Dear PR , Social and Digital Marketing execs, we know that reaching out to bloggers has become an import part of your arsenal of tools in maximising exposure for your valued clients. We know you are very busy people so we have compiled a list of things you may want to apply in order to achieve success and not unnecessarily piss off the wrong blogger with a following (which happens more than you know).
I often hear how bloggers should approach sponsors but hardly anything about how these executives should up their game to deal with bloggers. As a former Marketing & PR senior exec with nearly 20 years in the communication field and a blogger for a decade, I wanted to compile a new set of best practice rules of engagement.
I have used photos I was commissioned to shoot for the amazing Dubai sandwich shop and espresso bar, Panifico located centrally near auction gallery, Christie’s in DIFC to illustrate this post.
HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY REACH OUT TO FOOD BLOGGERS AND VLOGGERS
Tips for PR Executives and Digital Marketers
- Read the blog or watch the YouTube vlogs of the person you are contacting. This is a critical requirement. If the content does not interest you, then it will show in the way you approach the contact. Plus you look like a complete idiot targeting nail polish to a professional male chef.
- Have some focus. Do not send out blanket correspondence to anyone with a blog. They may even have their own terms of engagement. Familiarise yourself with them.
- Seek to build long-term mutually beneficial relationship the bloggers who will add value to your campaigns with terms you are both comfortable with. This way you will be able to confidently partner with the blogger and having a handful of trusted professional bloggers is worth more than trying to cast a veeeeery wide net. One blogger may be a great fit with multiple campaigns and multiple clients depending on the demographic and actual campaign. Plus they know other great bloggers.
- Conduct some research about the person. Bloggers usually have static pages with info about them. YouTubers have channels and profiles with info about them.
- Never tweet a blogger or vlogger to DM you their contact info. That. Is. Just. Tacky.
- Never leave a comment on a blog post with your contact info for the blogger or vlogger to contact you. You reek of desperation to anyone reading (including your competitors).
- Always send an email to the person directly in which you refer to the blogger/vlogger by name. It doesn’t have to be a real name, but at least the handle they use online. Just like how “Dear Editor almost guarantees your press release ending up in File 13 (the trash) you pretty much will have the same result with any seasoned blogger.
- If you cannot find an email address after proper search, then and only then leave a comment to say you are trying to find an email on the site in order to contact the person directly about the possibility of working together on a project.
- Know what you want and also what you are willing to give for it. WII FM still rules. How will you be adding value to the blogger/vlogger and his/her following?
- NEVER contact a blogger/vlogger under the assumption that he or she is hungry and waiting for free food. Never offer a blogger or vlogger a free meal for a review or even worse, a good review. While there are some food bloggers who actually blog in the hopes of getting free food, many of us are actually offended that you would invite us for the purpose of giving a review. It would be better for you to reach out to fewer bloggers and invite them to dinner. They may or not accept and may or may not write about it.
- Bloggers and vloggers talk. Do not be misguided by the level of influence that they have with each other, your competition and even your clients and the customers they are trying to reach. You do not want to be ridiculed in secret social media groups or worse yet, in public.
- The only way to guarantee coverage without losing integrity is either to a) PAY for it or b) invite the blogger or vlogger to events so useful or exciting that they will not only want to turn up but also to share with their following. Yes that means more work for you but it is much better to work smarter and get better results while maintaining your reputation in the blogging world.
- Assume all bloggers/vloggers do not wish to provide our recipes or photography for free for whatever project you are working on. More seasoned bloggers/vloggers with a following will have some idea of what their publishing platform is worth, so be sure to respect that some bloggers, like me, do not work for free. But that is a whole other post (coming up next)!
ETA: If you are new to our blog, you must read this post by Chef Lij about how chefs REALLY feel about bloggers
We’re dying to hear your views or tips! Leave a comment below!
Brilliant post and covers nearly all the essential. I hope PR companies take a read and learn on the apt approach to take. I only know of one or two PR companies who I work with, mainly because of the people they hire, who know how to build a relationship and have done prior research before approaching.
Thanks Jasmine. Yes, it is really important for them to get it right as it is rather exhausting to go through the amount of misdirected or misguided correspondence that we often get.
