http://www.360prblog.com/

I had the pleasure of moderating an informative panel of leading brands and bloggers in the parenting space at last month’s Marketing 2 Moms conference.  We’ve edited the two-hour session down to a 13-minute podcast, packed with tips and insights – worth a listen as you’re building your 2010 campaigns and considering how to initiate or extend your work with bloggers.

eMarketer reports that there are 34 million moms online and that may very well be a conservative estimate – we’ve seen numbers as high as 40+ million moms online.  And as parenting books such as Child, Wondertime and Cookie have ceased publication, hundreds more mom bloggers have begun posting.  There’s no denying it, blogs are a legitimate part of the mom media mix today – especially if you want to reach the connected, influencer-moms who have the power to word-of-mouth your brand.  But with more bloggers and brands jumping in, the environment is cluttered, and communications needs to be on point to break through and resonate with bloggers and their readers.

Moreover, with the FTC Guides taking effect 12/1, brands need to be diligent with their monitoring – making sure what is played back is accurate and any material relationships are clearly disclosed. We all have lots at stake – brands, bloggers and, most of all, readers.  Here’s what the experts at M2Moms had to say:

“Blogger relations should be about “quality over quantity…what [bloggers] say is more important than the numbers.” – Lesley Hettinger, General Motors Corp

“The intimate conversations are so much more valuable…it’s not about building an army, but an influential group of advisors and advocates…you really have to look at the long tail.” – Jeannine Harvey, PBS

“To me, it’s always about the added value…brands need to be able to provide added value” when working with bloggers and their audiences. – Kristin Brandt, Manic Mommies

“Blogs are such a personal experience for the reader…it’s really important that everything on that page be reflective of who we are.” – Liz Gumbinner, Cool Mom Picks & Blog with Integrity

“We want to get to know moms on a 1:1 basis.  We’re always reading blogs and looking at what bloggers are talking about on Twitter.”  - Marcia Hansen, Allstate Insurance Company

“I feel better about a brand if they have a presence on Twitter.  But the most important thing is to have someone monitoring…you have to have someone interacting with your customers.” – Beth Blecherman, Silicon Valley Moms Group

For more, listen to the M2Moms Brands & Blogs podcast below. A BIG thanks to Kristin Brandt for recording the session and to Susan Getgood for her masterful editing!

Filed under: Blogger Relations, Consumer Marketing, Digital PR, Events and Conferences, Marketing to Moms, Parenting, Pitch tips by LauraTomasetti - No Comments →

Call it a stunt.  Call it desperation.  MomDot issued a challenge to its community of bloggers last week calling for a PR Blackout for one week in August.  (Just so happens that’s the week everyone’s on vacation anyway, haha.)  The ironic thing is the announcement was the most successful PR move ever for MomDot, accidental or not.  The Wall Street Journal was the latest to cover the news, in today’s edition.

On the one hand, I don’t blame MomDot.  Bloggers, and mom bloggers in particular, are over-saturated with PR pitches.  We get calls daily (truly daily) from brands wanting to dive in.

I often think of our mom blogger friends on the inevitable receiving end.  Step into their world for a minute.  Unlike journalists, most mom bloggers don’t work full-time. They’re balancing blogging with their other passion - family.  And some of the pitches, no scratch that, MOST of the pitches they get are just awful.  Read Bostonmamas Christine Koh’s recent “Bad Blogger Outreach” series.  Delete, delete, delete.

The good news is blogs are now widely recognized by brands as a legitimate channel in the mom media mix.  And there are brands and PR firms (wink, wink) that get it.

It’s important to look at blogs individually and not as one big mom blog bucket.  So much of good blogger relations is about content mapping. What’s the blogger’s focus?  What value does the brand bring to the discussion?  How can you be a true resource to a blogger and not a source of exasperation?

For more, look for 360 at Blogher Business this week, and if you’re not headed to Chicago, keep an eye here and on our tweets (@Laura360, @C_Pierce, @BWelch).

