Targeting a blogger is just like targeting any other member of the media reporters, critics, and so on. You send information their way and, if you're persistent and a little bit lucky, they mention you or your products in their writing.
Except it isn't quite exactly the same. You don't reach bloggers the same way you reach newspaper or magazine writers. And they're not searching for the same things, either. There are several subtle differences of which you need to be aware.
As with most PR efforts, reaching bloggers starts with you treating them as people, not just contacts on the list. Sending out blind emails or making cold calls isn't going to work; you need to establish a personal relationship with one of these folks. You have to learn a little about them, starting with their names. Discover what they like and don't like, that is easy enough to do by reading their blog posts. Get a judge of the temperament, what gets them excited, the things they really hate, and so forth and so on. Get inside their minds.
Once you're comfortable with how a blogger thinks, it's time for you to introduce yourself. Not using a press release or unsolicited email, actually, but and then leave comments on the blogger's posts. That's right, you make yourself known by posting a comment or two or three. This establishes you as a participant in that blog's community, less an outsider wanting PR favors. So you should get to know the blogger through his posts and let him get to know you through your comments. Then you can attempt an immediate contact, typically via email. Introduce yourself, reference some of the aforementioned posts and comments, and allow the blogger know you'd be glad to supply him with any information he may find useful. Plant the seeds, as it were.
Then, when it comes time that there's some news you want to publicize, call in your favors. Email the blogger and tell him what's cooking. Plug your product or service or anything you're plugging and suggest that the blogger may want to mention it in an upcoming post. Point out the way the blog's readers may be interested in or take advantage of this information. Make it seem like readers should hear about this news. And offer to provide more information or resources when the blogger needs them.
Knowing how bloggers tend to work will help you in this task. Unlike traditional journalists who've a traditional 9-to-5 workday, bloggers don't necessarily keep your same hours. Some bloggers have day jobs and blog in their spare time, so it might be better to contact these bloggers in the evenings or on weekends.
Obviously, because you're both working online, you need to communicate online, as well. That means email rather than postal mail and instant messaging instead of telephone calls. Find out what the blogger prefers and go that route.
In regards to what you send the blogger, a traditional printed pr release or press kit has gone out. Instead, come up with an electronic press kit, something you can send to bloggers via email. The e-mail message itself should probably function as the press release; use attachments to send product photos along with other key items. That email press release, by the way, should include a link back to whatever it is you're promoting. That might be your company's home page but more likely should be a passionate landing page with this PR event. You need to send the blogger's followers to a web page that relates directly to whatever it is the blogger wrote; don't rely on generic links.
You should also include your own contact information in the email therefore the blogger can contact you directly for more information. Most bloggers wish to personalize the information they present, and that means you shouldn't expect exact regurgitation of your press announcements. Instead, help bloggers turn your message into something unique to their blogs.
By the way, bloggers tend not to react too well to traditional press releases. Instead, make the accompanying email conversational and personal. Use summary sentences to highlight main topics but always bring the content around to how it will benefit this blogger and the blog's readers. That means customizing your press releases for each individual blogger, but it's an effort well spent. As to who you should target, do your research and find out which blogs are read by your current customers or desired customers. Identify those blogs that are big in your industry, those that possess the most followers and also the most impact. These blogs are the ones that matter.
Once identified, you should treat these bloggers while you would members from the mainstream press. Treat them as friends, yes, but as very important friends. Forms of friends using their own unique worldviews and their own very definite opinions. Don't expect to tell a blogger what to write; you can suggest all that's necessary, but in the end they'll do what they need to do and absolutely nothing more than that. Bloggers, in short, are beyond your control. They're not corporate drones, and they don't work for you. They're important people with their own opinions and should be treated as a result.
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This article was sent to us by:
Kenneth Anderson at
03192011
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