Thank you for the list much appreciated. As much as this for hardworking PR, the bloggers should review the list as well, to keep up and follow the basic quality and the ethical way to help PR to help their clients business. It’s a business assignment for PR, it should be taken seriously and not just randomly shoot mails out for all type of bloggers, at least I would take some effort to choose my business partners, why would not respected PR agent.
It’s pretty annoying to get reached out by PR who did not bother to at least ballpark the blog to get idea what kind of blog it is and read about page to see if the blog actually fits to their customers style and vice versa. 4th point cold be that PR person should think what’s in it to bloggers audience they could offer, not to the blogger. Many bloggers starts the blog as hobby, but by the time develop to really pro-like platform, either way it’s not just 700 words and few lousy shots, it’s huge load of preparation, research, writing, shopping, cooking, photographing, full day or two work most of the time (yes hello Naked Plate blog).
Waiting for your next post about working for free.
Good point Minna! And yes we ought to be very selective as bloggers as to who we will work with and what terms. I know the huge investment you put into your Naked Plate Blog in terms of time and money. LOL the post on working for free is already in draft mode 🙂
I had a PR person contact me a while back via my blog’s contact form. Their email was brief and didn’t say much about their company, so I didn’t reply, afraid that it might open the floodgates to a string of unwanted email. The person contacted me again over Facebook and Twitter. I finally responded and told the person to contact me with more specific details as to how a blogger would be involved in their company. They sent a page-long email that didn’t say anything about bloggers. And they wanted to meet for coffee to discuss it! I was borderline disgusted by the treatment I was getting and told them I wasn’t interested in pursuing things any further.
The worst part was, it wasn’t a two-bit scam company (I looked up the name). It was a legitimate business that either hadn’t bothered to properly train their PR people to respectfully approach bloggers or was actively pressuring them to nag us. I’m half tempted to send them the post you’ve written here!
Alison, since they are so busy following you on social media, just share the post on Facebook and twitter. It’s amazing what passes for good PR sometimes. So much so that when I am approached by a professional, I feel like going up to them and giving them a hug! But jokes aside, PR is such a critical and useful tool and I wish they would get it right with blogs. Relationship FIRST. And the onus is on them, not on the blog publisher.
Great idea! I’ll do that. 🙂
I would add, ask bloggers if they want to be sent press releases or not. I waste huge parts of my day binning the stream of ( often non-food related) releases and will never use them or high res images. Things tailored for social media are few and far between but much more likely to be shared if they are truly interesting.
Thanks for mentioning that Sally. I thought I was the only one who got releases because of my food column with the Khaleej Times and other food writing I do. I had no idea they flooded others as well for publication on blogs. Like why would ANYONE want to publish your press release on their blog? Like duh!
Gah. Its so frustrating. I usually tag emails from PR people as SPAM. Especially if they start out with “Dear Editor”, or worse, Just “Editor” like they were ordering you to do stuff for them.
Second, the pet peeve of not even bothering to read your blog. I still receive Dubai related invites even if I’ve been out of the country for two years!
Just read the blog PR people. You don’t even need to read the ENTIRE blog, which is impossible. Just read the “About Page” and two or three posts. That’s it. That won’t even take you an hour’s time.
And please don’t reply with a snarky “I don’t have the time of day to read your blog” because it is part of your JOB to do it. I’ve had this reply when I suggested to the PR person to read the blog first.
Gas-ping at the horror of telling a blogger “I don’t have the time of day to read your blog.” And then expect to get what? If you don’t actually value a blog, bloggers will know this and bloggers take their blogs personally. They often support their blogs with blood, sweat and tears. Yes I am being dramatic for emphasis but it is a true labour of love so respect that. If you cannot read the content of a blog that would be a great fit for your client, maybe you are representing the wrong client.
Or maybe in the wrong job? Its the same thing when reading the newspapers, magazines and online newspapers that PR people work with. Or maybe just knowing your client. Client / Partner relationship building 101. Not rocket science!
The PR Agencies have to give adequate training for their employess to handle various clients. Valuable pointers. Useful read.