Filed under: Blogger Relations, Digital PR, Events and Conferences, Internet, Marketing to Moms, Pitch tips by LauraTomasetti - 12 Comments →

We just posted a new issue of our MomSquad Trendletter. If you’re still tinkering with your summer marketing plan, there are some great insights gleaned from 360’s MomSquad members. From New England to Georgia, Chicago and out to the West Coast, moms say they’re staying close to home this summer, an opportunity for brands with an angle on backyard fun and budget-friendly activities for the whole family.

“Even though we don’t have any major plans, I’m excited for the summer,” comments Laura Often of North Grafton, Mass. “The summer gives us more options - ice cream runs, the pool, picnics, the beach and just being able to play outside makes the days better.”

Among summer vacation travel trends identified by the 360PR MomSquad:

• Families are planning shorter, drive-to trips.
• Day trips to local attractions - from beaches, parks and museums - top the list of destinations.
• If staying overnight, most will be bunking with family and friends taking advantage of built-in babysitters.
• Those planning a staycation say they’re saving their money now to be able to eat some meals out this summer.
• Top purchases will include GPS systems, grills (and the usual accompaniments) and outdoor toys.

And before they go anywhere, moms will head online.”We make sure to look things up online before going to find any coupons for activities or places to eat,” says Missouri mom Courtney Foster. “You can go on a great vacation and spend about the same you would at home if you plan ahead and look for deals.”

Deal Seeking Mom is one of my personal favorites. For deals on summer groceries, be sure to check out the web site of your local supermarket before hopping in the car. 360 client Stop & Shop posts their weekly circular and other deals online, and our Peapod (grocery delivery) client lets you sort your virtual cart and list for items on sale that you may want to stock up on. (Don’t forget to pick up some Ball jars to store everything!)

“And just because school is out doesn’t mean the learning stops. I try to have some educational aspect of our vacations - I’m looking for ways that my children can have fun and learn something,” says Anita Doberman, a military mom in Georgia.

For more MomSquad summer insights, checkout the Trendletter.

Filed under: Consumer Marketing, Marketing to Moms, Parenting, Pitch tips by LauraTomasetti - 1 Comment →

As a follow-up a blogger relations session we had a few weeks back with Susan Getgood, which Elicia posted about, we were lucky to have a top locally based mom blogger come to our office and talk to 360ers about what works – and what doesn’t – when working with bloggers.  Christine Koh is the brain behind BostonMamas.com.  And when I say brain, I mean brain.  Among her many other accomplishments, Christine Koh has a Ph.D. in music and brain science!  Christine had some great tips when it comes to planning events for bloggers.  At 360, we typically call them “blunches!”  Her tips include:

• First and foremost, don’t request (or require for that matter) that if a blogger come to an event that they post about it.  Not only is it an immediate turnoff, but PR people and marketers should think of events as a way to build relationships with bloggers.  And hey, if it is a good, meaningful event, then chances are bloggers will have something to post about anyway, which leads me to Christine’s second point…

• The best events are multifaceted and can appeal to a wide range of bloggers and subject matters.  For example, Christine went to a blogger event that was put together by a family vacation destination where there were speakers and sessions on multiple subject matters.  For instance, the chef of the resort offered recipes for the whole family while someone else spoke about economical travel tips so virtually everyone that attended the event had something they wanted to write about coming out of the event. 

Speaking of blogger relations and events – I hope that everyone caught Susan Getgood’s post on Monday about another blogger relations campaign gone bad that spreading like wildfire on Twitter.  Just search #fishfulthinking and you will see what I mean!

Filed under: 360 Public Relations, Blogger Relations, Boston, Pitch tips by CarolinePierce - 1 Comment →

Blogger Relations has become as important (and sometimes even more important, depending on the brand and audience and how much time they spend online) as traditional media relations. From time to time we host “best practices” speakers at 360. On Friday, Susan Getgood, a Society of New Communications Research Fellow and the voice of Marketing Roadmaps, led a discussion amongst 360 staff about getting beyond the “101″ of  working with bloggers.

