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Do Bloggers And PR Fit Together? (Part 2)
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We thought that there was more than enough discussion last week on the Bloggers and PR debate but we just got had a couple of interesting things land in our inbox which relate to the story so we thought we would do a quick follow up. The first is a video from Realwire which just about sums up how the process of engaging with people online works and should be shown on day one in any PR college…
We spoke with Realwire’s Chief Executive Adam Parker (he commissioned this video) who probably finds himself somewhere in the middle and asked him if he could shed any light on the debate giving his clear understanding of the situation…
Why do PR professionals have such a hard time getting bloggers?
That’s a difficult question and IMHO a flawed one as it implies that PR professionals and bloggers are homogeneous groups and the fact is they aren’t. Successful Online PR is all about relating to people. In reality all PR should be about relating to people – this is “public relations” after all – perhaps the industry has just got too used to predominantly relating to people via media channels, rather than directly. This may seem ironic, and even a bit rich, coming from the chief executive of a press release distribution company, but we have always tried to keep this principle at the heart of what we do, hence the “real” in our name. We don’t succeed all the time as we are only human ourselves, but we do care when we don’t. The party analogy we use in the video isn’t new, in fact I think it is as old as the hills, but perhaps it will help to remind people of what sits at the heart of good “people” relations. I wouldn’t think that anyone would expect to be well thought of if they interrupted a conversation a group of people were having at a party, blurted out some irrelevant personal achievement and then wandered off never to be heard from, until the next party where they did the same thing all over again. And yet this is what some PR people are doing every day they spam a blogger with a press release.
It is clear that there is a large learning curve here for a lot of people in the PR profession and it is a curve that they are going to have to tackle very quickly if they are to survive and prosper in this new world order. Conall Mcdevitt who was at the center of the storm last week also sent me a presentation which explains the notion behind the term “Badvocates” and some further research to back it up. This sort of targeting of advocates and the terminology around it was what had so angered many in the first place but Conall said that…
I hope that people who are genuinely interested in understanding the concept should read this and see where we are coming from
I can see both sides of the argument myself in that people don’t like being pigeon holed or targeted in groups but at the same time people like Conall and PR agencies around the world are getting paid to market their products and a large part of that job is now happening online. The middle ground is going to be hard to find but those who do find it and execute correctly will be massive winners over the next couple of years.
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Just to jump in here and then run away from this whole debate – my whole point, once again, and it’s backed up by Conall’s presentation there – is deal with people as people.
Don’t try and “enlist advocates”, engage with people. Understand that a “badvocate” (as well as all the things they could be) is probably someone who has had a bad experience with your company – so sort out the experience and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Just provide a good service in the first case!
Rather than thinking or saying “let’s enlist advocates”, say “let’s provide a good service so people will say good things about us”. Rather than say “let’s deal with badvocates”, try (a) ascertaining why they’ve got a problem with your brand and sort out that problem to their satisfaction, and, as I said, make sure it doesn’t happen again.
This is an ideology shift as much as anything.
Hi Niall
Many thanks for featuring the video. As you rightly say this is a debate that we find ourselves in the middle of and therefore to a degree can see both sides. When we wrote the script the two elements we focussed on the most were the language around the analogy – hard to balance being cheesy against being conversational, think we didn’t too bad a job, but not completely happy – and the 5 points at the beginning. Have just looked back and it took a number of iterations (some written by me at midnight on a Sunday!) before we settled on the ones in the video – listening; being accepted by the community on their terms; providing relevant and quality content; engaging people in conversations and building relationships.
I would be interested in people’s views on whether these capture the whole or whether there are gaps? At one point in the video’s development we actually made the analogy much broader and talked about it being like moving home where you try and get to know people in your new community, with a party just being an example of one of the ways you do this. Unfortunately as a video we were concerned that as the explanation of the analogy was longer there was too much of a gap between the 5 points and the “demonstration” of the party and there was a danger that the point of video would get lost.
However I actually think that this broader analogy is probably more valid as it communicates the investment and work required for success. Moving house and getting to know the new community you live in takes time, it can’t be achieved in a just a couple of quick conversations. It is also complex and requires you to be prepared to open up and take some risks. I think it is this investment and the long term nature of good online PR that people are struggling with in particular when commercial considerations come into play. (For what it’s worth we actually do have a version of the video with this longer setup section in the middle if you or anyone else is interested. Could post it up if you were).
Anyway I am sure this conversation will last for a while longer yet!
Thanks again.
Adam
The smart companies should fire a VP of Marketing and hire a Chief Blogger.