Thanks for writing this; I hate that PR’s think they are doing us a favour by offering us an invite to wherever. I have hence stopped doing reviews. Thanks for penning this down Kari!
We do not do reviews either according to our policy. If we went to a restaurant and happened to take photos (as a food photographer I sometimes do that) and felt like we wanted to share, we did. Because we are a chef and wife team, we know the hard work it takes to put good food and we just don’t want to get into that. Our premise here is to get people in the kitchen and in control of their lives and when they do dine out, they will respect how much actually goes into putting a plate in front of them at a restaurant.
I particularly enjoyed an e mail I received the other day asking me to provide images of a food promo that is taking part in a local hotel. What on earth would I know about that! I agree with Sally I spend too much time deleting stuff. I can count on one hand the PR Companies that are worth their salt in this town.
Maybe they were booking your for photography?
Fabulous… will probably add a few points in my own blogpost and link it up to yours!
Your comment was rescued from the bin. Not sure why it went to spam. Looking forward to yours.
Interesting topic which is very much to the point.
Now for the ones who are not working in PR or Advtg or Hotels or Restaurants or Bloggers or Vlogers.
Which leaves people like myself who are mere blog readers – followers – surfers…..etc
1- Bloggers with personal agendas of whatever nature have zero credibility.
2- Bloggers who consistently praise any and all food related matters have zero credibility
3- Bloggers who cannot take a proper picture have zero credibility
4- Bloggers who cover the place and not the food have zero credibility
5- Bloggers who stick to the above AED300 per meal reviews have zero credibility
6- Bloggers who ask as to what we plan for the week have zero credibility
7- Bloggers who don’t know the difference between a Sommelier and a Somier have zero credibility
8- Bloggers who do interviews with banal questions have zero credibility
9- Bloggers who do not clearly state that they have been wined and dined for free have zero credibility
10- Bloggers who complain that Bloggers have a tough life sifting through their mailbox have zero credibility
11- Bloggers who think people are gullible enough to believe all their blurb have zero credibility
12- Bloggers who think that respected PR companies know jack about their services have zero credibility
13- Bloggers who want to teach their GranMa how to suck eggs have zero credibility
A knife cuts always on both swings, forward and return…….
LOL Touche, are you working in PR Iva 🙂 anyways spot on, its’ a two-way road, unfortunately expectation for professionals working on Public Relations are rather higher than “just a blogger” as I was referred in one event. And not all pro PR’s and bloggers are alike.
LOL! Points noted and agreed with. Maybe you should start following our blog 🙂 We need to do a post on bad food blogging as well. Mind if we quote you with accreditation? There is a huge LACK of integrity in this town and it spills into everything- including blogging. Doing reviews is such a delicate thing (and as per our policy we do not do them). Chef Lij wrote about that here http://www.chefandsteward.com/2012/11/09/how-chefs-feel-about-food-critics-and-food-bloggers/
Iva I think you just created a very effective ‘Don’ts of Blogging’ list. Something all bloggers should go through to keep themselves in check 🙂
@ Minna. Thank you for your comment.
As stated in my post, I am not in PR or Restaurants or Hotels….etc….and not Blogger or Vloger.
I am a mere Blog reader.
@ Chef and Steward. Thank you for your comment made in the right spirit.
By all means, you can quote me if this serves the subject.
Fantastic post!
Love this and can’t wait to read the next one! Agree with all the comments here that it’s definitely a two-way street and bloggers should act professionally if they expect to be treated as professionals. If it’s just a hobby then PR requests won’t concern you anyway.
Very much so!
Thank you so much for this! Very insightful.
Would you also a post from the blogger’s perspective, how to manage the requests, how to price, how to decide what is worth doing. Also, on how to decide who to work with. If you already have a post would appreciate a link.
Thank again.
Aika, thanks for your feedback. That would be a post worth working on. Will add it to the schedule and post once completed. You can subscribe to us via email so that you can see it once live.
Loved this post. I get the dumbest emails offering the lamest things like stuff for kids. It’s very clear from looking at my blog that I have zero children.
Yeah, I think the most ineffective ones just load their guns, switch off the lights and fire in the dark. Thank heavens for ones who get it right. It’s joy to work with them.