FACT - 90% of PR’s still don’t get digital, let alone social media

It has to be said that out of all the PRs that contact us to get placement on our own network of consumer blogs (out of an average 100 requests per day), 90% of them really don’t have a clue. TRUE! In fact, it’s annoying me so much that I felt obliged to write this article to share a few home truths from both sides of the fence – as a blogger and a social media marketer.

The ones that DO get it are often from the States… why? ...because they truly seem to want to understand and reap the benefits of this powerful medium and clearly invest more time getting to grips with tools and techniques available to do so. Obviously the PR market is no doubt more competitive there and not forgetting that they were blogging 4 years before many of us here in the UK.

Unfortunately (for the client) most PRs today are driven by tough targets for coverage set by a demanding client who also doesn’t understand digital or social, but just wants to see their brand across as much digital media as possible (“fair enough” I hear you say). For the majority of PRs, quality of online coverage doesn’t even seem important… it seems to be more about quantity and keeping the client happy with numbers. But this is entirely the wrong way to look at it.

FACT – getting coverage (and a link) on one site with a Google page rank of 5 (and 2000 visitors per day) is better than getting a links and articles on 10 sites with a Google page rank of 1 (each with 100 visitors per day)! The site with a page rank of 5 will also no doubt be more trusted by a loyal community of readers, meaning greater opportunity to convert to a sale.

I say it’s the PRs responsibility to start managing the client’s expectations effectively by working smarter to reveal the most prominent websites and blogs in terms of traffic and page rank to target. If you’re a traditional PR and you’re reading this and you want to take one thing from this article, please get to grips with the various free tools out there that identify whether a website is worth targeting or not, then thoroughly research your market, call your client, ask for a meeting and outline to them your new strategy. Prioritising your approach will show your client that you know exactly what you’re talking about and truly want to achieve value for their money! It will also save you a whole heap of time for more reward.

Less popular sites should certainly not be ignored, they still count, BUT start prioritising your approach and if you’re going to send samples (for example), make sure they are to the right targets.

Whilst I’m on my soapbox I want to raise the topic of communication - traditional PRs to bloggers. We have run our own popular lifestyle blogs for over four years and whilst I have definitely seen an improvement in how PRs try and communicate with me (the lowly blogger)... it’s 1 in 10 that get their message it right. Let me tell you, if you get it wrong you have a one way ticket to the recycle bin and I’m sure I speak on behalf of many bloggers.

Traditional PRs are definitely shifting more towards online (which is a positive move) but when will they realise that BCCing me a press release (however relevant) just doesn’t cut it. We’re not paid to read releases… nor promote your client.

Take a second and ask yourself why you would blog if you did blog.

Here are the reasons why bloggers blog:

• Creative expression 52%
• Document personal experiences 50%
• Keep in touch with friends and family 37%
• Share skills & knowledge 34%
• To motivate other people to action 29%
• To entertain people 28%
• To make money 7%

Are you getting my point now?

Many of us blog out of our passion for a subject, and when a PR shares that passion they have a far greater chance of us taking them seriously. So my message to PRs is that if you want greater success with coverage on prominent blogs I suggest you first find out whether the site is worth contacting (checking traffic stats, page rank and quality of content) and secondly make a friendly approach to the blogger to see whether you can assist with content on their site… and if so, what kind of content. Make a friend out of a prominent blogger and you’ll be strategically set up for the future… more so than those who fail to understand how to carry out effective online PR anyway!