Devising Your Pitch
In marketing, a "pitch" is most commonly an overture to a prospective customer to get them interested in buying. In the context of social media, it is the overture made to bloggers, members of online communities, and others upon whom you must count to publish information that's beneficial to your objectives.
Qualities of a "Good" Pitch
The author lists some of the qualities of a good pitch:
- It must be relevant - In the social space, people write about things that suit their personal interests and those of their readers. You must make the relevance of your message obvious to the target.
- It must be timely - "New" gets attention, and nobody cares about "old." If you can feed information to a blogger taht will give them the opportunity to be the first to disclose it, that really piques their interest.
- It must be personal - Do not make a "mass pitch" that, like a press release is blasted to many sources in hopes some will run it.
- It is concise, but comprehensive - Be brief and to the point, and don't waste their time, but at the same time, give them all the details they need. A good technique is a brief that contains links to additional information.
- It is conversational - People recognize when they are being "worked" by a marketer and recognize the formal language of professional pitch-men. Speak plainly and directly.
- It may provide incentives - Be careful about bribing or giving gifts to curry favor, but if you can offer a sample or demo of a product to be reviewed, that's often appealing.
- It is bilateral - the pitch should provide contact information to give the recipient access to key people who can provide follow-up information. Ideally, it is access directly to the people, not a gatekeeper or a generic marketing contact.
Many pitches are done in a half-hearted matter: a blast of generic information like a press release to as many people as possible in hopes they will simply pick it up and run it as-is. The social Web does not work that way at all, and such an approach may be harmful to your future efforts to reach the same people by more appropriate means.
Choosing the Right Channel
Given the various channels available, new ones emerging constantly, and existing ones falling out of favor, which channel is the "right" one?
E-mail is still the common language of the Internet, and the majority of individuals who participate in social media can be contacted directly via e-mail. The author "discourages" readers from using other channels to contact bloggers (chat, instant messaging, etc.) unless they specifically state it as their preference. Even using the telephone is frowned upon unless you already have an established relationship with a social media creator.
(EN: What the author says is accurate, but e-mail is an increasingly poisoned, as it has been abused by marketers in the past and a growing number of users employ filtering technologies to block inbound messages from unwanted sources, the most extreme version of which is using a "white list" to reject any message that comes from an unknown address.)
A fair amount of space is devoted to Twitter, which was popular at the time the book was written. Given its limit of 140 characters, it's not a good medium to pitch people, but it may be a good medium for publishing brief and timely messages that will get the attention of anyone who subscribes to your twits.
Also, do not pitch in the "comments" of a blog or "responses" on a facebook page - that's extremely tacky and intrusive.
Pitch Tactics We've Tried
The author discusses a handful of anecdotes about pitch tactics he has used.
A sample e-mail pitch is show. Dropping some of the details:
- The salutation provides the person's name, indicates they are a marketer who is "helping out" a client.
- The next paragraph refers to "a couple of posts" the blogger made about a topic
- The next paragraph provides a quick pitch about the product they are flogging
- The next is a question as to whether the blogger would be interested in trying it
- A few links are provided for more information
- The closing is an open-ended offer to answer questions
Each "paragraph" is a sentence or two, and the longest was four lines.
(EN: The author discusses a few kooky ideas, such as creating a quick-and-dirty video pitch or developing a comic strip, and suggest they were effective. I give him credit for thinking outside the box, but these seem a bit hokey to me.)
Other Blogger Outreach Campaigns We Like
A handful of other unconventional tactics were discussed:
- A sports team gave bloggers press passes and the same privileges as traditional-media journalists (EN: good idea, though it may ruffle some feathers of the traditional journalists)
- An entertainment producer created a "junket" for bloggers, including travel expenses, a tour of the studios, and interview opportunities with cast and crew
- A comic book shop sponsored a project to create a "mashup" that shows enthusiasts the location of comic shops across the country (including their local competition) , resulting in a highly popular resource that many blogs linked to (which contained promotions for the shop.
- A theme park that had a new ride being completed ahead of schedule offered free passes to bloggers to try out the ride, along with a press packet of media about it, to create buzz.
Don't Bribe
While it might seem like a quick fix to generate a lot of buzz, offering payment for reviews is a mistake that can haunt you. Many legitimate bloggers are offended by offers of money to get their endorsement, and will not only refuse, but will also "out" you in public, which may discredit many genuine reviewers.
To complicate matters, there are a few services that attempt to get advertisers and bloggers together by setting up a pay-for-buzz system. It's noted that these services pay for reviews, not necessarily good ones (so you may be paying to get blasted), few high-profile bloggers are attracted to them (it's mostly small-timers with blogs full of random content that don't get many visitors), and most will allow the blogger to disclaim aa post as a paid review.
Further, the Federal Trade Commission ruled in 2009 that bloggers and advertisers are held to the standard that requires them to provide disclosure of any "material connection" in testimonials and advertisements, and has the power to fine both advertisers and bloggers.
(EN: The author does not address paid advertising or sponsorship, which are acceptable ways to offer bloggers money to provide on-site promotions, though I suppose it's not in line with the author's topic).
Following Up
Getting no response at all to a pitch is not usual. It's common practice, even in personal communications, not to reply to a message which does not seem to require a response, and doubly so when the message seems to be of a commercial nature.
Following up with bloggers should be handled gracefully: even a single inquiry may be taken as "hassling" is it is not gently worded. A good tactic is to follow up with an inquiry as to whether the original message was received, but don't do this more than once (EN: the author says "or twice," but I think even that is too intrusive).
As has been said before, be very careful about this. The few bloggers who may respond to reminders will be offset by the relationships poisoned by those who feel you're pestering them.