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Our 2:00 session for all attendees is What Brands Really Want When Working with Bloggers with Doug Busk of Coca Cola, Mollie Surrat of Mohawk Flooring, and Tracey Del Moral of OshKosh B’Gosh, moderated by Danica Kombol of Everwhere.
The public affairs division doesn’t get the same marketing dollars as advertising.
Brands want great content and great blogs. They don’t want to work with sweepstakes and giveaway bloggers. They (Mohawk) want bloggers who have loyal followings. OR they (Osh Kosk) do want promotional bloggers who can share coupons and deals. It really depends on the brand. Coca-Cola wants to focus on working with good storytellers. Does your content engage? Do people share it, like it, talk about it?
“Quality stories, they have blood to them; they have passion.” – Doug Busk
Coca-Cola looks for the same from their bloggers as they do from their in-house storytelling creatives.
Mohawk looks for bloggers who cover home content. It doesn’t have to be a home decor blog, but you do have to cover home-related content and not just be a person looking for free flooring.
Osh Kosh is looking for bloggers who can help them tell their company’s story. They like good photographers who can capture their kids embodying the “kid-proof moments” their brand stands for.
Bloggers don’t want the “Dear mommyblogger” pitches, and brands don’t want the “Dear company I could get stuff from” pitches. Treat your blog like the business that it is, and you need to have a B2B strategy for working with other businesses.
It doesn’t hurt to include your best three pieces you’ve published recently in your email signature. Make sure your site and your email pitch is searchable so the brand folks can find you when they remember they read an email from someone who had an interesting pitch they’d like to look into, but then they can’t find who it was who pitched it in the vast sea of their inboxes.
There are “plug and play” programs some brands have where they can use people who are interested in working with them but haven’t pitched anything in particular. But they also take pitches for original ideas from bloggers that would bring value to their company. Seasonal programs are popular for certain brand verticals, like Osh Kosh in the apparel industry.
Timelines for brands are different than timelines for bloggers.
For Osh Kosh, their seasonal campaigns are organized three months ahead of time. Mohawk has a complete editorial calendar until Spring 2016. Coca-Cola can work 6 to 9 to 12 months out, especially for big events like the World Cup. But there’s generally a little wiggle room for extra content when there’s a really fantastic idea.
What trends are brands seeing in terms of influencers?
Never let the mode get in the way of the message. You don’t always need to be on the newest, trendiest platform out there. The quality of the story is more important than where it gets told. The rise of visual is big now, so the ability to create video and photography is very attractive to brands. Your story is far more effective than any pre-packaged brand messaging. Visual storytelling is where it’s at. It doesn’t matter which channels you are specifically in as long as your audience is engaged.
Thoughts about the FTC cracking down on violations of their guidelines?
Osh Kosh says they’re indifferent, but they do make sure their influencers include the appropriate disclaimers. Coca-Cola wants bloggers to be completely transparent with disclosure. (I’m going to editorialize and say: Do the right thing, people! That’s what it all boils down to.)
Q&A Snippets
Brands are open to working with bloggers individually and through agencies. Sometimes agencies are the discovery agents that lead to 1:1 relationships.
Never copy and paste pitches. Ever.
When you submit content to a brand for review, spell check and proofread it. Seriously.
As a side note, Doug Busk does a spot-on Obama impression. “Teachable moments – they’re everywhere.”
Don’t try to shame brand contacts into action. Don’t send that message that says, “Well, it’s been 45 days since I emailed you, so I guess you hate me.”
Respect the brand’s time. You want them to respect your time, right?
That’s me: Christina Gleason. I’m a writer, editor, and disability advocate. I'm a multiply disabled autistic lady doing my best in this world built for abled people. I’m a geek for grammar, fantasy, and casual gaming. I hate vegetables. I cannot reliably speak, so I’ll happily conduct business over email or messaging instead.
