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Bag the Blogger/Brand Stereotypes & Get Serious

Paper or Plastic?

@empowermm

Paper or Plastic?

The Stereotypes

The Reality

9 Brand-Savvy Tips

Tips to Target Brands

Action Items

Q&A Fun

Questions? Ask!

Tweeting?

• #sbsummit

• @empowermm

• @prblog

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Paper or Plastic -- in a Tweet

Get past stereotypes to create long-term relationships that benefit blogger, readers, brand, agency – the whole community #sbsummit

@empowermm

The Good, The Bad, The Drama

The Stereotypes

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Bloggers =

Brands =

The Stereotypes

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The Stereotypes

Bloggers Are: Brands Are: #sbsummit Reality

Unprofessional and miss deadlines

Unaware that my blog is not my life

Discuss timing upfront; communicate throughout

Not creative Not willing to consider our ideas

You don’t know unless you ask – it’s all in how you ask

Going to read my long pitch

Going to read my blog, media kit, about me page

Get to the point, make it easy to work with you

Giving me posts for free stuff

Paying me if I write a post about them

What’s the value for ALL: reader, brand, blogger.

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The StereotypesBloggers Are: Brands Are: #sbsummit Reality

Female bloggers = Moms All the same Relevancy is critical for all

In it for the bling Working with unlimited $ Predetermined budgets

All the same Clueless Industry understanding varies; don’t get offended

Needing me more than I need them

Needing me more than I need them

It’s about mutuallybeneficial relationships

Always online Hovering over keyboard, waiting to respond

Set up expectations

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The Stereotypes: Bad Pitches

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The Stereotypes: Bad Pitches

PORN (ew) The Fleshdrive Brings Movies in the Palm of Your Hand

GIRLFRIEND? 5 Best Places to Find the Guy of Your Dreams

DEAD ISSUE Who Died Today? New Website Makes Sure You’re Always in the Know

DATA & PORN (huh?) Debbie Does Data (hurricane meets disaster recovery service)

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The Stereotypes: Inspirational Quote

“Brands puke their stuff on usand then expect us to clean it up.”

-- Andrea Deckard,

Savings Lifestyle Blog

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Confusion Can Be Navigated

The Reality

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Reality: Industry Confusion

Confusion comes from various issuesand trends

• “Citizen Journalists”

• FTC disclosure

• Paid vs. Owned vs. Earned Media

• Understanding Influenceand How to Measure It

• Mommy Bloggers

• “Extreme Couponing”

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Reality: Industry Confusion

Approach Causes Confusion

• Poor list development

• Campaign approach

• Transaction vs. relationship

• Media relationsmindset

• See social media asbroadcast vs. engagement

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Reality: One Size (Never) Fits All

Media Blogger

Career Passion

Editorial and ads are separate

You’re editor and ad team

Deadline-driven Blogging competes w/ life – establish expectations

Short news cycle Longer news cycle

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Reality: Our Approach

Follows community relations vs. media relations model

Focuses on long-term relationships

Outreach success rate average is over 50 percent

Successful outreach for several brands

• Chiquita, Febreze FLOE, Long John Silvers, Marzetti, Mederma, Meijer, Michaels, Rust-oleum, Shaw Flooring, totes>>isotoner

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Reality: Shout Out

We’ve worked with Savvy Blogging Summit attendees

• Hoosier Homemade for Michaels

• Clueless Mama for Chiquita

• Coupon Challenge for Chiquita

• Savings Lifestyle for Meijer

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Reality: Our Approach

Lists created with tools, time and talent

• Five-stage, 26-step process; bulk of which is human vs. automagic

• Focused on the audience: you/your readers

• Identifies bloggers with mix of

• Relevancy: on-topic, sentiment

• Reach: socially active, level of following

• Content: relevancy, frequency

• Engagement: number of comments, links

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Let’s Make It Better

9 Brand-Savvy Tips

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Brand-Savvy Tips

1) Think Ecosystem: Brand, Blogger, Readers, Agency; Online and Offline

2) Consider All Media: Paid, Owned and Earned; Where do you fit in?

3) Talk Business: Adopt terms like target audience, outreach goals, client list, media kit

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Brand-Savvy Tips

4) Show How You’re Different: How do you position your blog; how do you differentiate from others?

5) Get Analytical: Consider relevance, reach, frequency, audience, engagement; identify your strengths

6) Show You’re a Pro: Show understanding of FTC/WOMMA ethics; create a professional profile on sites like LinkedIn or About.Me

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Brand-Savvy Tips

7) Focus on Search: Is your search impact stronger than your reach; is it your biggest opportunity?

• Research Keywords

• Optimize Copy/Headlines/Images

• Content is STILL King

• Know the Code (meta tags, page titles, sitemaps)

• Share: All syndication is good, but +1 impacts search ranking

• Track Search Impact for Clients

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Brand-Savvy Tips

8) Simplify Media Kit: “Media Kits Suck” But Yours Doesn’t Have To

• Create a One-Sheeter

• It Initiates Conversation

• Keep in Mind Sales Cycle (Tapas vs. Buffet)

• Five is the New Ten

• Editorial Calendar Is Follow Up

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Branded

Positioning

Audience Profile

Unique Visitors

Types of P/O/E MediaOpportunities

Page Views

Screen Grab(s)

EngagementMetrics

Specs

Cost Structure

Contact Info

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Brand-Savvy Tips

9) Show Your Impact: Use research (WOMMA.org, Nielsen.com, eMarketer) client endorsements and track results

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Seek & Ye Shall Find

3 Tips to Target Brands

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Tips to Target Brands

1) Build Your List: Who are YOUR dream brands?

2) Qualify List:

• Is there target audience alignment?

• Do they currently outreach?

3) Build a Plan:

• Which agency’s doing outreach?

• Customize your approach

• Show positioning & differentiation

• Consider targeting brands with paid media

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Download Our Tip Sheets

Action Items

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Action Items

Download Our Savvy Blogging Summit Kit

• Conduct a Search Audit

• Review/Create Media Kit

• Consider All of Our Brand-Savvy & Brand-Targeting Tips

bit.ly/sbsummitAsk Us Questions

• This is the last slide; it’s time for Q&A Fun!

@empowermm

Paper or Plastic -- in a Tweet

Get past stereotypes to create long-term relationships that benefit blogger, readers, brand, agency – the whole community #sbsummit

@empowermm

Bag the Blogger/Brand Stereotypes & Get Serious

Paper or Plastic?