Brands & Blogs: The No BS Guide to Advertising & PR for Bloggers

BlogWorld and New Media Expo NYC:
KMP Blog Review Series 3 of 5

Jason Falls of ExploringSocialMedia.com talked about the relationships between bloggers and PR and Marketing agencies. Jason mentioned some great pointers and case studies along with some marketing and PR terminology and descriptions and how they work alongside with bloggers. You can follow Jason on Twitter via @JasonFalls or check out his site SocialMediaExplorer.com

Bloggers:

– when you get people to respond, or to engage with you, you are a blogger
– a blog with 100,000 page views per moth = big bloggers
– if you’re not there yet, you are still building.

The Conflict:

– 99% of bloggers are not marketing bloggers or do not have a background in marketing and/or PR.

Here’s a Better Understanding of The Marketing World:

– Anytime you solicit money is known as advertising sales
– You sell ads to a company’s Media Planner/Buyer, Media Agency, Marketing manager
– Media Buyer/Planner – accesses the market place and reaches out different media places. Media professionals are people who understand how or where to advertise.
– Online Media – advertising on your website
– Advertorial – sell editorial content

The Marketing World is known as PAID MEDIA.

Public Relations World:

– PR pitches you stories: either you’re interested or you’re not.
– PR also serves as a resource. i.e.: Press releases.
– Bloggers have no obligation to PR
– PR companies do not buy ads (or at least they shouldn’t)

Public Relations is known as EARNED MEDIA which is not paid.

SOCIAL MEDIA DOUCHEBAGS:

– marketing/blogging consultants
– Bloggers that demand better service, or more swag for their services, and if requests are not granted, they threaten to write bad reviews about their service.

The Problems:

– Some issues to consider:
Trust – your audience trusts you less if you’re paid for it. They see it as your opinion being biased.
Respect – Advertisers won’t want to work with you if you’re a dick
Reality – you really ain’t all that, yo!

The Rules Are Changing

– it affects all of us when bloggers behave badly.
– ethics of pay for play – make the review to benefit your reader not the client (PR/ marketing person)
– bloggers as journalists – you have an audience, and your audience trusts you.
– the effect on your audience – respect your audience’s wishes. Your audience expects something of you.
– there’s no right way, only a right way for you – the way you handle PR is totally up to you.

Opportunities for Bloggers

– Make PR be helpful
– Ask for the media buyer – if you want ads, don’t sell to the PR person they don’t buy ads.
– Make a compelling argument… with facts – when you speak with the media buyer, make a compelling argument with facts. Have a source with stats: analytics, compete, quantcast.

Important point: Partnerships!

Partner with other blogs – find other bloggers with the same amount of UMVs (Unique Monthly Visitors) and niche.

Opportunities for Brands:

– Understand the power of the niche.
– Make all outreach relevant – do not pitch the wrong thing to bloggers.
– Know/respect bloggers that have differences – some bloggers hate PR people, don’t pitch to those bloggers.
– Have a plan for advertising questions – direct them to your company’s media buyer.

When does a blog stop being a blog?
Like Huffington Post, Engadget, Mashable. Blogs with staff.

These blogs are a member of the media, or media outlet. If you’re publishing content often, you become a member of the media. If you spit content consistently you are a media outlet, you are Fox News.