With all the discussion on blogger’s relationships with brands, I wanted to talk about how I go about crafting relationships with bloggers. And, to start things out simply – I don’t pitch bloggers.
The reason is simple: why? I just don’t see the reason to ask someone to write about my product. To me, it seems somewhat counter-intuitive. Instead, I simply decided to do the first step that is always recommended in social media: I listened to find the people that were already talking about it.
Out there, I found our true believers – people who loved our products and were already acting on our behalf whether they knew it or not. We read their blog posts, saw their Flickr streams, and watched their videos as they extolled all the virtues that they found in the products we made. So instead of pitching bloggers – I simply just said “Hello” to our fans.
Not all brands can do that easily, obviously. Established brands have the luxury of being able to pluck from a large pool of their fans, who are constantly spreading their love of their products. But if you’re a company making revenue, you probably have fans out there. And when you do find your true fans – reward them. It’s an age-old marketing ploy – the fan club. Social media allows you to develop real relationships with your fans without spending that much effort or money. These free communication tools open up a world that allows any and all brands to empower their community to work for them.
So I don’t pitch bloggers – I empower fans.
The not-so-surprising thing is that your fans will start pitching people for you. They’ll tell their friend, who tells their friend, etc. etc. Social media is, after all, just word of mouth marketing. And it spreads easily – maybe you work with one of your hardcore fans to run a giveaway on their blog, and all of a sudden your inbox and DM’s are full of people who want to do something with their blogs. All of a sudden, you’ve turned the tables and your brand is getting pitched because you’re providing people with something they want. Now, your only task is that you have to manage your growing community. You have to work with the people that want you but also in ways that work on your terms. You’re creating true ambassadors of the brand while weeding out the people that are just there for a quick hit and run. Slowly, you’ll end up working with the bloggers that PR companies target to pitch – except you do it in an organic way. They’ll come to you to be a part of your community, which will only make it stronger because you’re not playing favorites or succumbing to any hierarchy. You’re merely empowering fans.
So, for everyone that is worried about pitching bloggers, my simple advice is: don’t. The best marketers will focus on their community, on their fans, and trust that the rest will fall in line. That’s what has worked for me, and it’s the best advice I can pass along.
Great post, George.
Thanks!
Still hoping we can partner together somehow on http://www.5minutesforspecialneeds.com.
Tammy and Parker
Editors: 5 Minutes For Special Needs.com
http://www.prayingforparker.com
And this is why I heart you.
Excellent post. I agree, I've been wearing Crocs since before they were popular !
I love them !
Awesome post! The way you engage with bloggers makes all the difference!
I don't necessarily agree with this stand point. It has a couple of holes in it, in my opinion. One, what if you can't find your fans? What if you are a new brand and no one is talking about you? Two, what if you find some of your fans, and the biggest ones are bloggers, blogging about your products? I've experienced the second scenario recently for the company I work for. I don't see anything wrong with sending these bloggers product to review, they are doing it already so why not reward some of your biggest fans with some free product to review on their blog(s)?
I make the concession that it is tougher for new, smaller brands to do this. It's not easy when no one is talking about you and there are different strategies that I think those brands can take.
As for sending your fans products, there is nothing wrong with that. It's “pitching” them that I think is wrong. Develop real conversations with your fans and the opportunity to reward them will come up organically.
Cool, in that case I would agree, I don't think it's good business to fish for reviews but if they are doing it already, it seems like a good way to support your fans, by providing them with some free stuff.
I don't necessarily agree with this stand point. It has a couple of holes in it, in my opinion. One, what if you can't find your fans? What if you are a new brand and no one is talking about you? Two, what if you find some of your fans, and the biggest ones are bloggers, blogging about your products? I've experienced the second scenario recently for the company I work for. I don't see anything wrong with sending these bloggers product to review, they are doing it already so why not reward some of your biggest fans with some free product to review on their blog(s)?
I make the concession that it is tougher for new, smaller brands to do this. It's not easy when no one is talking about you and there are different strategies that I think those brands can take.
As for sending your fans products, there is nothing wrong with that. It's “pitching” them that I think is wrong. Develop real conversations with your fans and the opportunity to reward them will come up organically.
Cool, in that case I would agree, I don't think it's good business to fish for reviews but if they are doing it already, it seems like a good way to support your fans, by providing them with some free stuff.
[...] You did a blog post several months ago stating that you don’t pitch bloggers with your products. Is that still true? What have been the pros and cons of this [...]