When PR Companies get it wrong

Following on from my posts about how brands can work with bloggers and for bloggers how to write reviews, I thought I’d look at how to develop a good blogger relationship.

If you are a brand/PR company looking to work with bloggers my first tip would be do your research! Sounds simple but you’d be surprised how many times I am emailed with information/products/press releases about things that just aren’t appropriate to me, my family and my readers.

Example one :- a card company contacting me asking me to review their online ecards on Charlie Moo’s – where I sell a range of my own designed moo inspired cards – I’m all for supporting small businesses but I don’t really want to promote you to my own customer base. Sorry.

Example two :- a PR company asking us to review a product, me saying that Olive is nearly 3 and a toy for a 12mth old arriving. It’s probably a great toy if you are 12mths! But when you are nearly 3 it’s snoozeville!  Then finding out this is standard a large proportion the bloggers involved in this campaign received age inappropriate toys? What does this achieve?

Example three :- getting emails addressed to Charlie – er he is my 6 year old son. It takes 2 seconds to click on the about is page on Charlie Moo’s and see my name clearly labelled Joanne.  Getting a name right and making the initial contact personal is vital.  I really dislike being called Jo so this irks me somewhat too.

When writing your initial contact email – take the time to read a couple of blog posts and the about us page. Know the person and their family and what you want to achieve from working with them.  Don’t be suckered in by stats, blog awards and rankings these are great but if the blog doesn’t fit your current target market then its not beneficial.

Follow the bloggers social media presence, when you see them talking about your brand (as most of the time bloggers will tag the brand in order to 1. show they are using it 2. provide Joe Public with the resources to get their own) reply to their comments, thank them for using the products, so glad you like them, RT, favourite, share – this all makes the blogger feel valued by you as a brand = better relationship.

Be open with the blogger ask them what they’d like to gain from working with your brand.  What ideas, suggestions they have? No blogger wants to be promoting the same Press Release/Article as another 10, so make them feel special.

Are you a blogger do you have any tips to working with brands? Are you a brand with a great example of developing a blogger outreach programme? Then leave a comment below or email me – I love having guest bloggers.

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