More Feedback To PR Teams (An Addon To Van Tan’s Post)
September 7, 2008 – 3:42 pm | by Daryl TayVan Tan has a very very good post on feedback to PR teams from a blogger’s perspective this week. So good it earned a share on my Google Reader. (Reader Trends tells me I’ve done this exactly thrice in the last 30 days).
I’m not going to rehash what she said here (you need to check out her post), but I will give a few additional points that I’ve noticed having been on both side of the coin (albeit very briefly for the PR side).
#1: Personalisation Is Shitty, But Necessary
Van talks about this in her post and I’ll elaborate on it from a PR person’s point of view. When we organised the HP TouchSmart event, it was absolutely laborious and took half a day to send personal emails to over 40 people. But it had to be done. Maybe with those bloggers you’re close with you could send a two-liner over Facebook, but for those you’re reaching out to for the first time, don’t expect a run of the mill email to get any attention.
#2: Blogger Public Relations Is Still About… Relations
I don’t normally name companies, but one company that does handle the relationship angle very well is Text 100. Whether it’s casual chat about Social Media Breakfast or highly personalised emails with invitations to blogger events, I really feel like I’m being invited to a friend’s event rather than a “company’s” event. Even when I can’t make it, they still make an effort to update me on what went on and direct me to a few links.
It’s a long process, but it definitely creates a difference. And that difference is crucial. Just because a blogger attends an event once, doesn’t mean they are branded yours like cattle. Like it or not, #2 is one of my ways to see how “actively” a company is involved in the social media space. If you’re all talk talk talk about social media but have no visible relations with bloggers, it doesn’t count.
I’d like to hear about this from bloggers and PR folk. What are your pet peeves? Other advice for the companies? Biggest difficulties from PR folk approaching bloggers? Let’s hear it!
Tags: blogger outreach, pr, public relations, social media breakfast, text 100, vantan
5 Responses to “More Feedback To PR Teams (An Addon To Van Tan’s Post)”
By Vanessa Tan on Sep 9, 2008 | Reply
Hey Daryl,
Thanks for the mention and additional thoughts!
Inviting bloggers to events is still a fairly new PR practice in Singapore and has to be fine-tuned along the way. But overall I am glad that it is catching on.
The way in which PR professionals approach bloggers shows me who is interested in us (as people!) and who is treating us like a mass mailing list. No guesses as to which approach gets a better response.
By Daryl Tay on Sep 10, 2008 | Reply
@Vanessa: No worries. I’m definitely glad it’s catching on too and this seems to be a hot topic from the blogger’s perspective. We can only hope the PR folks listen!
By Walter on Sep 10, 2008 | Reply
I think its a tough call sometimes between having personalised emails versus a mass faceless email. And then, there are also facebook messages, MSN chats, SMSes, phone calls and other ways to contact a blogger. At the end of the day, what’s important is that the contact should be high touch and sincere, rather than a cold and impersonal approach.
Having said that, there will be times when one has to do some last minute hustling (I am sure Vanessa also knows what that means!) and sometimes time isn’t on your side…
I suppose it easier said than done. And it also depends on who does the talking/typing too I guess.