A couple of years ago, I wrote a series of posts on Marketing Conversation regarding the use of blogger relations programs.  There was some controversy then, as there is today, about their legitimacy and transparency.  We’re always going to have the sleeze factor - companies and agencies that set up fake blogs or pay bloggers on the side for positive reviews.  There’s always going to be an unease about this, especially for those of us that are in online marketing and have our own blogs.  We’re playing many roles here.  We’re marketers working on behalf of clients, we’re social media strategists trying to legitimize a practice, and we’re bloggers wishing to maintain our integrity.

The rest of this post is an up-to-date version of what I wrote two years ago.  Slightly changed for today:

To me, it’s important to remember, first and foremost, that we work for the client. Let’s face it. As marketers, our goal here is to create a program in which qualified influential bloggers will write (and hopefully write favorably) about our clients’ products. Or at least their experiences with the products. The favorable part we have limited control over. The product itself has to be good enough to pass the mustard test. Period. The part we do have some influence over is the way we set up the program. If it’s created with in a manner in which bloggers aren’t interested in blogging or don’t understand how to blog from an analytical standpoint, then maybe we’re not doing our jobs.

It’s important to remember that our client’s major focus will be on the audience. Not the bloggers. Not the program itself. Yes, they’ll be seeking credibility though the bloggers. Yes, they’ll realize that it’s the program that will be putting them in front of the audience. But the reality is that our clients will be more concerned about enhancing their brand and selling more product.

I’ve seen a lot of discussions that focus so much on the concerns and feelings of the bloggers that sometimes I’m left wondering if we’ve forgotten about the client. For our clients’ sake, we shouldn’t be so sensitive to not offending bloggers that we’re creating giveaway programs to relatively prominent bloggers who we hope will say a few positive words about our client’s products. If we run clean and honest campaigns that respect carefully vetted bloggers’ integrity, then things should fall into place.

So I figured I’d go ahead and stick my neck out and say how I’d set up a blogger outreach program. Specifics, not just theories.

For the sake of convenience, I’m going to stick close to what I wrote about two years ago.  The product in question here is a quality camera as the product. It’s a reasonably high end product that could have broad appeal. And with this effort, I’ll make the following assumptions: the product is top quality with no major flaws (but may not always live up to it’s hype or brand promise) and that the client and I agree as to what types of people would have an interest in the camera.

General Structure

I don’t really agree with the idea of selecting a certain number of bloggers and treating them a one large blogger outreach program. Since I’d be vetting and approaching bloggers, along with managing the whole process, I’d segment them in two ways; one horizontally, one vertically. And I’d carry this structure throughout the whole process.

The Tiers of Relevance (Horizontal)

This would be the horizontal segmentation. I’d create tiers separated by the level of expertise they have in understanding the product and in giving critical analyses. In this case, they’d be segmented by the likely role a camera would place in their daily business and/or personal lives.

Ryan Karpeles and I came up with a term via an email discussion: the “flow of relevance”. Meaning the natural flow starting from the company and their product through the blogger and their insight about the product through the audience and their interest in the product. It’s essential to create a program in which this flow can thrive. It connects the company to the audience.

Each tier may need a different approach because each tier may have different needs. They could also look at their roles differently and how this program could affect their readership.

Tier One – The Experts In a case such as cameras, this group could consist of tech bloggers who already give product reviews, professional photographers, and those who blog extensively about photography. They’ve got a deep reservoir of knowledge of the product category and, most likely, they’ve read that this new camera is about to be introduced. These folks are essentially equal to reporters (some may actually be reporters). They may carry a lot of weight and are valued for their expertise.

Tier Two – The Heavy Users Or likely heavy users. In this case it could consist of travel bloggers who use high end cameras to record their journeys. Or architects who take extensive photos of the projects their working on. Or an adventure blogger who writes an article every six or nine months for a men’s magazine.

They know a lot about cameras because need them in their work life, but they don’t necessarily have the level of knowledge that makes them experts. And their audience reads their blogs not for learning about photography, but for the subject matter.

Tier Three – The Casual User This category would consist of people who are highly likely to have an interest in cameras, but may have a limited knowledge of what they’re about. They may not be well-informed on aspects from features to pricing to brand reputation. They’re mommy bloggers and daddy bloggers who are likely to have or want a camera for recreational use.

Tier Four – Other Influencers It would be rare to pick individuals from this group because, while they may carry some influence, the subject matters that they cover don’t really relate to cameras. I’d suggest that social media advocates, writing as social media, fall into this category.

Tier Five – Everybody Else These guys are SOL.

Bloggers by Subject Matter (Vertical)

A travel blogger who takes extensive photos of her travels will be different than a architect who take extensive photos of his projects. I’d segment each category of blogger because the subject matters of which they write on are different and their audiences are different as well. In the end of the campaign, for example, the client may want to know how mommy bloggers as a category felt about the product.

Vetting Bloggers – Examining Who to Choose

I’d think insight before storytelling Bloggers who give clear, clean, and crisp analyses on whatever subject matter they cover are bloggers that are respected. Bloggers who tell great stories with that certain flair are bloggers that are enjoyed. When looking at which blogger to pick, I’d go for the former. They will have a natural understanding of their role and of how a program like this can better benefit their readers. They are more likely to get reader reaction and discussion.

