Let’s face it, planning a Blogger Outreach is NOT rocket science. It’s actually fairly easy to do and is one of the more enjoyable parts of being a social media professional, in my opinion. But OH, can it be EPIC in its disaster if not handled right.
We all know bloggers turn to their social media channels to announce their disappointments and excitements, it’s what we do. Brands are aware of this fact, which is why they reach out to bloggers to spread their word. Duh, right? The best (or worst) online word of mouth marketing, right there in a tidy timeline package.
Big, little and everywhere in between bloggers have all watched drama after drama unfold when bad PR happens to good brands. It happens all the time, it’s par for this social media landscapes course. Many of us enjoy watching the backfire of bad PR. It’s a learning experience as well as cheap online entertainment.
Personally, I love when good campaigns happen, when the entire thing is done right from start to finish. I breathe a sigh of relief. Because way too often, we ride the rocky waves of bad campaigns.
If you’ve been following me since last Thursday, you know that a really bad PR campaign happened to me, personally. I’m going to bash or mention names here on my blog, even though I really want to. What I am going to do is explain what NOT to do when creating a Blogger Outreach Event. Because I think there are a lot of companies…both brands and PR…that just don’t know what they are doing. And guess what? This is one thing that I pride myself in being pretty darn good at, the whole blogger outreach thing. Because bloggers are my peeps and I’m a blogger so I live by the whole “do unto others” motto.
Lesson #1 THE INVITES: If you only have room for 8 then don’t invite triple the amount initially. Because…WHAT IF they ALL ACCEPT? It’ll look REALLY BAD if you have to UNINVITE these people. Oh wait. So, here is a little tip for you, it’s called “Phases”. Repeat after me…PHASES. Do you see where I’m going with this? You roll out invites in…say this with me…PHASES. That’s right. Room for 8? Invite 10 at first. Worst possible case scenario, you have 2 more people than you really wanted. Best case scenario, they all decline. Then, you roll out the 2nd phase. And you keep going until all the spots are taken. Note: Make sure you give a respond by date. A realistic one.
Lesson #2 The UNINVITES: You don’t do it. You send out invites clearly stating that responses are need ASAP because space is limited and yet, everyone responds…too bad. You’re stuck. You invited these people as your guests to the event, you make sure they are happy. As stated earlier, we all know what happens when some bloggers aren’t happy. It becomes a viral Internet situation that just makes EVERYONE look bad. Not good.
Lesson #3 Responding to emails: The whole copy/paste thing is fine, within reason. Make sure you personalize the email a bit. I know it takes some time to personalize the greeting and to add a little note directed to each person. But do it. Otherwise, you’ll come across as a jerk. It’s OK to be professional, it’s what you do. But, it’s ever OK’er to add some personality to your outreach.
Lesson #4 Responding to NEGATIVE emails: You screwed up. It happens to the best of us. You’re facing the ramifications of your screw up by getting an influx of hate mail. The copy/paste thing…it’s just not working. By now, rumor has circulated amongst all the bloggers who were invited to this event and emails are being compared. If everyone is receiving the same canned response, it’s just adding more fuel to this fire which, by now, is burning far beyond your control. Save yourself, respond to emails, tweets, fb messages. Kindly. With empathy. No LOL allowed. Bloggers don’t care that you created this outreach right before you left for a two day vacation. They care that they were invited and then uninvited. You wouldn’t want it to happen to you, right? Put yourself in their shoes when trying to fix what you broke.
Lesson #5 Blogger Outreach professionals: If you don’t know how to do blogger outreach right, then don’t do it at all. Outsource. Find a company that knows best practices. Because if Blogger Outreach is something you suck at, it’s going to give your firm and the brand a really bad name. You don’t want that to happen, not with everyone watching on the social media channels. It’s just a bad place to be.
Like I said before, Blogger Outreach…big or small events…not that hard to do. But, it seems like way too many companies are creating these fabulous events and not doing the outreach part right.
