How bloggers can add value working with PRs
Posted by admin on March, 7th 2011
Every day, more and more PR companies are developing blogger outreach programmes to enhance their client services portfolio. But what is blogger outreach and how does it work?
Put simply, blogger outreach programmes are where PRs approach bloggers who are prominent in their field and ask them very nicely to feature their client’s latest news.
This was great to start with for PRs, but over time bloggers started to feel taken advantage of. Here they were playing a part in a business’ publicity machine for free and with few benefits for themselves. Rightly so, very quickly the industry had to change. However, some PRs still don’t seem to respect the impact that bloggers (and copywriters) have on their readership.
Blogger outreach programmes should be mutually beneficial. PRs need to realise that bloggers are mostly people who work on their website in their spare time, so if they have built up an amazing website then they definitely deserve this to be recognised. Bloggers can be added to media list databases such as Media Atlas but many PRs find bloggers through simple Google searches and approach with press releases and emails about the products they are pushing.
At JPR Marketing, we think bloggers should get the respect they deserve, but at the same time think that bloggers should understand the part they play if they choose to get involved with advertisers.
Tips for PRs working with bloggers:
- Respect bloggers just as you would a journalist. Don’t send emails being rude to bloggers who haven’t been as complimentary about your client’s products as you may have liked. Just because they are not part of the traditional media it doesn’t mean you should be any less professional than usual.
- There is nothing wrong with sweetening the deal a little bit. If you are doing the PR for a beauty product range, low-cost freebies for bloggers help build your relationship with them and next time you want to share your client’s news with them, they may feel more inclined to give you precious editorial space.
- Be fair, if you are requesting advertising space then a blogger is quite entitled to expect reasonable remuneration.
- Recognise how you can add value to a blogger’s readership. Only ever send relevant press releases (it’s no good sending something from a automotive client to a blogger who writes about health and fitness). If you have promotional literature that you can send to an interested blogger then do so.
Bloggers themselves are not always perfect but there are no industry standards outlining how they should conduct themselves. Coming up: How bloggers can work with PRs to add value to their website.
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