Finding and Courting the New Influencers: Best Practices for Reaching Bloggers

According to a 2006 study conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, "Eight percent of Internet users, or about 12 million American adults, keep a blog. Thirty-nine percent of Internet users, or about 57 million American adults, read blogs." As bloggers create more dialogue across the media landscape, communication professionals need to understand how to identify those who sway opinions in their corner of the world. The good news: emerging practices demystify the blogosphere and make it possible to harness its power.

Bloggers don't hide – You only need to know how to look for them

Do your homework: Most bloggers are not keen on traditional PR tactics. The best way to find blogs is to look for ones within your niche. Reading the "About" page is a useful way of determining whether your issues and products are relevant to the blogger. In addition, subscribe to the blog for about a month. During that time, you will begin to understand the blogger's motives, as well as learn who else is monitoring the blog. (Bloggers tend to link to other blogs of similar interest. With this in mind, you can begin to establish a network of blogger relations.)

Start with who you know: You've worked hard to establish and maintain the loyalty of your clients. It's likely that at least a small percentage of them keep blogs. And chances are, they are writing about you. To find out, conduct a simple Internet search.

Get the ball rolling: Launch your own blog. Bloggers are just as interested in what your company is doing as you are in what the bloggers are saying. Blogging is all about creating a dialogue with your readership. When bloggers see that you're willing to engage them in conversation, they are more likely to respect you and want to build a relationship.

Next step: building and maintaining relationships (Media relations professionals know how to do that!)

• Once you know a blogger who might be interested in your company, find out how to communicate with them. Treat them with respect: They have their contact preferences, not to mention quirks. If you really want to make a good impression, take the time to personalize communication and show that you have actually read their blog.


• If you intend on sending mass emails, make sure to send them to all the bloggers within your niche. Bloggers are highly competitive and showing favoritism to one can alienate another. Also, delaying release of news to a blogger costs valuable lead time. A blogger's lead time is about 35 seconds where as it can take a magazine up to three months to print the same story. (John Biggs, editor-in-chief Crunch Gear).


• If you really want to make a good impression, forgo the idea of a pitch or standard press release. (Most bloggers find them boring and too impersonal.) Instead, focus on building a rapport.

If you do pitch, do it well: Bloggers won't waste valuable time by tracking down information or riffling through irrelevant emails. John Biggs, editor-in-chief at Crunch Gear, suggests putting all the information in the pitch, including images, links, or "a walk through of your interface." If you do this, you just might end up with a post.

Respond to posts: Is there a specific post which you find intriguing? Do you have information on a particular product or practice? If so, then post a comment. Bloggers love feedback. Be sure to respond back when bloggers reply to your comments.

Refer or link to the blog: Bloggers like to know they are appreciated and "linking is the sincerest form of flattery," writes Guy Kawasaki, author of How to Suck Up to a Blogger. In addition, linking is like an online "business card" and makes the blogger aware of you.

Provide bloggers with a compelling reason to blog: Sometimes bloggers need a little motivation to post about your company (especially when your competitors are also knocking on their doors). Offer them the opportunity to test some of your products. If they agree, the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) suggests that you ask the blogger to credit the product source.

Don't give up: Just because you don't make the blog the first time around doesn't mean you should give up. Most bloggers have lives outside the virtual world and have to be selective about what they post. Be persistent, but not irritating and your efforts will pay off.

It doesn't end here: Even if you do make the blog, be sure to remain in contact. Like any good relationship, blogger relations need continual nurturing. Forget this one simple rule and all that hard work will be for naught.

Integrate blogger relations into your planning, out reach and tracking of results

• Bloggers can play a vital part in helping you reach your public relations goals. Make sure the bloggers that influence your audience understand all your messages. This is an ongoing task.


• As your company changes, so will your target bloggers (bloggers come and go – today's middle-tier blogger could be tomorrow's top influencer) so build and maintain blogger relations in advance of a clear need.


• BurrellesLuce provides services for monitoring and measurement. BurrellesLuce monitors over 50 million blogs and websites in addition to all the traditional media out there. We also provide planning tools for blogger contact and research. For more information go to www.BurrellesLuce.com.