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Blogger Relations
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
But why is are blogger relations so vital in today's PR world and how does one go about wooing these new influential writers?
A lot of attention has been focused to blogger relations recently. Guy Kawasaki wrote a blog entry on how to suck up to bloggers, talking about building contacts before they are needed as well as paying attention to the helpful influence of schwag. BusinessWeek's Nichola Saminather also covered the topic in "Buttering up the Blogosphere." The idea that blogs and the Internet have changed the path of information dissemination is starting to sink in and go mainstream. Bloggers are important and we need to be paying attention because buzz is being generated by the blogosphere and spreading to more traditional media instead of the other way around.
Okay, so blogs are important, but how do you reach bloggers? Of course, one of the main lessons is that you have to read the blog, understand the blog, and write to that specific blogger as opposed to a mass email. This should be obvious. When you're sending out news and want it to get picked up, who exactly will a generic blast email work on? The next lesson is that if the news you're pitching is good, it will most likely get picked up. This is much the same as traditional PR outreach, just adapted for a new medium and a different type of news source.
The main difference is the role that PR plays. In traditional media, there is a symbiotic relationship between PR professionals and journalists. The relationship isn't always easy, but at least there is some mutual respect. PR agents need journalists to get coverage for clients and journalists needed PR people to make their jobs easier and to help them find news, trends, interviews, and research for their stories. Bloggers don’t have the same deadlines or need to post “new” news. They can break a story or take a break and comment on other stories going on at the moment. They don’t need the constant flow of information from you and other bias sources and would often prefer to find it themselves. So, while PR people have something to offer in the way of interviews and a heads up on news, it is often viewed with skepticism and mistrust. That brings us back to why Kawasaki's emphasis on building up the relationships with bloggers before you need their help and how this is of vital importance.
When a blogger recognizes you as an interested reader, sees a link you've given to the blog or insightful comment you've left, that is when you can begin a dialog. Engaging one influential blog that focuses specifically in the area of your client's news will get you more targeted, worthwhile coverage than a massive campaign to get the news to everyone. If they don't hear about it all, it won't get covered, but if they do find out and it's not from you, the buzz will be louder. And that's the key to the blogosphere.Labels: blog, pr
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posted by Jessica Ek |
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