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Hey everyone! In Feb I am going to use this space to highlight straight talk from PR reps. I sent out a survey to some of the reps that I really respect and enjoy working with. In the interest of getting the most candid answers from them I am going to post their comments as anonymous. Lets face it, I can blab all day long about what I think but wouldn’t you rather know what they have to say?So, here are a few questions and answers for them.How does a mom blogger gain your attention? What puts them on your radar?
“If a mom blogger reaches out to me directly, I always make sure to check out her blog. I also discover a lot of great bloggers via Twitter. Whether it’s a new blog post on recipes or an industry-related article, I’m always reading everything I can (or that time allows!)””Honestly, someone who I know and interact with via Twitter, my blog or who emails me to keep a relationship going. If I know you, know you write great content and are fun to work with, I’ll likely include you in all the outreach I do for my clients and also recommend you to my colleagues.Beyond that, bloggers who are regularly included in other high-profile campaigns (Walmart Eleven Moms, Lifetime Moms ect) it will catch my attention. It also helps us sell you in to our clients as bloggers we should reach out to.”
Check out this post if you are looking for the names of PR Reps that would like to work with mom bloggers.How important are statistics in your campaigns? Can you give me the min. stats you are looking for?
“The quality of your content and how connected you are with other bloggers is most important. However, I do look at unique visitors per month to gauge whether to include bloggers into bigger campaigns like trips and larger giveaways.””Unfortunately, statistics do matter for the most part. In an ideal world, I would love to work with every single blogger. The reality is companies need results in the form of measurement. However, statistics are not the end all be all of working with a blogger. If a blogger has a niche audience (ex. coupons/frugal or cooking) and I’m working with a client that is relevant to that specific audience, then there’s more value in who’s reading the blog than how many people are reading the blog.Keep in mind that just because I might not be able to work with you right now, doesn’t mean we can’t work together in the future. I love hearing from brand new bloggers; we all have to start somewhere!”
Looking to learn more about stats? Check out this post on Understanding Your Blog Statistics.How important is a mom bloggers social media reach to you? What social media outlets are most important to you?
“Social media reach is pretty important. In addition to looking at blog outreach, we also look at how influential that reach is. Is the blogger on Twitter? Does the blogger enjoy going to events? Is the blogger active in the mom blogging community? Is the blogger active in his/her own community? Does the blogger contribute to other blogs/web sites?””It’s important for bloggers to be very well-connected to other bloggers and moms via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube ect. We typically will vet every blogger to see what their presence is like in those outlets. Plus if we know that your friends/followers are highly engaged with your content and will respond with comments, votes, entries ect. we’re more likely to reach out to you.”
As you can see from the above comments your social media (especially twitter) presence is very important to PR. If you are new to twitter, here is a post I wrote on Getting Started on Twitter.If you are a PR rep and would like to participate in answering, email me and I will send you over the survey. Here is your chance to tell us mom bloggers what we need to know about you.
Barb, This is great! I love learning more and more about how to be successful in Blogging by reading your articles! I am still up & coming but I have so many important links & articles in my files to refer back to once I get my feet wet, or so they say.This is very helpful and I appreciate the time you take to help not only new Bloggers like myself but those who have been blogging for awhile and need that "edge" to break into a new venue. Thx again!
Thank you so much for taking the time to share this information with everyone. It is great that other bloggers are so willing to help the newbies.Thanks again!Brooke
Thanks to everyone for the above comments. I just really believe that when we work together we are so much more successful. There is more than enough in the PR world to go around. You all have to let me know when you get campaigns you are excited about. I would love to hear that this is working for you!
Barb, thanks for being such a great advocate of continuing the conversation between publicists and bloggers. It's so important that we learn from each other, especially in an environment that is constantly changing.
Wow, great responses! Thank you for sharing this. Maybe I should send my advertisers some questions. It sounds like you have learned a lot from what they said.