Bloggers have advice for public relations professionals. Don’t send them irrelevant requests or ask them to write about products that could not possibly have any interest to their audience.
Bloggers receive email pitches all the time, writes Lauren Modery, a freelance writer and blogger of hipstercrite.com, in a Medium post. Many of the email pitches follow a similar pattern. The writers claim they read the blog and praise it, and then promptly promote a product unrelated to the blog’s topic, indicating that they did not actually read the blog, but lied. (A humor blog is not the place to sell diapers.)
The “pitch” emails ask the blogger to write about something that serves no purpose for the blog – and without compensation. “Most of us cannot be bought, and the assumption that we would give away free advertorials for something that is not in line with our blogs is disrespectful,” she says.
Bloggers are Not Journalists
She urges PR personnel and others involved in blogger outreach to understand that bloggers are not journalists. Most make little or no money from their blogs. Most blogs are a labor of love, not a platform to promote other people’s products.
“Now, there are bloggers who do pimp out their blogs, and I challenge publicists/managers/social media peeps/brands to learn who those blogs are and not blindly email every blog they can get contact info on,” Modery says.
In a blog post inspired by real emails from publicists, she delivers inept PR pitchers some of their own palaver. The post is titled: “Publicists, Please Stop Asking Bloggers to Write for Free.”
Hi, Publicist!
I hope this email finds you well.
I’m a big fan of [your PR business name here]. I think your style is fresh and unique, and I just loved your recent press release about the company that makes chocolate-covered underwear.
I wanted to reach out because I have something I think you’ll really be interested in: me! Would you be interested in representing me for free? I’m a really unique, innovative writer, and I’d love to hear your take on me. I’m reaching out to different publicists, and I’ll be sharing the best press releases on my social media channels. Let me know if you’d like to schedule a time for me to be interviewed; I’m happy to set it up! I can send along high-res photos and other assets. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you in advance!
Best,
Blogger
The Question of Paying Bloggers
Here’s the misunderstanding. Many bloggers may not realize that brands cannot make undisclosed payments for product endorsements. Federal Trade Communication rules prohibit companies from paying bloggers for product endorsements unless they disclose the financial arrangement. Although bloggers are not officially journalists, paying a blogger to write about a brand would be like paying a newspaper editor to run a press release.
The rationale for the rule? Payment wipes away independence – and creates a payola-type situation. Brands that don’t follow the FTC rules face substantial fines. Last year, the agency penalized ADT, a home security firm, for paying two influential bloggers to endorse its services while not disclosing financial arrangements. ADT allegedly paid the bloggers to be spokespersons on the NBC “Today” show for its home security system, according to The Washington Post.
Besides facing FTC fines, companies can suffer tarnished reputations and loss of consumer trust.
The FTC considers bartering of products or services as payment. However, the lines become unclear for product reviews. Many brands provide bloggers with sample products for review. Journalists at traditional media are now usually required purchase the products or to return testing samples; bloggers are likely to keep the samples.
Many blogs, especially those of well-established influencers, accept advertising. However, many PR professionals lack an advertising budget.
How to Reach out to Bloggers
Rather than blindly sending emails and acting as if you’ve read their blog, bloggers suggest these outreach strategies.
Get to know them. Becoming familiar with the blogger and personalizing the relationship are essential. Marketers who “go the extra mile” to develop a personal relationship stand out and are better remembered.
Find blogger’s preferred contact method. Over half the bloggers prefer email communications, with Twitter direct messages a distant second. Unlike journalists, most bloggers do not publish a phone contact.
Be relevant. Irrelevant guest post pitches, scattergun PR distribution and a lack of understanding of a blogger’s core audience are common annoyances to bloggers.
Be clear upfront. Bloggers appreciate knowing what brands expect from them upfront. They like to learn in the brand’s initial outreach exactly what type of placement the brand expects and what they’ll receive in return.
Bottom Line: Receiving off base requests for publicity is the bane of a blogger’s life. PR and marketing professionals who send canned emails and fail to learn about the blog’s topic only annoy bloggers. A targeted approach and developing deep relationships are the keys to successful pitches to bloggers.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
Generally, the reason behind this is that most site owners use outsourcing to do the outreach job without educating them well about their target and goals.