I had the opportunity last week to speak and sit on a panel at a private travel seminar for a large digital marketing agency, with delegates from a cross-section of the industry.
A fellow presenter was the PR guru from the agency, who outlined their strategy for communicating and influencing bloggers and prominent people within travel forums.
It made for an interesting session following the recent debates on the Travolution Blog and elsewhere on the web.
Any client who wants to reach and hopefully influence bloggers would typically find themselves part of a lengthy and intense programme of understanding and engagement - a process far more subtle than the smash-and-grab approach favoured by some travel companies.
Indeed it seems for those that have the money there is much more going on to this apparent Dark Art of marketing beyond brand awareness and coverage.
For this particular agency - which is one of the biggest in the country and part of a global network with some seriously clients - a seven-step approach is put in place for the client.
* Research the blogs and forums where relevant conversations take place.
* Identify the key influencers, whether it is the blog host or a regular commenter.
* Observe the posts and conversations that take place.
* Analyse the conversations to establish what approach is needed.
* Engage in the conversation whether it is through influencers or directly.
* Monitor the output to check the input on the brand message.
* Report back to the client, start again, re-engage, and adapt the strategy.
The good thing from a travel client's perspective (but probably not from the holier than thou travel bloggers out there who would probably throw their laptops up in horror) is that PR through social media is now very much seen as part of a three-pronged approach which also includes the traditional digital marketing disciplines of SEO and pay-per-click advertising.
So the question for consumer travel bloggers (if they want to) is how do they police such activity?
It is clear that if an agency of this size is using this approach then they have clearly had some successes (they didn't cite any travel-related activity, which is a shame).
The interesting thing to note is that subtlety is a fantastic Dark Art and it seems like the types of people who have devised some of the most influential marketing of all time are now attempting to work their magic through social media.
Whether blog publishers or participants in social media choose to like this approach or not is actually rather irrelevant. It is happening and is more than likely going to intensify...
So what do we all think? I would be particularly keen to hear from PRs themselves and other consumer travel bloggers?
A 1 line summary would be
"To influence bloggers first you must become a blogger".
Or - in Star Wars speak - you must become one with the force
One angle not covered above is the "single influential post" style blogger. There are those who are influential over the longer term - and there are those who write great "single posts" on a topic - and won't revisit (or only write every so often - so don't have an opportunity to revisit)
The long term blogger should be influenced to write about your stuff..... the single post blogger - you have to influence in the comments on that single post - for future organic traffic to read.
Interesting. I'd like to hear more about specific goals as well as strategy though - it's easy to chuck phrases like 'influence' and 'brand message' around, but what are they looking for when they review their activity? What are clients asking for?
Alex - not keen on your summary. Understanding something isn't the same as becoming it...
Hi Nathan
Not sure you have to become a blogger in the niche your want to influence..... just a blogger "generally". (or at least a social media creator - being a consumer isn't sufficient)
Only then will you understand the mindset. Ask JH about this - he says that before he blogged he worked (SEO) with bloggers - but now he blogs - only then has he had to see the issues from the bloggers' perspective.
I think the key thing is to write interesting content that bloggers are actually interested in. This can take a lot of work and research and some good writing, but it's worth it when you actually further the content of a blog's conversation instead of merely adding superfluous information just to get a link.
I'm bored of this topic.
Hi Alex - I buy that having blogged can make a huge difference, but there are non-bloggers who are good at engaging, and active bloggers who aren't. 'Getting it' is a sliding scale, and your position on that scale depends on any number of things. A marketer who is armed with some research and empathy is going to fare better than one who isn't.
That said, I think having your own blog has other benefits - particularly representation. If the people you're posting comments to can't refer back to something, you can seem (IMO) a little insubstantial.
Darren:
Sorry Travolution disappoints you with such dull posts.
Please come back and comment when something does interest you.
I said the topic, not the posts :)
As one who participated in the 'poisonous debate' about PRs influencing bloggers that Kevin links to in this post... a few thoughts.
1) I don't see any new 'black art' here.
PR is about trying to influence... and always has been. It's up to me as a blogger to make my own assessment of people's comments on my blog and their offers of trips or whatever. As I've said on my blog what I love about it is I am in control. I'm flattered that 'PR gurus' take bloggers seriously. Should they? Up to them to decide. I guess having been a freelance travel journo for years means I think I can spot a PR approach from 100 yards... but hey who knows... it could be sppppooookiiiier here on the online world!!! I'm certainly not throwing my laptop up in horror (it cost too much for a start.)
2) Declare yourself!
One thing that would be decidely unethical is PRs commenting on posts without disclosing who they are and who they work for. If they do disclose...I have no problem at all... the more the merrier... blogging is for me about open debate... as long as comments are constructive... fab.
3) Be useful
Kevin's comments that the agency he met with are monitoring and analysing bloggers that they see as influential is a good thing. If you want to engage with me in the social space that I have set up for debate... please do. But at least add something to the debate that is relevant.
People who aren't bored with this debate are welcome to have a look at my 'Rules For Engagement for PRs on Blogs' and - PR or otherwise - to comment too....
http://www.travelblather.com/2008/11/prs-on-blogs---some-rules-of-engagement.html
Cheers
Jeremy
What the PR people are proposing for bloggers is no different to what they already do with journalists in mainstream, traditional media. In my own survey of the origins of stories in UK National Newspapers I found that around 45-50% of stories in "serious" newspapers were derived or influenced by PR. In the tabloid press, it's nearer 75% of all stories coming from PR. The notion that the press or the media in general finds news, investigates and so on is only actually true in Hollywood movies. In the real world, the traditional media is heavily influenced by PR people, so it's no surprise that they want to also get their messages across using bloggers.
Graham:
You're absolutely right, of course.
An interesting point though is that bloggers are desperate that their apparent 'independence' will remain untouched by the PR industry (and let's hope it does), but i suspect to some it feels like its leftfield, alternative position is being eroded.
Newspapers are a declining medium. Blogs are growing (although not to fantastic numbers of the mainstream press as yet), so the focus will swing.
Totally agree with much of the original post as a general strategy. In practical terms the actual 'doing' can be somewhat different, but its always good to be aspirational!
Totally agree with some of the other comments made, in particular Jeremy's second point and Graham's sentiments.
Jeremy:
I think we are all living in cloud cuckoo land if we think marketing executives are always transparent when commenting on blogs and forums.
Danny:
Tell us about how your agency does it?
I'm not bored by the topic at all.
Some very good points raised already.
The Dark art doesn't seem so dark to me.
1) Read the bloggers posts.
2)Identify his areas of interest and see if you can match his/hers interests.3
3) Provide information in a format he/she is able to handle quickly and efficiently. Take into consideration the layout of the blog. (i.e. don't send full blown photos if the blogger publishes only photos with a more or less thumbnail format).
my 3 steps