It was an awesome discussion that ran over-time by about an hour!  We covered a lot of ground and I’ve summarized a handful of key takeaways below for your reading pleasure:

• “New to You” is Enough - A product/service doesn’t have to be brand “new” to be relevant to a blogger. Susan recently posted a blog entry with more detail about the concept of “New to You.”
• Add Value - When reaching out to bloggers, it is so important to add value. It is about much more than a quirky pitch. “That means putting your product or service into the blogger’s context, not talking at him from yours with a press release, list of features or carefully crafted message point.”
• Bad Pitches - Susan shared a number of examples of bad pitches that she and fellow bloggers have received. We have a no-blast policy at 360, but often bloggers do get blanket pitches from PR folks that, for example, are addressed generically, e.g., (”Hi!”), or include mixed fonts (a sure sign that the pitch was blasted out), or are geographically irrelevant. Susan has a bunch of examples of bad pitches on her blog - check them out!
• Being Reactive and Proactive - It is just as important to be reactive in the blogging community as it is to be proactive. Listening before you engage in the blogosphere is important, and only after you’ve listened should you choose to either pro-actively reach out to a blogger or react to something they’ve already said.
• Planning for Measurement - Incorporate measurement into your plan at the start of a campaign! Whether it be measuring visits to a websites or microsite, downloads of a file, blog views, etc., those metrics must be determined at the get-go.

Thanks to Susan for a wonderful discussion and a great way to kick off 360’s professional development series for 2009!

Filed under: Blogger Relations, Digital PR, Pitch tips, Social Media by EliciaBasoli - 2 Comments →

I was catching up on reading over the holidays (which seem like forever ago), and came across this really useful post from CopyBlogger:  27 Common Misused Words.  I got the first few right…and read on hopefully (I hope I’ve used hopefully correctly).

CopyBlogger adeptly clarifies for us when to use farther and not further, premier and not premiere, who and whom…and the list goes on.  While I fared pretty well, I’m not telling which blog posts I’m going back to edit.  Thankfully I can correct the past online.  I’d never make it as a print journalist.  Just think of the finality of your words - oh, the pressure!

“I’m a good writer” is the phrase I’ve heard most often in interviews with candidates embarking on (or continuing) their PR career.  But CopyBlogger’s post is a reminder of how often words are misused.  You can’t rely on spellcheck for everything, and in PR words count.

Filed under: Media and Press, PR Industry, Pitch tips by LauraTomasetti - No Comments →

Over the past couple weeks I’ve taken note of a few blog posts and articles related to Digital PR and relevant to 360’s work and our clients’ businesses.  In the spirit of sharing, I’ve listed these below with a few thoughts. Happy Thanksgiving!

Mashable - “The 22 Step Social Media Marketing Plan” / List of Social Media Examples

A couple months ago I stumbled across Peter Kim’s list of Social Media Marketing examples. It is a really great resource, but can be a little overwhelming to browse (he listed over 300 examples!). More recently, Peter Kim wrote a guest post for Mashable.com in which he narrows it down and lists 22 different social media tools, like Blogs and Virtual Worlds, and examples of companies that have used these tools. If you’re interested in social media, I suggest you check it out. He links over to examples from companies like Delta, Kodak, Pampers, method, Rubbermaid, and more.

[Read more →]

Filed under: Blogger Relations, Digital PR, Pitch tips, Social Media, Video Games by EliciaBasoli - No Comments →

There’s still time to be considered for holiday gift guides.   Following, courtesy of the Publicity Club November newsletter and Victoria Renwick on our staff, are some quick holiday gift guide pitch tips to help put some PR coverage under the tree.  

Filed under: Media and Press, PR Industry, Pitch tips by LauraTomasetti - No Comments →