Mickey D’s and Moms – The Three “R’s” of Blogger Relations
If you think about it, many of the foods you eat and items you purchase are influenced by what your mom used in the home when you were a child (even though you might not want to admit it)! Nowadays, moms are taking that influence online-in the form of blogs- and influencing more than just their kids about what they should be eating and buying.
McDonald’s, which recently named Rick Wion as its first Social Media Chief, has expressed three main goals for McDonald’s – to use “social media to build the business, manage customer problems, and beef up (pun intended I presume) outreach to target groups such as mommy bloggers.”
This topic – building the connection between brands and mom bloggers was the focus of a Blog with Integrity & Council of PR Firms webinar that our 360 team participated in last week titled “Bridging Brands & Bloggers.” Panelists Susan Getgood, Beth Blecherman, Michelle Madhok, and Tim Hurst shared the three “R”s of blogger relations: research, respect & relationships.
Research: Any brand or PR firm that wants to get in-front of the momosphere needs to find the right moms first – picking at random won’t cut it with the mamas.
Respect: Well, who wouldn’t respect a mom to begin with? But as a rule, treat bloggers with as much respect as journalists.
Relationships: Possibly the biggest theme of the session – building relationships with bloggers is key. Without any sort of relationship, the blogger has no reason to listen to your pitch or even your brand.
For brands large and small who would like to connect with not just moms, but bloggers in general, you might just want to keep these nuggets of wisdom to mind.
Love to see you post Amanda! Keep up the great work.
I was an ad major in college and I’m a blogger now. It’s been fascinating to me to see the change in how companies are able to interact with customers and how word of mouth has changed from talking to friends at work and school to spreading the word to peole you haven’t seen in years via Facebook!
As a mom blogger who’s email box fills up with pr pitches daily, I am much more likely to choose to work with a company who’s at least taken the time to read the “about me” on my blog and incorporate that into their pitch.
I am a mom of four young sons, hence the blog name and the subject matter of it. It is a waste of my time and yours if you contact me about making my daughter feel like a princess! Even a small amount of personalization to your pr pitch geared towards me goes a long way!!!