360PR Blog

Laura, Carrie and I hopped on the Acela last week and headed for NYC. We joined a mix of PR pros, brand managers, bloggers, and social media execs at the 2008 BlogHer Business Conference.

Over the course of two days, we took part in a number of panels and sessions all about blogs (and other social media) and the opportunities for brands today. For those who couldn’t attend, here are some take-aways:

1. Blogs are Mainstream: We’ve been working with blogs at 360 for quite some time, but many marketers have not developed a blogger strategy. Getting bloggers “talking about” your products can have enormous value.
2. The Marketing Lobotomy: Mentioned multiple times by Victoria Naffier from HP, marketers need to get a “lobotomy” to break away from traditional marketing methods. In the past, marketing has been all about the company, but now it is all about the community.
3. Small Business vs. Big Business: You don’t have to be a HUGE company to get involved with social media. For example, Wiggly Wigglers started in a village of 63 people in the UK and has grown into a worldwide business through the use of their podcast and other social networking tools.
4. Listen First, Talk Later: Only after listening to the community, should you join the conversation. The blog outreach case studies mentioned at BlogHer all involved months of preparation. “Conversation mining” allows time to survey the community and gauge what is being said, before making contact.
5. Bloggers are Passionate: Stressed in a number of panels and clearly evident in our one-on-one conversations at the conference, bloggers are extremely passionate about what they do and about the topics they write about – they are personally vested.
6. Think Twice: Just because you can reach out to bloggers, doesn’t mean that you should! Not all bloggers are the same, so PR folks need to do their homework and only reach out to those bloggers that would be interested.
7. Narrow Your Focus: Because building relationships with bloggers is an ongoing process (and definitely more time consuming than hitting “send” on a blanket email pitch) try to narrow your focus. Reach out to people that will actually care about what you are looking for – it will save you time and, most likely, lead to better results (and relationships).
8. Lend a Helping Hand: Don’t approach bloggers with a “what can they do for me” attitude. Instead ask “how can we add value”. General Motors, for example, stepped up and provided transportation for close to 100 moms for a Manic Mommies gathering in Newport, RI. In the process, they got alpha moms to try new GM vehicles and buzz about them.
9. Jumping into Corporate Blogging: Only ten percent of Fortune 500 companies have a corporate blog. For companies diving in – start small and don’t bite off more than you can chew. Also, before blogging, consider this – to be successful you have to be interesting and also….human. The more personal a corporate blog is the better.
10. Corporate Blog Metrics: Kodak started the 1000 Words blog written by their employees. Metrics have been more focused on the quality of the conversations around the brand, rather than web site traffic.
11. Online Video: BlogHer primarily focused on blogs, but other social networking and Web 2.0 tools were highlighted as well, including online video. Shay Pausa from ChiKii provided some tips for companies producing videos for distribution online – keep the videos brief and try not to script them (the videos are more “real” if they aren’t scripted).

So, there you have it – BlogHer, in a nutshell. If you attended, feel free to add to the list with a comment!

Filed under: Blogger Relations, Digital PR, Events and Conferences |