PR Agencies: Leave bloggers alone!
The best way to reach bloggers is to become one.
About a year ago, I had started a blog for the company I was working for, and out of no where, I got a pitch from a PR Agency. How ironic– the ‘pitcher’ being pitched.
To be honest, at first I was a little excited, then gravely disappointed. The client, I’m sure was paying a lot of money to this agency to diffuse its news and the pitch was so off. Granted my blog doesn’t *quite* have the readership of the New York Times, but if you’re going to do anything at all, it doesn’t hurt to put a tiny ounce of effort in.
The agency person acknowledged I blogged about email marketing, which was a great start, but it was all downhill from there. He sent the email to our info@ address; a fair assumption when you don’t have someone’s contact info. However a quick five-second visit to my blog would have revealed my email address posted front and centre, above-the-fold for all to see. This wasn’t the only pitch I’ve received from PR agencies, but definitely the most notable – though I’ve never received a particularly well done one.
One thing I’ve learned from my adventures as both a company PR rep and a blogger, is that if you want to reach bloggers–it’s a lot easier if you are one. Not only do you share a vested interest (if you’re sharing a common audience), but you also have link leverage. Bloggers want links from other blogs, and if you can offer one (especially a quality one)
While I’m definitely contradicting what I’ve said before, I stand firm that the best way to reach a blogger is when you approach one blogger-to-blogger. Like the traditional media, it’s not only important to understand the individual publication, but the medium as well. If you aren’t in a position to blog, you can help someone within your client’s organization. If a blog is a bad fit for the company, well you probably don’t need to be pitching bloggers in the first place.
One little warning, however, is bloggers need to be transparent. If you’re blogging on behalf of a client, be honest and upfront about it, because if other bloggers were to find out, they’d love to tear you apart, and you just might learn that not all publicity is good.
Let me be a little more positive here for one minute–aside from getting coverage there are lots of benefits to writing your own blog, including helping to boost your company’s (or client’s) online presence Blogs are great for search engine optimization, help build customer loyalty and relationships with other prominent blogger in the industry. Also, if you’re in PR, I’ll assume you love writing, which makes blogs a labour of love. Perhaps you’re only roadblock is client buy-in, but building a business case for blogging is likely much easier than a lot of other things you do!
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Well said, Kelly. I think we as PR pitchers have gotten a bit lazy (well, maybe we always were). We have a list and email our stuff to everyone on it, without taking the time to turn “news release distribution” into real pitching, where we research every single contact to whom we’re sending it.
I’m as guilty as the rest. Sometimes the client can’t afford a newswire release, so I send it to everyone. But in my defense, not bloggers. And I go back later and do send individual pitches to reporters and bloggers I think will want to write about it. It’s rare to get hits off a blast out, but almost always successful with the pitches.
Hey Carla,
Thanks for the comment! I don’t even think it’s laziness so much as time/budgets constraints (like you mentioned). Especially when dealing with clients who don’t ‘get’ media relations and/or aren’t willing to pay.
I’ll definitely admit I’m spoiled on the client side. It’s a lot easier to target pitches when you are already fully immersed in the industry.
I consider that beside Your site there is future!