(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...Last time I took a look at the role of client companies that are looking to have products or services reviewed and the marketing companies that arrange blogger outreach programs. Those are two of the four stakeholder groups. The other two are the bloggers who will be receiving the products and the bloggers’ audience/readers/community.
What I like about this marketing tactic is that it has the creator of a product relying on others to give a thumbs up or a thumbs down. What I don’t like about it is the way it’s being carried out. It’s not structured a way in which the supposed beneficiaries (the audience) can really benefit. That goes right to the third of CK’s thoughts that the program must provide value. And I find myself feeling that those that are in the industry and blog about it are missing key points. Or they’re saying stuff that I think is, well, wrong…and is contributing to what could make this tactic not work out.
I’ll go along with the idea that, to an extent, certain key bloggers are guardians of what’s cool. They aren’t the only ones but they’re playing a significant role.
When a blogger writes, “Folks, SuperCorp has asked me to review their new [product name]. I said yes. So they’ll be sending it to me on loan and I’ll have it for (certain time period). I’ll use it and keep you informed about my experiences with it.”
They really could be saying…”Folks, SuperCorp (a major internationally known corporation you have all have heard of whose CEO was on the cover of Business Week last week and whose CMO keynoted that conference you went to three months ago) has asked me (selected me amongst many potential bloggers because they see me a kickass blogger, a key “influential” who is well known in my niche – unlike many of you, my readers) to review their new [product ane] (a way cool and new technology gadget that a lot of people will end up talking about). I said (shit yeah! Booyah!!) yes. So they’ll be sending it to me on loan and I’ll have it for X months. I’ll use it and blog about my experiences with it.”
OK, not everyone is going to react that way, but face it. It’s pretty cool to get a pitch from a major company. And if you’ve received one, you’ve probably earned it thought effective and though provoking and thought leading blogging. As David Armano wrote as to whether or not he would feel ‘important’ about being selected,
“I’m going to be very honest here. Yes, absolutely it would make me feel important. I am after all only human and sometimes having a blog with steady readership goes straight to my big head. The good news is that it doesn’t stay there too long because I’ve lived long enough to know that although I enjoy this—there are much more precious and important things in life. But yes, I think receiving something of value would make me feel special.”
I bet that’s how most of us would react. Special. Especially if the product is from a big company or it’s a big PR firm that’s selected us. That’s because bloggers, by announcing that they’ve been contacted and that theyve accepted, are saying essentially a major international corporation wants me to conduct a review of their latest cool product. They’ve selected me because I’m prominent and appear to be cool. That’s not bragging, they could say that humbly, but it’s the truth.
There’s a certain panache to being selected in a case such as this. It mean’s “you’ve made it”. You’re an influential. You’ve created an online presence of yourself and through hard work and great insight have cut through the clutter to become an arbiter of what’s cool. It’s cool being cool. And the other thing thats cool is you get to try out this new thing that may end up being all the rage. You don’t have to pay for it. You just get to use it and benefit. And (hopefully, if you wouldn’t mind) blog about it.
I then read this comment by Mack Collier to a post written Nikon D80 Blogger Outreach Rocks by Joseph Jaffe.
“What I love about the program is that we are under zero obligation to blog about the camera or the pictures we take with it whatsoever. That alone was what clinched my involvement, and I’d bet this was a point that MWW fought for. This is another reason why it pays to have smart bloggers involved in crafting a blogger-outreach program such as this.”
Mack, Mack, Mack. I couldn’t disagree more. Not ‘obligate’ bloggers? Of course they should. (OK, obligate is too strong of a word, but bear with me here) Or at least the blogger should feel obligated. The blogger is benefiting by getting use of a cool product at no cost and by appearing to be both prominent and cool. And they’ve told us that they’re going to talk about it.
In other words, if a blogger accepts a free product for a trial period to observe it and then informs his or her readers of this, the blogger should then subsequently blog about his or her experiences with the product. Period.
The reason? It’s because this program is not about the blogger. It’s about the audience – your audience – and their potential interest in and potential need for the product. And by not ‘obligating’ the blogger to SAY SOMETHING about the product – a free cool thing that they’ve already announced to the world that they’ll be receiving – we’re falsely putting bloggers on some sort of pedestal in trying to portray that we understand the ‘blogger culture.
