Depending on whom you ask, bloggers may or may not be journalists. In fact, Google has 10,000 results on the topic. So to start, while this may be super cliché, I looked up the definition of journalist:
1. A person who practices the occupation or profession of journalism, (which is A. the occupation of reporting, writing, editing, photographing, or broadcasting news or of conducting any news organization as a business and B. writing that reflects superficial thought and research, a popular slant, and hurried composition)
2. A person who keeps a journal, diary, or other record of daily events.
So you can see where it gets foggy. The simple facts are that some bloggers consider themselves journalists and some do not. What’s worse, others are ambivalent. This can make a PR person’s job, well, let’s say “interesting.”
According to a new study, about a third of PR folks and a third of bloggers agree that bloggers are journalists. That’s not a lot. The rest of the blogging community may be posting away with little concern for traditional journalistic standards and most likely do not care whether or not they are considered a credible news source.
A large portion of public relations dollars go to media outreach, and for good reason: the media is highly influential. But depending on the target audience, different types of media – newspapers, broadcast TV news, blogs, podcasts – are more effective.
So as marketers continue to experiment with blogger engagement, are we doing a good job? The study showed just over half of PR executives agree with the statement: “Our firm does a good job identifying the specific interests of individual bloggers and sending them relevant information.” But nearly two-thirds of bloggers disagreed.
They said, “Sorry, but no. You PR people have no idea where to even start communicating with us, and quite frankly, I can’t wait to ‘out’ you for a stupid pitch on my blog next time.” (Those are actually my words, but you get the idea).
“Our firm does a good job identifying the specific interests of individual bloggers and sending them relevant information.”
Conversely, a majority of PR executives agreed with the statement, “PR firms should reach out to bloggers essentially the same way we do to traditional media.” Seriously, my fellow PR people, get a grip!
This is a major philosophical break, and one that will continue to evolve. If only one-third of bloggers recognize themselves as journalists, it’s only common sense that traditional PR tactics won’t work for each and every blogger.
According to the study, when it comes to specific tactics in reaching bloggers, a vast majority of PR professionals (62 percent) and bloggers (55 percent) both rejected the practice of “Inserting a press release in the body of an e-mail is an acceptable way to send information to a large group of bloggers.”
“Inserting a press release in the body of an e-mail is an acceptable way to send information to a large group of bloggers.”
Yet, certain profligate PR professionals continue to e-mail stock news releases and generic pitches, and (gasp!) neglect to read blogs before engaging their interest. I recommend skimming Richard Laermer and Kevin Dugan’s Bad Pitch Blog to see recent examples of terrible pitches – to both blogs and mainstream media.
But it’s not all doom and gloom, my friends.
Engaging with bloggers is an effective and often critical tactic in meeting a client’s strategic goals. Monitoring what blogs are saying about your clients is equally important. And equipping your clients with the tools to interact with these crucial influencers is absolutely necessary.
Don’t know how a certain blogger wants to receive information? Ask them. Afraid that pitching 200 blogs at the same time with a giant mail merge is a mistake? I’m afraid it is. Whether the bloggers you’re engaging are journalists or not, they are still human beings, so treat them like it. And as with traditional journalists, remember everything is on the record.