There are two key elements to successful blogger relations: the execution and the pitch. A successful campaign needs BOTH to be good. Today we are going to talk about the pitch.
I’ve written before about the secret sauce for the perfect pitch and earlier this year, I introduced a model I’ve been working with to find what I call the shared values between companies and bloggers/customers.
The key to using this model is stepping away from the features and functionality of your product. Look for issues that both the company and the customer care about, and build your program around these mutual or shared values. As the model shows, you start with how the customer uses the product, but you don’t stop there. You’ve got to move onto the emotional. What do they care about when they use your product? What other things do they care about?
You then link these things to your product. Starting with features, but also including attributes — the intangibles you want people to associate with your products — and corporate values.
Now, while this is never an easy process, it is a bit easier with new and entertainment products. But how does it work with a product that’s been on the market for a while. Or one that is almost a commodity.
For example, cotton swabs.
Is it possible to develop a pitch related to cotton swabs that would resonate with bloggers? I say yes.
In fact, I’ve got two, both aimed at parent bloggers.
These examples use information from Unilever’s Q-tips brand, but I imagine the programs would work equally well for Johnson & Johnson’s Cotton Swabs brand. The first example skews toward families with younger children; the second is applicable to a broader age range.
This screen shot identifies the key market USE segments for cotton swabs: family care, home care, and arts & crafts.
Putting aside beauty uses, let’s focus on two areas that relate specifically to families.
First, family care. Cotton swabs are permanently linked to ear care. The brands don’t even need to remind us of this. In fact, the main concern is to make sure we don’t poke the swab too far into our ear. Now, step into the shoes of a parent of a younger child. Say ages one to three or four years of age.
An issue that tends to be top of mind is ear infections. How to protect their toddlers. If their child is prone to ear infections, should they get the ear tubes or not?
To reach these bloggers – a very active parent blogging segment – why not develop a website and program devoted to education and information about this critical parenting issue? This is valuable information that bloggers will want to share with their friends and readers. While not about the product specifically, it is in that shared value segment of ear care and family.
Relevant – check. Blogworthy – check. Consistent with brand – check.
As I noted above, my second example skews a bit older, and relates directly to the use of cotton swabs in arts & crafts projects. Any parent of an elementary school age child knows what a big deal arts & crafts can be. I often wonder whether they are evaluating the child or the parents, but that’s a topic for another day (and my other blog).
Parents love to see their children recognized. Kids love recognition. Hold a crafts contest for kids, promoted either exclusively or extensively through blogs, with both blogger outreach and online advertising. Obviously cotton swabs need to be involved, either as tools or materials, but the less rigid the criteria, the better. The prizes don’t have to be that big. In fact, offering more prizes to more children is preferable to a few BIG prizes. What makes it work isn’t the value of the prize. It’s that the child stands a really decent chance of being recognized.
The shared value space? Recognizing the achievement of children. Family.
Relevant – check. Blogworthy – check. Consistent with brand – check.
Forget about your features. Look for the shared values with your customers. That’s where you’ll find a pitch that resonates for them and delivers results for your brand.
mothergoosemouse says
I love the ear care idea – infections, tubes, etc. That’s got amazing potential.
I’d like to point out that a major reason why I love it is that I haven’t seen anything like it before. There are lots of shared values that can form the backbone of a pitch, but the ones that grab my attention are those that take a different angle than I’d expect, but one that is logical and insightful.
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selfmademom says
This is not only the big source of failure in blog pitches, but also at the way a company hires, retains its employees, engages its shareholders, and so on. When a company fails to reinforce its mutual values or its mission and vision, it doesn’t matter what its selling, it won’t resonate with any audience. It always amazes me how organizations who have these values in place constantly forget to use them and build off it. Nice model!
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Busy mom says
The concept of shared value can really be applied to most relationships, particularly those that involve persuasion (says she who had to get a 12 year old boy to do major room cleaning this past weekend).
I think it’s vital to blogger relations in particular and it’s not only the companies that need to examine this, bloggers need to as well.
Many bloggers are still learning about their end of this type of business relationship with companies and that there needs to be value for both parties for it to work.
This is great.
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