Getting the Insiders Onside - Communicating with Bloggers and Influencers

Getting the Insiders Onside
Communicating with Bloggers and Influencers
Dave Fleet – Vice President, Edelman

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Why are we here?

For years, the media environment was clear & structured.

We knew who the media influencers were. We knew where
they worked. We knew how to reach them.

Then social media came along, and the game changed.

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• 207,000
followers

• 100-200K
monthly visitors

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• 1.1 million
YouTube
subscribers

• 228K
Facebook fans

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How Not To Work With A Blogger

 Step 1: Blogger receives irrelevant pitch.
 “The Kardashian’s once again show they are right on trend, and this is on
(sic) Mommy’s are all going to want to follow.”

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 Step 2: Blogger sends polite response humorous blowoff.
 “And here’s a picture of Wil Wheaton collating.”

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 Step 2: Blogger sends humorous blowoff.

 Step 3: PR rep’s boss mis-clicks Reply All.
 ”What a f***ing b***h!”

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 Step 4: Blogger is… less than impressed.
 “If you’ve read my blog you would know [… the importance of] public
relations companies doing research before sending form letters to
bloggers. […] So much so that I made that actual Wil Wheaton collating
paper page to combat this very sort of thing in a quick and painless way.
My blog has nothing to do with fashion, the Kardashians or pantyhose…

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 Step 5: Boss stands by his words.
 “…maybe you should be flattered that you are even viewed relevant
enough to be pitched at all…”

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 Step 5: Boss stands by his words.

 Step 6: Village burning ensues.

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Lessons to Learn

 Think twice when targeting your pitches.

 Do your research before sending... or better yet, get to
know the blogger.
 They’re not “just a blogger” – they’re influencers.

 Don’t go tit for tat with influencers.

 BONUS: “Reply All” is bad.

We need to get better at this.

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Our Agenda

 PROBLEM: What’s wrong with blogger relations
 SOLUTION: A better model for interaction
 THE FLIP SIDE: From the blogger’s perspective
 BONUS: The Paid/Unpaid Blogger Conundrum

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What's Wrong with Blogger Relations

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How Blogger Relations Often “Works”

1. Plan calls for program or product pitches

2. Company pulls list from database

3. Manager hands list to entry-level
person and says “pitch this”
4. Blogger gets bcc’d or unpersonalized pitch

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Problems With “The Norm”

 The most inexperienced people do the outreach

 No relationships built with the influencers

 Irrelevant pitches irritate recipients

 Standard pitch lists often out-of-date and generic

 Poor results; irritated bloggers

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Doing it Wrong

Pitch
Pre Pitch Pitch
Post

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Relationships
A Better Model for Interaction

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LEAF: A Better Model for Interactions

Listen

Follow-
Engage
up

Activate

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Relationships Are Key

 Know the blogger’s interests

 Know the triggers and the pain points

 Know how (and if) they like to be approached

 Know how to tailor the pitch

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Value of Relationships

Poorly-Handled Blogger Relations

True Relationship Value Growth

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LEAF: A New Model for Interactions

Listen

Follow-
Engage
up

Activate

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Authority

The degree to which
an individual is an
accepted or trusted
source of information.

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Context

The significance of
the individual in
relation to the issue,
product or
stakeholder group.

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Engagement

The degree and
depth to which the
individual and their
audience interact with
one another.

Source: xkcd.com 28

Reach

The highest number
of people that
reasonably could see
the content produced
by the individual.

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Identifying the Right People

Reach

Relevance Resonance

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Listen

Follow-
Engage
up

Activate

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Building Relationships

 “Hi, I’m Dave”
 Comment on posts
 Events – yours and others
 Sharing interesting news
 Conversation
 Do things that aren’t just work

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Listen

Follow-
Engage
up

Activate

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Objectives

 Generate awareness  Form or change an opinion
 Product launch  Drive action
 Education  Establish or regain trust
 Influence the
 Community or channel
influencers
growth
 Establish need/want
 Create a positive
association
 Product or service
comparison
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Audience Selection

Risky Consider these too!

Influencers / People who
advocates the client really care about
wants to reach your topic

Sweet spot

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Preparing Perfect Pitches

 Know what they write about

 Know where they live

 Remember their name

 Write to them personally

 Think about what’s in it for them

 Forget that “BCC” exists

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Listen

Follow-
Engage
up

Activate

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Following-up with Bloggers

 Engage with them and their readers

 Answer questions

 Correct mis-information

 Get feedback

 Say “thank you”

 Amplify their posts

 Syndicate (with permission)

 Rinse and repeat, i.e. KEEP building a relationship, not
just when you need it

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Investing in the Relationship
Tips for Bloggers

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Challenges for Bloggers

 Why should I bother to build a
relationship with PR agencies?
 Who should I build relationships
with?
 How should I go about building
those relationships?

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Why to strive to add value

 Everyone looks good – win/win!
 People want to work with you
 Life is easier for everyone
before/during/after campaign
 Agencies more likely promote you
organically to other connections

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Don’t Press the Big Red Button

 Don’t waste your time trying to educate
every agency that reaches out
 When an agency does it right, take baby
steps to be human as well
 When an agency tries to do it right, take the
time to begin investing in the relationship

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6 Tips for Working With Agencies

1. Be proactive if you want to receive outreach
2. Consider publishing pitching guidelines
3. Make connections in your area of interest
4. Think creatively, beyond the initial ask
5. Show the return
6. Be nice, professional, courteous even
when things don’t go your way

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Putting LEAF
into Action
(get it?)

 Set-up

 Resourcing

 Maintenance

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Questions?

@davefleet

dave.fleet@edelman.com

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BONUS: The Paid/Unpaid Conundrum

“Journalists get paid to write stories. I
have an audience too, so why
shouldn’t I get paid?”

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Should PR Agencies Pay Bloggers?

 Remember: PR agencies don’t pay
journalists; the outlet does

 Earned media/paid media – there’s a
difference

 Going after money is a slippery slope

 Maybe we need a new model – of more
than transactions (sound familiar?)
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THANK YOU!
@davefleet // dave.fleet@edelman.com

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