Blogging

Scenario: A marketer wants to reach potential buyers of her product. In the old days, you know — the 90s, she advertised, and maybe even online (ooh!), she did PR,  she did sales promotion. Everything through the established, and mainstream, channels of communication.

Fast forward to 2007. You want to reach a well-defined audience of potential prospects for your product. Sure, all the old channels still have merit. But there’s this new thing called blogs. Hhmm. Bloggers seem to have some influence in the target market I am trying to reach with my story and my product. I’d like to reach out to them, but how? What if I do it wrong? Hell, what if I do it  right, and a few bloggers just think, and write, that I did it wrong.

There’s no shortage of criticism of blogger relations programs. Even the recent Nikon program, which I think was handled pretty well, has its detractors.

Here’s the reality — you will never please everyone, so you have to stay focused on your customers. What do they want? What do they need? What do they care about? If you reach out to bloggers within your customer population, using whatever selection criteria you deep down believe is right, and tell them a meaningful interesting story — that has meaning to them as well as you — you are on the right track. Is sending them a product to try a good idea? Probably, but it behooves you to be clear about your expectations — do you want the product back, under what terms? And you cannot have any expectations. Tell a good story. Be accessible. Have a good product. That’s all you can do.

What about pay-per-post type services? They have their place, but they cannot replace real relationships any more than advertorials replaced editorial coverage back in the day.  And caveat emptor: generic services that put your opportunity "out there" for all comers are probably not the best choice. You need to know whether the bloggers writing about your product actually have influence in your desired market. If they don’t, you are wasting your money, no matter how cheap it is.

But there’s nothing wrong with working with paid reviewers or hiring freelance writers to write your blog, as long as you don’t use either tactic to replace developing authentic relationships with bloggers in your space. Personally, I think it is absolutely terrific that folks like stay-at-home-moms and avid gamers are getting the recognition, and payment, for their expertise and excellent writing. Why shouldn’t they? If they are reaching the people you, the marketer, want to reach, why wouldn’t you want them to be compensated for their efforts? As long as they are clear about their interests and  honest in their opinions — I was paid to write this review or I got to keep the product or I was hired to write this blog.

Do we have so little respect for the readers that we don’t think they can apply their own judgment to the material? What a shame. Because I think readers are far smarter than typically they are given credit for. They can tell when someone is blowing smoke, whether paid or just looking for some A-list love, and they can tell when someone is honestly sharing their opinion, whether the writer was given or loaned the product or bought it on his own.

In the end, the blogosphere  has plenty of built-in corrective mechanisms, If the product sucks, it doesn’t matter how many you seed with friendly bloggers. The guy who got it for free may not diss it, but he won’t write about it either. Paid reviewers,whether in cash or in kind? They’ll tell the truth. The next gig and their readership depends on it.

The recipe for success:

• develop great products that meet real customer needs;
• tell interesting stories to people who care;
• be accessible, honest and transparent about your intentions;
• stay focused on the WIIFM (what’s in it for me) for your customer. Yours will follow;
• give before you receive. Whether it’s cameras, access or consideration… bloggers will appreciate the respect.

What else do you think is necessary for successful blogger relations? Toby Bloomberg recently had some suggestions. Last week, I participated in a webinar that offered some of the answers.

Your thoughts?

Tags: blogger relations, Nikon