9 Best Practices for Pitching Mommy Bloggers
Mar 06, 2014 Samantha McGarry
A funny thing happened to me.
Sometime during the last two years, between working full time in PR at InkHouse and raising a family, I became a Mommy blogger. At first it was just a hobby, but I quickly realized I had found my voice and started nurturing my blog using many of the strategies that we at InkHouse put into practice every day for our clients. I use analytics to gauge the topics that resonate most. I distribute my content to relevant audiences using multiple channels to. I found places to seed and syndicate my blog posts including the local Patch site, a parenting website and even on Huffington Post Parents. I engaged with my readers and the Mommy blog community in general, through Twitter, commenting and so on. Soon enough, my little blog had a decent following and, to me, felt like home. So, as both a PR “veteran” and a “newbie” Mommy blogger, I wanted to offer the following best practices for pitching Mommy bloggers.
But before I do, it’s worth taking a moment to consider why there are so many Mommy and Daddy bloggers. Speaking for myself, I blog to share my experiences as a working Mom, examine the daily challenges and frustrations of kids and raise issues - but mostly to laugh at the craziness of this time in my life. In doing so, us Mommy bloggers naturally share and connect with each other. But, for many Mommy bloggers, their blog is also a business venture. Brands know that Moms represent a powerful demographic with influence over purchasing decisions as well as a large voice on social media – and, for many Mommy bloggers, this spells opportunity. While generating revenue is not the mission of my blog, I have huge respect for those who have become respected brand ambassadors and turned their blogs into influential revenue-driving businesses at the same time.I spend a large portion of my days here at InkHouse pitching bloggers and reporters on behalf of my clients. So imagine my surprise when, in a strange reversal of roles, people started pitching me! It has been a real eye-opener as, in truth, the large majority of these pitches fail to hit the mark. These tips can you ensure your pitch is a bullseye.
- Read: Job number one is to visit the blog you are pitching, read several posts and understand the mission of the blog. Is this the blog written by a mom who is journaling her daily parenting experiences? Is it more of a Mommy confessional? Does it tackle issues like health, education, behavior …etc.? Does the blog accept guest contributions? Does it review products? This last one is my pet peeve because I'm quite often asked to review products and if you read my blog, you’d realize that it I don’t do this.
- Get social: Mommy bloggers are a vocal bunch. We are incredibly active on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and so on. Before pitching, check out what they are doing and saying on each of these channels. Are they hosting Twitter parties? Are they running a brand campaign? Are they pinning recipes and after graphs? Are they commenting on hot issues? Every social action interaction is a clue, if you will, to help you formulate the best approach for each blogger.
- Engage: This goes hand-in-hand with the above. Get chatty! Especially on Twitter. Build a relationship on social channels through non-promotional conversation – just be you! It will pay dividends when you finally reach out.
- Relate: Don't be impersonal when pitching a Mommy blogger. While you may not be a parent, show that you can relate to them and their universe. Let them know why their audience would care about your pitch topic or offer. Authenticity and relevance go a long way to making a good impression with bloggers.
- Mix it up: Don't just push products: Mommy bloggers enjoy many forms of content like videos, photos, and infographics. Provide the content assets that will help ensure that what they publish is visually strong, interesting and entertaining. Because that will make it inherently more shareable.
- Get linky: Mommy blogs often create opportunities to link your blog to their blog via link ups or blog hops.. Checkout 5MinutesforMom’s annual ultimate blog party, for example or Scratchy Mommy’s weekly link up. Research which of your target blogs offer these and get linky. It can help drive a great deal of traffic to your content too.
- Spend a little bit of money: As I said many Mommy blogs are a small business themselves. Often they might require a small amount of money to write up review a product, host a Twitter party or a custom campaign. Do it; it's worth it. There are also paid networks of Mommy bloggers like Social Moms via which you can create campaigns and buzz.
- Giveaways: Many Mommy blog love to offer their readers giveaways or contest prizes and offer paid packages to help you reach a mass audience. This can be a great way to not only boost visibility but to also get your product directly into the hands of your target audience.
- A final note about guest posts: Not all Mommy blogs accept them but some do. It's always worth reading their “about” or “about me” sections to find out. Make sure, when you pitch a contributed post, that you propose a specific topic/angle rather than something too general. Don’t be promotional. Make it relatable and authentic, in line with the tone and voice of the blog.
