Back in college, my sorority had a rule when we were voting in new members: anyone who used the word “nice” to describe a rush candidate got sprayed with a Super Soaker.
Yeah, it’s weird. But we never made the mistake of voting in women just because they were nice. That’s the point.
It amazes me how many PR and marketing professionals talk about the importance of conversation – that numbers and fans and followers don’t matter, and that’s it’s actually about building relationships. I don’t disagree with them. The part I disagree with is the conversations they seem to want.
The conversations most people want are the ones where you nod your head in sheep-like agreement, write a comment like “Wow, that’s amazing!” and generally participate in the virtual circle jerk.
Continue Reading…
I read a post by beauty blogger Krizia on Problogger today who feels that PR people are getting pushier with bloggers due to the recession. The post left me with two questions: 1) Are PR people really getting pushier? and 2) Is it really the recession that could be causing this?
To address the first question, what are PR people’s expectations, and are we as bloggers meeting them? The factors I see here are:
- Do bloggers review products in a timely manner? The beauty blogger said she tests products for 2-3 weeks before reviewing them. In my experience, publicists send me follow up emails only days after I’ve received the book, asking when the review will be up. As a blogger, I need more time to read the book (because, you know, I actually do read it before recommending it). Are these timelines acceptable to PR professionals? Do they compare to traditional media timelines?
- Do bloggers say the right things in the review? Do PR professionals expect to see a review no matter what, even if the review is lukewarm or bad?
- What success indicators do PR professionals want to see? Comments, page views, social media mentions? Are we as bloggers communicating this information back to PR professionals?
For the second question, my intuition is that the “pushiness” is not due to the recession at all. Here are some other reasons PR professionals might come across as pushy:
- Bloggers don’t respond like traditional media - I’ve written before about the reasons that traditional media outreach is vastly different from blogger outreach. The main gist is that bloggers often have different goals than traditional media, so the incentives are different.
- Bloggers are getting greedy – It seems like every blogger wants a sponsorship deal these days. Whatever happened to blogging about things you like, as opposed to blogging about things so you can make money from them? The world of blogging sponsorships is about as fragmented as you can get, so it’s hard for companies to discern 1) who should get sponsorships and 2) what those bloggers should be paid.
- Bloggers are not a sure thing – I know many bloggers who say, “Send me a sample, if I like it I will write about it.” This partly due to the idea of disclosure, and it’s partly due to the idea of trust, and it’s partly due to the fact that bloggers have limited time and resources compared to traditional media. But if a company isn’t even going to get a mention from a blogger, why should they send the products? It’s a business, not a charity.
- Bloggers can’t deliver on ROI – PR people are extremely pressured to show return on investment these days. Even sending a book to review costs at least $5 – from an author’s perspective then, the blogger must be able to sell at least 5 books to see an acceptable ROI.
- Bloggers are numerous – It’s too easy to start a blog these days. While it’s not easy to build a community, it’s certainly not as hard as say, building a newspaper or a magazine. This means there are a lot of bloggers out there with a couple thousand subscribers who could get traction for a product. A company has to eventually ask, “If I keep giving my product away to anyone with a blog, who will actually buy it?”
What do you think?
- PR professionals, are bloggers meeting your expectations? Are bloggers producing the results you need to get the job done on behalf of your clients?
- Bloggers, are PR people getting pushier in your experience?
- How can we improve relationships between PR professionals and bloggers?
In an effort to be less of a lurker (someone who frequents blogs but doesn’t comment on them) I’m starting a new series where I feature other blogs that genuinely resonate with me.
My first pick is Valerie Mondesir’s blog, InsightFULL. I chose Valerie because she writes about her own personal development in a way that helps others improve themselves too. Plus, personal development a topic that I love and was the focus of this blog when it first started (way back when), and I’m glad to see a unique, female voice in the space.
I also like that Valerie describes herself as quiet, but fun. It’s clear from her blog that she’s fun, and it’s clear from the fact that she doesn’t self-promote herself into oblivion that she is quieter than the typical blogger. Her blog is inward-focused, which is a refreshing change from some of the louder personalities on the web. Unfortunately, she doesn’t always get the recognition she deserves for being a great writer who picks great topics and says great things about them.
Here are three recommended posts that Valerie has written lately:
These are not just posts that I thought were neat or cool or awesome – I learned something interesting about myself from each of these posts. Check them out, and if you like what you read, be sure to subscribe to her regular updates here. I truly think you will enjoy her blog.
The big news this week is Google Buzz and the questions are numerous:
Monica O'Brien is the Director of Digital at Fizz and author of the book Social Pollination, which helps businesses leverage social media for crazy growth!
