How To Pitch To Bloggers

At a recent Chictopia meeting, among panels and discussions on fashion, retail, and the growing presence of new media, an interesting topic was raised: how should companies be approaching bloggers to promote their products?

The event’s speakers, who ranged from Rebecca Stice (TheClothesHorse) to Michael Tennant (manager of Vice Magazine), had come from different backgrounds but all had experienced a deluge of marketing pitches- sometimes having little or nothing to do with their blog or publication.

Towards the end of the conference it became clear that the underlying idea (and hence tension) behind PR/blogger relations is that there is much room for mutual respect and personalization. For bloggers this also includes a sense that advertisers and marketers consider them just as viable a medium as a magazine or trade publication — a topic recently broached by former Jane Magazine staffer (and current shine.yahoo.com editor) Brandon Holley.

In a recent Times article article Holley, when speaking of her new gig, laments that:

“the Hollywood press agents who wined and dined her when she was at Jane seem to have lost her telephone number. ‘It’s almost like I’m in hiding,’ she said. ‘Nobody calls me anymore.’”

Having been a blogger for over two years, I can attest to the fact that some pitches are more appealing than others. The primary faux pas many companies make in their digital marketing is that their PR division isn’t researching who they are writing to. If a blogger writes mostly about women’s shoes, they most likely are not interested in men’s basketball sneakers; something which should seem like common sense but often alludes even the savviest of marketing firms.

Additionally, the average blogger cannot count how many times they have received an email in their inbox with the name a different font than the body of the message- the first sign that you are one of many to receive the information, often nullifying it’s immediacy and effect.

So how can marketers woo over bloggers? The same way they have traditionally done so with print publications- by developing personalized, highly cultivated relationships, mutual benefits to posting, and often simply picking up the phone and speaking with a blogger in person- something small that will go a long way to winning over a writer. By “mutual benefits” I don’t neccessarily mean giveaways or products (which has actually gotten some writers in trouble in recent months), but rather giving certain blogs exclusive coverage, adding fresh content to the blog, and often creating a loyal readership for marketers.\

image by Somewhat Frank