So yes, I did get invited to a fabulous sounding event. I received an invite on Thursday at 12:05 pm (via the timestamp on the email). It CLEARLY STATED that space was limited and to respond by March 21st. I responded at 12:12pm (that’s 7 minutes later, I’d say that’s ASAP) that I would, indeed, like to go. It said I could bring a kid, age 5-12. My youngest is 9. I told him about it because hey…I didn’t think, ok. He was so freaking excited, he couldn’t fall asleep that night.
Friday evening, I was UNinvited via a copy/paste email. I responded to that email letting them know, in very professional language, what I thought. A short time later, I received a copy/paste email from the owner of the PR firm apologizing and reiterating that it was a first come/first serve event. I didn’t respond. I wasn’t going to fight about the fact that I responded pretty darn quick.
Now, because I promised my son Florida, I’m looking to take him to Disney around the time we were invited to go to this Family Event in Florida. I refuse to let being UNinvited to an event disappoint my son.
That is why, when I create events, I think about the do unto others thing. The UNinvite was done unto MY son. I’m a grown up, I can compartmentalize the fact that this PR company just really didn’t know what they were doing. But my son? All he knew was that he was bummed out.
So those, up there, are a few little lessons into the whole Blogger Outreach thing.
People please…do it right or just don’t do it. Thanks.
I would like to mention, I was NOT the only blogger UNINVITED to this event. There was WAY TOO many of us who all received the same copy/paste UNinvite response.
I can’t stop shaking my head. This was the most unprofessional fiasco I’ve ever had the displeasure of being part of. In five years of blogging and working with some of the best PR agencies, this was by far the worst and most disappointing.
Cat Davis | Food Family & Finds´s last blog post ..Spring Into Spring Cooking with Target
I was also invited and uninvited. The funniest part is I live within driving distance! I was invited last year and could not go because of restrictions on infants. I, instead, sent someone else to them to be kind to help fill a slot. I thought that the invite this year was to see if I could personally attend.
WRONG.
What was so disappointing is the copy and paste responses about being “high on the list”. Do PR think we do not talk to each other?
I was also told that it was “standard” in the industry to over book. Again, not true. Maybe, just maybe, in mainstream media, but not in blog media.
I was really left scratching my head and with a bad taste for Hilton.
I also want to add that we are doing a blogger trip in Destin in May for Emerald Grade Village and if anyone wants to go to that, its not entirely comped, but will have 30 bloggers, a great great price, and free breakfasts/lunches and activities.
Trisha
trisha´s last blog post ..Foil is fun, Mom! (and you can also win!)
Yes! Exactly. I’ve been invited to well over a dozen travel related events and never once was anyone uninvited because of too many invites being sent out.
And the copy/paste email responses were beyond ridiculous. The whole “I wanted to personally respond to your email” response left me speechless when I found out it was yet another copy/paste reply.
Cat Davis | Food Family & Finds´s last blog post ..Spring Into Spring Cooking with Target
I’ve been invited to a bunch and have put together a bunch. Never, in the 7 years of blogging, has this ever happened to me or anyone I know. This…is not the norm.
How disappointing. I’m so sorry this happened to you and hopefully they have learned from it.
Sheri´s last blog post ..Win a Netflix Prize Pack ARV $200 {Canada}
This just makes me even more wary of dealing with the blogger outreach people – and I have an inbox overflowing with messages from various PR firms. But seeing you, Cat, and now Trisha going through this? Yeah I think I’ll stick to life under my rock. This whole thing is beyond the realm of unprofessional and rockets itself into insulting and just absurd!
I was one of the “uninvited” for this event too, and was really bummed. I don’t understand in ANY way how inviting a ton of bloggers and rejecting most of us is a beneficial process for the PR company or the brand. It doesn’t make the event feel exclusive… it just generates negativity.
