloggers leads into the idea of ‘pay-per-post’. If you are not already aware, there are a few pay-per-post services currently operating – payperpost and ReviewMe are two key services. They are not exactly the same but effectively work on the same principle.
Similar to an advertorial with a print publication, Payperpost allows companies to pay bloggers to write about their product/service. The main area of controversy with Payperpost is the fact that the company can mandate whether posts be positive on the product, and disclosure of payment is optional for the blogger. Surely this method is undermining blogger credibility?
ReviewMe requires bloggers to disclose that they are being paid for the post, and advertisers cannot require a positive post. The fact that ReviewMe requires disclosure and prohibits advertisers from requiring a positive post is a good thing for blogger credibility, although some still think the very act of paying bloggers to write about a product is a very bad idea.
TechCrunch are not happy that one of their sponsors (ReviewMe) has launched this type of service, and they've notified them that they will not allow promotion of ReviewMe through TechCrunch. See the following post by Aaron Ross Powell at Symbolicorder
Let me know your thoughts
Adam