Storytellers can still be important. They, after all, can tell great stories. And those stories can be compelling. This may make them a great choice to include in your campaign. But I’d first make careful observations of the blogger to make sure they don’t end up reducing the client’s product to a bit item of no consequence. For instance, a parent blogger who tells us of a wonderful day in the park, doesn’t say anything about the camera, and shows one photo of a couple of people munching on an ears of corn at the picnic. That doesn’t really help the client or inform the reader.

I’d think relevance before prominence I’d curb any urge I had in approaching big name bloggers if the blogger has displayed no interest or understanding of the product. Instead I’d choose bloggers who have ‘presence’ but either have displayed some sort of understanding of the concept of the product or are ‘topically’ appropriate. Meaning they could potentially have an interest in the product based upon the subject matter that they write about. This may seem elementary but from what I’ve read, it seems that some are getting pitched all the time. If that describes you, do you think this makes sense? Do you feel qualified to examine and review this week’s special?

This means we have to do our homework and take time to read and research the bloggers who would most suit our clients’ needs. We need to get to know as much about them as possible. Their writing style (more analytical), their attitude (not egotistical), their relationship with their audience (open and honest).

Above all, I’d think value Relevant bloggers writing with great insight about your client’s cool new product to a targeted, qualified audience means value all the way around. To your client, to the audience, to the blogger and to you as a practitioner of blogger outreach.

Remember, your client is most interested in the audience. And the audience here will be most interested in getting information they need in order to purchase a product.

Approaching and Engaging the Blogger

I wouldn’t send them form letters.

I’d get their name right.

I wouldn’t treat them as if they had just won something and, as a result, be “excited” for them and congratulate them on being selected.  Instead treat them professionally and respectfully. My attitude would be upbeat by not in anyway sales-like.

And if I had sparked an interest, I would make sure that they understood three things:

A full understanding of the program including the whole concept of blogger outreach. OK, this is a no-brainer. It’s likely that many won’t have a clue as to what is going on when they get contacted out of the blue. It may make sense to set up a web site that they could go to if they wanted to learn more about the program. It could include a video message from an official from the client company.

Why they were picked. The most common reasons will be their insightfulness and the quality of their audience. This may stroke their ego, but it’s being honest. And I’d make sure that they’d understand how that insightfulness and audience quality is relevant to the project.

What we hope they’ll do. Yes, we hope you’ll use the product, the camera, and give their readers a fair analysis of it. If they blogger about it, we’d want them to be honest. And we’d send them material that can help them be honest. Lastly, we’d want them to give their audience full disclosure about their participation in the program.

And if they said “yes” to our request to their being part of the program, I’d send them:

The camera. Duh.

Instruction manuals. Yes, that would be good. A bunch of information so they can learn as much about what they received.

A one pager, written by a professional product reviewer on writing critical analysis and product reviews. Huh? Many of you might disagree with this, but I’d look to hire someone who writes product reviews for a living to write up an easy going, informal one page piece on what they look for when they write product reviews. A how-to of sorts. This individual would have no connection to the marketing company or the client. And I’d include it in the material I’d be sending to Tier 2 bloggers on down.

Many might disagree with this tactic as they would think that it’s insulting to bloggers. It’s a form of telling the bloggers what to think. I say it’s the opposite. I’d say it’s a way of freeing them up to think analytically about the product so they can best inform their readers. In other words, create value.

Sure, some bloggers may have no problem understanding how to go about this. But others may not know where to start. How to begin. What to write about. As in “The camera seems nice…here’s a couple of pictures.” That doesn’t really help their readers nor does it help the client.

While I’m not exactly sure what a product reviewer looks for, I might guess that they would analyze if the product lives up to its brand promise. If it’s positioned as a “family camera”, is that true? Do the features not only work well, but do they work well together? Things that your average blogger may not know what to look for may now be something that they’d examine closely.

This could have other benefits as well. It may get a blogger to take the program that much more seriously. They may see their role as quite important. Where they are free to – yes – criticize the product if need be…making sure that they aren’t writing puff pieces or becoming inadvertent shrills.

Outside of an initial introduction, I’d largely keep the client on the sideline with the exception of customer support. In fact, I’d stay on the sidelines as well with the exception of periodic check-in to see if the bloggers had any questions. That website that was originally set up would still be live and serve as a informational resource for the bloggers.

Online Review Panel

Here’s another idea that may be controversial. At the conclusion of the campaign, I’d set up an one-time online Q&A panel that consists of bloggers who had been part of the campaign who could take questions regarding the camera from interested parties – be it their readers or anyone who ends up coming in to learn. The bloggers would primarily come from Tiers 1 & 2. This way, a reader could ask to-the-point questions on the product as a whole…how is it different from the previous model? How well does it work in a particular type of setting? The “attendees” of the session are likely to be more qualified and interested in learning more about the product because they’re taking the time to come on in and ask questions. And, also, a reader of one particular blogger can now ask questions to other bloggers on the panel.

Follow Up and Final Stage

Now we’re going to have a bunch of information to deal with. How daddy bloggers felt about the camera. What the greatest points travel bloggers made. How impressed that very important Tier 1 felt.

So from here, I conduct an analysis of the program in its entirety and the conversations that followed.  There may be many.  Blog reviews can spread.  Conversations will carry the positive and negative stories throughout the blogosphere.  That needs to be monitored.

Ideally, that’s how I’d handle a blogger relations program.