Also – shared your post link on the brand’s FB page. They need to read what you have to say and have influence over their PR firm for the next go-round.
I wasn’t invited to this particular event, but I can’t imagine what a nightmare that this has been for your all. Thankfully I’ve had great trip experiences with great PR and companies but I would have been so upset had I received this invite and than was uninvited. Especially after telling a child about it and having them get all excited too. I think the points you outlined nail it exactly. This PR group failed over and over again by inviting too many, uninviting and then copy and pasting responses. Did they think that bloggers don’t network and know each other? If bloggers have been going for any period of time, chances are they belong to a network or have met other bloggers via conference or brand trips. I REALLY hope that there are PR firms that take the time to read your article and realize what NOT to do.
Tiff @ Babes and Kids´s last blog post ..Free Country Outerwear Review
Great post, and yes I was actually referred since I am within driving distance as well, and followed up – only to receive the same “high on the list” email as well. Such a roller coaster. I would have thought such a large chain would have handled this better. I have to think the person in charge was new and clueless. Talk about a life lesson.
Lynsey @MoscatoMom´s last blog post ..Greenie Tots Make Mealtime Healthy
I still can’t believe this happened to you. Just so wrong.
Jennifer´s last blog post ..Kindergarten, Then and Now {Name That Kindergartner Contest}
Great post … and awful story! Very unprofessional of them.
Handled poorly from the very beginning, and apparently the Powers that Be just made it worse. I’m sorry your kiddo was so disappointed and I hope you two can still make it to Disney.
Tara R.´s last blog post ..Taking it to the streets
I can’t believe how unprofessional this was. I got the invitation too and was looking at airlines, etc. It was then that I heard other bloggers saying they had been uninvited, so I didn’t bother responding. PR Agencies also need to keep in mind that they are reaching out to MOTHERS. Mothers who have to make arrangements, etc.
Did this PR just pick the first 8 that replied? If so, what is the point of the deadline to reply? I agree, they should send the invitation to the amount of bloggers that they actually have room for. Then invite more as needed.
This was a huge disaster.
I was not one of the bloggers invited but feel horrible for everyone who was invited and uninvited.
This is a great post and I hope that some of the companies not handling blogger outreach well read this and follow your advice.
Sharon @ Not Your Mom Blog´s last blog post ..$50 Visa Giftcard Giveaway! #giveaway
OMG… I am so sorry! That is beyond unprofessional and before to long they will be called out on their practices. Nobody is going to want to work with them… brands or bloggers.
Jackie´s last blog post ..Monday Menu – Pumpkin Cheesecake
I have been invited to a few events (like the one that Trisha is putting together) that have been run SO much better than this program sounds like it is run.
What a horrible thing to do to bloggers, and as Jennifer said, to mothers who need to make arrangements for their families, whether they are taking a child with them or leaving them at home with other family members.
I’m sorry this happened to all of you and hope that they have learned from this fiasco.
Lorie Shewbridge´s last blog post ..What Love Means……
That is just unbelievably rude and SO unprofessional. And while that could be chalked up to a rookie mistake, the two form letters that follow put them squarely in the “jackass” category. Sorry you have to deal with the disappointment caused my someone else’s mess-up!
Elisa´s last blog post ..GetGlue who?
Big suck.
It’s pretty hard to believe, actually – blogger outreach is not a new thing. I’m pretty sure almost every possible PR mistake has already been made… and talked about publicly on social media sites.
Jenni Chiu @ MommyNaniBooboo´s last blog post ..Fervent Trusting Love.
If they are treating the uninvited this way I’d be nervous about being one of the invited. This company seems disconnected and disorganised.
Ann Harrison´s last blog post ..Watching It Grow
I don’t know exactly who did this to you, but I heard about something similar happening to Katie at Domestic Debacle. I wonder if there’s one horrible resort that keeps doing this people?
Katy´s last blog post ..Yes, I’m on my iPhone