Vetting Online Voices for Your Brand
Public relations firm Edelman helped Kraft select the bloggers for the Velveeta promotion by using a metric system and other criteria to determine which bloggers would have the best influence. Some tips, per Edelman senior vice president of consumer brands Danielle Wiley:
- KNOW THE SPACE
Use search engines and blogger networks to find a relevant blog already immersed in the space you want your messages attached to. Create a list of search terms based on how people actually talk about the product in real life. Set up Google alerts to see who’s talking about your products.
- START BIG, THEN GO NARROW
If you want to find five bloggers, start with 15 and vet them further. Make sure a blogger has never said anything negative about the product or brand. Read back at least three months to get a sense of the blogger’s tone and style for writing to make sure it fits with the brand image. Make sure she doesn’t have an existing relationship with a competitor.
- RUN THE NUMBERS
How many followers does the blogger have on Twitter? What is her estimated number of subscribers? Is she active and engaged on Flickr, Facebook, Café Mom or Blissfully Domestic? Take it beyond that to traditional media: Has she been featured on “The Today Show” or interviewed by a major newspaper?
“By following these guidelines you will see the top five bloggers rise to the top,” says Wiley. — PO
