Image from Unsplash
I was fortunate enough to spend a night with a group of beauty and fashion bloggers and fellow PR practitioners at the iBlog Fashion and Beauty PR Meet-Up, held at The Establishment on George Street, Sydney.
The meet was a chance for bloggers and journalists working for online networks and publications to chat about what makes bloggers tick and what PRs can do (or not do!) to improve their chances of a developing a fruitful and mutually beneficial relationship.
Hosted by the chatty and entertaining Renee Creer from Stellar* Concepts, speakers including Helen Lee of Sassy Bella, Tania Braukamper of Fashionising, Elise Phillips of Stuff That I Bought and Sarah Macrae of Bella Sugar shared their insights into the online world to a packed room of eager females.
One particular highlight of the night was a discussion on how fashion houses have recently been incorporating bloggers into their publicity efforts. I learnt that three years ago, Chanel flew fashion and beauty bloggers from around the world to Coco Chanel’s apartment in Paris for a personal tour to celebrate the relaunch of Coco Mademoiselle. This move signalled the beginning of fashion companies recognising bloggers as a genuine type of media to be utilised for the benefit of the brand.
A few other examples were mentioned, including Coach in the US inviting bloggers to design handbags for their collection and Sportsgirl’s window project which involved a number of Australian bloggers, including Fashion Hayley (now Sydney based), the lovely Kat George and Alexandra Spencer designing window installations for three Sportsgirl stores, bringing their blogs and inspirations to life.
It was also interesting when Tania began describing how only five years ago she was continuously turned away by PR agencies who told her that the Internet was ‘irrelevant’. Ahh, how times have changed! The talented speakers gave a few tips for PR people wanting to communicate with bloggers, which I thought were all excellent. Here are a few of my favourite ‘Dos’:
Dos for PR practitioners:
- Do your research, become familiar with the blog and ensure it is relevant before you make an approach.
- Introduce yourself via email or phone before adding a blog to your mail list. Being courteous and saying a quick hello, explaining what you do and what you’re looking for will hold you in good stead when a blogger has to choose onlya few products to review.
- Be open and honest about why you are contacting the blogger.
- Be selective about who you target. It doesn’t look great if lots of bloggers get the exact same product and media release on the same day. Bloggers want individuality and fresh content. Which brings me to my next point …
- Offer exclusives. Bloggers will appreciate being chosen from the crowd and are always looking to distinguish themselves from other bloggers.
- Don’t just expect your product to be reviewed. Bloggers get sent bucket-loads of media releases and packages every day and can’t possibly review them all. Many of them have full time day jobs and are blogging for the love of it. Be patient and understanding.
- Choose different angles for different blogs depending on their focus and content. Don’t send a beauty blogger children’s toys!
- Show the same respect to bloggers that you would to traditional media.
