Bloggers vs PR: 7 tips for working with PRs
Monday 16 January 2012
TAGS: Blogging | Social media
Before I begin let me first state that I am well aware I’m raising my head above the proverbial parapet by writing this piece. How to work with bloggers, how not to work with bloggers, mistakes PRs make when dealing with bloggers... There has been a huge amount of posts published from bloggers on this issue and not a great deal from the PRs who, understandably, don’t want to risk upsetting the very people they need to have relationships with to do their job.
I may be the only person stupid enough to write it, or I may just enjoy prompting a little good natured debate. I prefer to think it’s the latter, but it’s entirely up to you to decide, and I’m sure you will.
In an ideal world these are the things on my blogger wishlist. Read on, digest, comment until your heart is content...
1. Make your contact details easy to find
If you want to work with PRs we need to be able to contact you, and the more barriers you put in the way, the less approaches you’ll get. If your blog is important I will spend time hunting down a way to contact you, if you’re just starting to make an impact I’m afraid that might not be the case.
We have to spend our time in the most effective way possible and account for that time we spend to our clients, so please make it easy to drop you an email or at the very least to message you on Twitter.
2. Stats, stats, stats!
It’s an awkward issue to raise, especially when as a PR you’re just trying to find out a little about a blog. Stats aren’t everything we also take into consideration of course – there are other factors such as the quality of your posts, the look and feel of your blog and the match with the client - BUT they are an important measurement. Know your monthly unique users and don’t be afraid to share that stat. If you’re comfortable displaying it on your blog in a PR/Advertising section all the better.
3. Know your Domain Authority
Blog from your own domain? You should check up on your Domain Authority. This is a number between 1 and a 100 which gives an indication of how authoritative your website is in the eyes of Google. The higher this number the better.
That link back from a product review can be incredibly important if a client is looking to improve their position on search result pages. And they often are! Like it or not the SEO benefits of that link can be an important part of the picture for a client so it makes sense to have an idea of your worth.
4. PR Policy
It’s helpful to say what kind of PR and sponsored posts you do or don’t do. If you don’t do product reviews or sponsored posts say so on a page for PR. It will stop, or at least minimize, the number of pitches you get.
An added bonus would be outlining the type of pitches you are interested in. Incredibly useful and you’re pretty much guaranteed to get more relevant pitches. Win win.
5. Reviewing Products
Everyone loves a freebie but please don’t accept a product if you have no intention of posting a review. We have a budget and a limited number of samples. If you don’t like the product, and therefore would rather not review it please tell us! We’ll be disappointed sure, but we’re not going to bite! I would much rather a blogger came back with some negative feedback, then chasing them up for weeks and getting no response.
6. More stats
Running a competition through your blog for a PR? Let them know how many entries there were, and the page views if possible. If you’re not sure how to get page view stats ask us about adding Google Analytics to your blog before the post goes live. Because we’re a digital marketing agency we’re a teensy bit obsessed with tracking so we can help you out here!
7. Respond
Everyone’s busy I know. I’m busy. If you blog and have a day job, that’s a whole lot of busy. But if you possibly can respond to a pitch, do. Just a couple of lines of acknowledgement will do the trick. ‘It’s not right for me this time’ or ‘Thanks for thinking of me but I’m more interested in...’ is always appreciated. And you never know who that PRs next client might turn out to be!
Sam Collier is the Social Marketing Manager at Silverbean. If you have any questions or would like to discuss how Silverbean can help you achieve your marketing objectives through social marketing; please contact Sam using one of the following.
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