How to Build Strong Relationships with Bloggers
Posted on Fri, Jun 17, 2011
By Mike Campbell
For PR pros, interacting with bloggers can be tricky business. Blogs are a great way for companies to engage online and share ideas, and they are generally curated by intelligent, well-informed members of the industry. But often, PR practitioners recoil when they see incidents like a blogger posting and ridiculing a pitch, or even personally criticizing another practitioner in a blog.
But fear not; the likelihood of something similar happening to skillful PR pros is minimal — especially with the help of these tips:
Rely on your PR roots.
Just because you are speaking to a blogger doesn't mean you have the license to be informal, condescending or careless. Apply the same thorough, respectful and professional behavior you would if you were speaking with the New York Times.
Read, read, read for relevancy.
Do your research. See what the blogger has written about in the past, and make sure your pitch is relevant. Demonstrating knowledge of previous blogs will enhance your chances of the blogger noticing your information -- in a positive way.
Reflect on your subject matter.
Take a look at past situations in which bloggers have burned PR pros. Usually, the PR reps were out of line, or a blogger took exception to the cause they were promoting. Before you contact a blogger, think about what you are sending. Or, as in the case of Facebook’s exposed smear campaign, does your pitch rely on fear, uncertainty and doubt to garner coverage?
Have you dealt with bloggers in the past? What approaches have brought success?