Some thoughts on the LG blogger relations campaign
{ Tags: blogger ou \ May20 }Today Niall Cook shared some very interesting feedback regarding the LG Chocolate phone blogger relations programme he’s been involved with. Niall makes a number of points so I thought I’d chime in with my tuppence worth.
Niall says: “The campaign (and supporting blog) is running well, and I thought it would be worth sharing some of our observations so far, for those thinking about stepping out into the realm of blogger relations (or - as is usually the case - not).
“1. The bloggers you identify as the most influential are not always the most likely to use their blogs to report their feedback.”
I had a feeling this might be the case. Some high profile bloggers like to ‘keep it real’ so any affiliation with the dark side might be seen as a no no. By the sounds of it, the influential bloggers Niall refers to actually gave feedback, but just not on their blogs. So, if these bloggers are mobile phone experts/fanatics, their thoughts are still good to know I guess.
“2. A brand cannot blog - only people can.”
Makes sense. Blogs are about conversations and I’ve never discussed the finer points of life with a brand. Besides, blogger relations is one of PR’s online tools it has been missing so long. Brands that blog are just…well…ick! **cough** Cillit Bang **cough** say no more.
“3. A video that one blogger included in his review of the phone was posted on YouTube, and has been viewed almost 22,000 times in a week.”
Very impressive. This is a great example of how other social media like YouTube can tie in with a blogger relations programme. Customer evangelism through connected media.
“4. The same guy’s review was posted to Digg, receiving 1,285 diggs and 113 comments.”
Again, very impressive. What tone were the comments though? Positive, negative or neutral? More on that later.
“5. A leading technology portal emailed asking us to mention their review on our blog.”
I wonder which one? I’m not sure how that benefits the campaign but it does the old ego no harm I suppose.
“6. We’re #6 on Google for lg chocolate review.”
Yeah they are, take a look. I dare say that position may rise too if they continue using specific keywords to improve the SEO.
7. “One blogger sent us 2,250 referrals”
That one blogger is BBC employee, Ben Metcalfe. Technorati rank of 3965 so quite influential.
Couple of things. I wonder if the blogger relations team are evaluating comments? Particularly on Digg as a scan shows not all are positive, like this one: “Has anyone actually handled this phone…. It feels cheap and plasticy [sic], and after handling for 2 seconds is covered in smears…. Looks awful, feels awful.”
In the interest of research I counted the number of positive, negative and neutral comments, and the results aren’t great: 18 positives, 28 negatives and 56 neutrals. I know, I know, that only adds up to 102 whereas it says there are 113 comments. But that’s all there are…honest. I must say, however, that the tone of the comments were deemed by me, so some people may beg to differ. Although, they were pretty obvious in my eyes.
I do think this is an important part to measure though. If PR is about influencing and persuasion then you should be measuring how influential or persuasive any PR activity is. Blogger relations is a great way to do this don’t you think?
Secondly, if this blogger relations programme is a success, it looks like Niall will be adding other LG phones to the programme. The domain url for the Chocolate phone (http://chocolate.lgbloggers.com/) is a subdomain of lgbloggers.com. Interesting.
Nice for him to share it and, on a personal level, I can guarantee next time I’m in a mobile phone store I’ll be sure to check it out.
Stephen is managing director of 3W PR, a UK based online PR consultancy. You can connect with him on Twitter or check out his LinkedIn profile. | Email StephenRelated Posts
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Niall Cook
Stephen,
Thanks for your analysis - much appreciated.
A few comments:
1. “I’m not sure how that benefits the campaign”
Not a benefit, per se, just an observation that showed us (and the client) that this activity was being noticed by the same journalists our “traditional” PR activity was trying to reach.
2. “I wonder if the blogger relations team are evaluating comments?”
Absolutely - it’s one of the measures we set at the outset of the project.
3. “Particularly on Digg as a scan shows not all are positive…”
That’s fine by us. People will always have an opinion. Some were critical of the phone, some critical of the review, some critical of the person who wrote it. I suspect there may be other motivations too. We cannot make people say positive things about a product - but we can learn a lot from what they are saying.
4. “If PR is about influencing and persuasion then you should be measuring how influential or persuasive any PR activity is.”
True, although I’m not convinced that blogger relations is about influencing and persuading. I personally think it’s more about facilitating discussion and fostering relationships.
5. “Secondly, if this blogger relations programme is a success, it looks like Niall will be adding other LG phones to the programme.”
Maybe. Watch this space…
Thanks again for the mention.
Stephen
Thanks for stopping by Niall.
1. Good point, and one I’d never thought of.
3. I agree, no doubt there are a number of people on Digg with, shall we say, hidden agendas.
5. Will be keeping an eye out.
Keep us updated.
Fintan
It’s interesting to see this campaign analysed.
The sheer number of clickthroughs to my site from Digg was so unexpectedly high that even I was overwhelmed by the response, even after being dugg a few times before.
I’ll be talking a bit more about what’s happened here in terms of opinion, influence and fairness a little later on Dech.
Stephen
Thanks for commenting Fintan,
I’ll be keeping an eye out for your related post.