Bloggers – You need to read this! Interview with a PR/Digital Marketing Manager
Blog post first published April 14th 2015 here
Bethanie is a PR/Digital Marketing Manager in a creative search agency. She’s also a blogger and she lives in Newcastle.
Interview
What is your ideal blogger and what makes a blogger stand out and get noticed?
An ideal blogger for me is someone who has a combination of what I believe are ‘good’ qualities.
The first is an up to date blog with a good balance of natural and sponsored content (same goes with banner ads). The second is being friendly, and time-aware. Third is passion for it – if I send you an email offering something for review, I’d expect a ‘hello’ back, not just a list of products you’d like to receive (this is a rarity!)
My favourite bloggers are the ones that are updating me regularly and tell me when the post is live! I also love a good natter with a blogger and finding out a bit about them and their lives, good or bad. I have been known to send pictures of Ryan Reynolds when someone is having a tough time.
Do you mind bloggers contacting you directly looking for work?
Not at all, a good pitch is always welcome. We like to know what features are coming up and some of your ideas. Sometimes I feel bad because I can’t reply to them all but it’s purely a case of not having enough time! A little tip is to not email us on a night time! Sounds strange but it just gets lost in the pile of emails we come into on a morning.
What’s the best pitch you’ve ever received?
What’s the best pitch you’ve ever received?
I can’t pick one out from the top of my head, but the good ones are always clear, concise and quite snappy. I know it’s tricky as bloggers don’t know all of the clients I have, but it’s good to have a few ideas rather than ‘have you got anything I can work on?’
What makes you pick one blogger over another?
What makes you pick one blogger over another?
We try to pick sites that don’t have too much advertising on the sides, and blog because they are driven by their interest in the subject and not money. We can easily tell if it’s just sponsored post after sponsored post that the site is just churning out anything! Especially if you’re a parenting site writing about soldering irons (I kid you not I have seen this before).
How do you find bloggers to work with? (Twitter, Facebook, direct contact etc)
How do you find bloggers to work with? (Twitter, Facebook, direct contact etc)
We use a lot of different things, Twitter and Follower wonk is good to search twitter profiles with a good social following. We also use simple searches and recommendations round the office, along with the database of sites we’ve already worked with.
Why are the majority of PR’s London centric?
Why are the majority of PR’s London centric?
I don’t know! A lot of people think that there’s not much up here above Manchester, but we have a load of local clients who host really exciting events and parties!
From a PR point of view is blog content as important as blog statistics or is the assumption that because stats are good, content is good?
From a PR point of view is blog content as important as blog statistics or is the assumption that because stats are good, content is good?
I think both come hand in hand. If a blog has amazing stats but hasn’t posted since December its a bit of a turn-off. Similar for the other way round – if you’ve loads of great original content, we can see that the blog is growing, and our brand will hit a lot of eyes as it grows.
Why do lots of PR’s assume bloggers will work for free?
Why do lots of PR’s assume bloggers will work for free?
This is a tricky one for me as I’m on both ‘sides’! I think us PRs know that bloggers must have a passion for the niche they are blogging about. If ourselves or one of our clients think we have produced something really exciting we will share it with bloggers, in the hope they will want to share it too.
What would you advise a blogger to include in a pitch?
Ideas, a few stats and maybe an example post. I suppose all PRs are different but I don’t like people smacking me in the face with their media pack straight away!
Do you feel some bloggers have a sense of entitlement? That they feel they should be given products to review or paid content because they’re seen as ‘big bloggers’?
Do you feel some bloggers have a sense of entitlement? That they feel they should be given products to review or paid content because they’re seen as ‘big bloggers’?
I can’t tar all bloggers with the same brush, but some definitely do! On a lighter note, some are very humble in what they do!
Do you have any do’s and dont’s for bloggers when it comes to working with PR’s and brands?
Cor blimey, where do I start! Do: Let us know if there’s anything wrong, i.e. product isn’t right, the post won’t be up on time. A big ‘don’t’ for me is to discuss us/our opps in forums/Facebook groups! I get a bit shirty with this as I’ve seen some of the things that have been said directly about me! It’s also easy to tell when my opps have been shared as I get an influx of emails around the same time too.
Do some bloggers get ‘blacklisted’ if they fail to deliver a post on time?
I’m quite lenient with posts being late, I rarely set deadlines. Obviously we have our own targets and deadlines but I understand people have lives too! However, if I send products and they don’t get reviewed, or a blogger is particularly rude to me or one of my team I have no problem blacklisting them.
Do you feel bloggers get paid fairly for their time?
Do you feel bloggers get paid fairly for their time?
Personally I do. Blogging is something I love – I don’t do it for the money, and I would still blog if I didn’t get involved with money or brands. To me it’s a way or developing my own style and finding brands/designer I love. I know others run their blog as purely business, but sometimes the heart of it gets lost.
What advice would you give to others working in blogger outreach about working with bloggers?
I think if you’re nice and friendly to people and have a bit of a chat, then that makes a great working relationship. Bloggers don’t want to work with robots, they want to work with people!