We can’t mistake the need for authenticity and transparency with what could be looked at as a subtle arrogant indifference or the feeling that one is ‘above it all. (And I’m not suggesting Mack is either). But, as a blogger, you’ve accepted the offer, you’ve received the product, you’ve told us about it. Now, dammit, tell us what ya think.
If you have agreed to use and blog about a certain product – and you’ve told your readers, then you owe it to your readers to give them your insight. After all, they’re turning to you for that very insight. And you’ve told them that you were going to blog about it.
If you have agreed to take this neat, new ‘cool’’ product for free – with the hope that youll love it and blog about it– but regardless of your opinion on it – you choose not to write about it – then give it back. You’re not so, well, cool to just keep it for a while. You owe the company that.
If you have agreed to be a part of this program that the marketing company created, then you owe it to them to give it your best effort. This doesn’t mean that you have to blog extensively. If, after receiving it, you realized that you’re not really qualified to blog about it, then write that…”Folks, this product seems fine enough, but I don’t know enough about xxxx to give it an overall effective review. So, in fairness, I’ll be returning it to Company X.” And that’s that.
I guess behind all of what I’m saying is that while the most powerful stakeholder group here are the bloggers, the most important one is the audience.
Next I’ll blog about the dynamics between the marketing company and the bloggers and how that can best help the audience.
Filed under: Blogger Outreach, Conversation Marketing, Online Brand Promotion, Online Community Outreach, Online Outreach
Loading ...
Since the “influential” bloggers in the Nikon program were marketing/pr bloggers, a whole level of inside baseball has been added to this discussion. Under more normal circumstances, bloggers might get outreach and say yes or no, but not feel compelled to write at length about the program itself before they even had the oppty to try the product. And not every market segment spends as much time measuring who is on top either
On the obligation to write: it is critical that the company providing the product do exactly as Nikon did — you cannot make it a quid pro quo. Of course, you hope that the bloggers will write about it, and if you’ve done the selection job properly, they will. But just as when we provide review product to mainstream media, we cannot require the review. Because then it is a paid review for sure. Those too have their place in this ecosystem but best we don’t confuse the two.
Actually, Susan, in my next post i’ll talk about what marketers should look for when picking a blogger.
But my point is, in short, if a blogger accepts the product and tells his or her readership what’s happening, then he or she has the obligation to either blog about it (as in some sort of review) or tell us as to why they they’re not going to do just that.
The difference in this case is that the blogger often accepts a product and then tells the readership. At that point he or she owes his or her readers some sort of follow up.
Hello Abraham,
As far as the bloggers go, this is just like any other activity in that it entails risks. One risk that a blogger who accepts products for review and then provides those reviews is that the blogger could become perceived as a shill; unless of course, they have already been proven otherwise or are completely transparent as you recommend.
For the audience, again it is buyer beware. People can always rationalize a purchase because some celebrity type endorses it. But that does not mean that they can sue the celebrity if something goes wrong. Same with reading blogs. Some are authoritative, well researched and written. Some are attempts to say “look at me”. Some are outright deceptions that are created by money motivated marketing types.
If some day, I become a celebrity A-List Blogger and am approached by a company or marketing company through a blogger outreach program, I think I will be careful to read all the fine print and let my readers know that I was approached and accepted the offer to review the product. And if I like it, I will say so. And if I don’t, I will say so. But I will probably never return an item sent for review or accept an offer that only offers me a trial. If I can’t keep it, I will not review it.
Just my own personal policy…:)
“Mack, Mack, Mack. I couldn’t disagree more. Not ‘obligate’ bloggers? Of course they should. (OK, obligate is too strong of a word, but bear with me here) Or at least the blogger should feel obligated. The blogger is benefiting by getting use of a cool product at no cost and by appearing to be both prominent and cool. And they’ve told us that they’re going to talk about it.”
When did I tell you I was going to talk about the D80? In fact I made that painfully clear up front on my blog that I would only be blogging about the camera itself, if I decided to buy it.
I do find it interesting that some bloggers are saying I am a shill for Nikon just because I am involved in the program, while others such as yourself say I am obligated to blog about the camera, if I participate. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, I guess.