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Mummy bloggers and public relations

Tots100, publisher of the British Mummy and Daddy blogger index, has just released the Tots100 parent blogging benchmark study 2011. Parent - particularly mummy - blogging has become a massive phenomenon in the States and its popularity is growing quickly here in the UK. This study is not only a great snapshot of who is blogging and why, but how this community of bloggers are interacting with PR people.

Late last year I wrote in our Technology PR Predictions: 2011 ebook, "Consumer brands in the UK are beginning to recognise the potential of mum blogs as a communications channel and, likewise, mums are learning how to commercialise their blogs." This study underscores the trend: today nearly half of parent bloggers receive three to four PR pitches a week and more than a quarter receive over five. In the Tots100 study, the vast majority of bloggers reported seeing an increase in PR pitches over last year, with more than half calling it "a lot more."

UK parent bloggers start blogging to record their lives or for the friendship and networking blogging faciiliates, but many enjoy the perks. In the study, bloggers responded that what they like most about working with PRs is that they get to try new products and their children have new experiences.

The blogger-PR relationship should be mutually beneficial and when done right can generate loads of positive coverage for a brand while giving bloggers and their families the enjoyable experiences they are looking for. Last year Toys R Us launched the UK's first brand-sponsored mum blogger community with its Toys R US Toyologist programme which involved many well-respected mummy bloggers writing reviews of toys with their kids. Google it - there has been plenty of coverage.

As a PR person who has worked extensively with parent bloggers in the US as the head of coupon website RetailMeNot.com's PR team for three years as well as an occasional mummy blogger at VoucherMum.com, I've been on both sides of the PR/blogger relationship. Here are a few tips for brands that want to bring parent blogger relations into the marketing mix:

*Make it relevant - Mummy blogs are personal, so a blogger is telling you all you need to know about how to approach her. Is she receptive to PR? How old are her kids? What part of the country does she live in? What is her real name? Spend a little time on a mum's blog and you'll be able to get these answers and create a pitch that is more personalised and effective. Remember, a blogger's biggest pet peeve is to receive an irrelevant pitch.

*Make it worth her time - Bloggers are busy and parent blogging not a full time job. The top thing parent bloggers look for in a pitch is if it will drive traffic, so think about what you can offer in exchange for coverage. Asking a blogger to mention your new website or study is basically asking her to use her personal time to promote your brand out of the goodness of her heart. If you're not throwing in an incentive, like a free product or a giveaway that will boost her traffic, she'll probably find her time is better spent playing with her kids. 

*Build a relationship - The most fun I had working with bloggers was during BlogHer while running RetailMeNot.com's BlogHer Delegate Programme. We sponsored bloggers to attend the conference and took them out to dinner so we could get to know them. As a result, we created relationships that were far more valuable than the conference fees. Following the conference, the bloggers in our programme were not only more receptive to covering our news, they were happy to provide feedback and insight into our future campaigns.

*Make your terms clear - If you want a blogger to review a product, can she keep it? Give it away on her blog? Sell it on eBay? If you're sending her on a holiday, how many posts are you expecting her to write? More and more mummy bloggers are commercialising their content in one way or another and it is reasonable for you to lay out your expectations so that everyone feels they are getting a benefit out of the relationship.

The full Tots100 parent blogging benchmark study 2011 follows:

Posted by Annie Klein on March 3, 2011 at 7:10 AM