5 Egregious Blogger Outreach Mistakes Your PR Agency Might Be Making

As a blogger and a public relations professional, I sit on two sides of the proverbial desk. My team and I are responsible for developing blogger outreach programs for clients—and I often receive pitches from other PR agencies about their clients.

These roles provide a unique perspective on the good, the bad and the downright ugly of blogger outreach.

Here are 5 approaches to blogger outreach in the latter category your PR agency might be using.

#1: Targeting inappropriate bloggers

A shopping blogger gets a pitch from a PR firm for CRM software for enterprise brands.

A mom blogger with a Canadian audience receives a pitch for a product that’s only available in the U.S.

A PR agency approaches a wine blogger with information on a new iOS game.

These mistakes can lead to embarrassment for both your agency and your brand. The blogger may decide to call you out, either on their blog or on social media. If they have a big following and an engaged audience, you’ll get more coverage than you bargained for.

#2: Including dormant blogs

Blogs come and go at lightning speed. One that was popular 6 months ago may not have published in the last 3. And one that didn’t exist until recently is now attracting a large and engaged audience.

Bloggers abandon their blogs for a variety of reasons. Perhaps they got busy at their “real” job, or maybe there’s an illness in their family. I also know bloggers who become so popular they eventually get a gig as a journalist and then decide to blog sporadically (if at all).

If your PR agency targets an inactive blog, it won’t lead to a public shaming. But it does waste time—and money—pitching someone who won’t be interested.

#3: Lack of personalization

Using a canned email pitch without any customization is a good way to turn off a blogger. A pitch that begins “Hi there” or “Dear mommy blogger” looks like spam. There’s a danger the blogger won’t read the email and subsequently won’t write about whatever it is your agency is pitching.

It’s not possible to tailor every email completely, but your firm should at least make it look like they did. Most blogs have an “About Us” page outlining who writes the blog, along with their contact information. A few minutes of research will ensure your agency is personalizing the pitch with a laser focus.

#4: Sending mass emails

“Undisclosed recipients” is another no-no … and an indication your PR agency hasn’t done their homework. As with mistake #3, it’s possible the blogger will think the email is spam and promptly delete it.

It’s a simple matter for your firm to merge their pitch with an Excel spreadsheet, adding 30 minutes at most to the project and ensuring each email is sent separately to every blogger.

#5: Forwarding a press release

Bloggers aren’t the same as legacy media. Sometimes it’s OK to send them a news release … but not JUST a news release. A few short introductory paragraphs should be included to explain why the announcement is relevant to them.

If it doesn’t, chances are the blogger will wonder why they received the information—and what they should do with it. And if they’re wondering, they’ll likely ignore it.

The client’s role in blogger outreach best practices

You can help solve all of these ugly mistakes by ensuring your PR agency uses best practices for blogger outreach. Ask to see their written policy before you hire them or prior to launching a new program.

It’s also your responsibility to ensure your PR firm has an adequate budget.

All PR agencies are under pressure to work as efficiently as possible. Client budgets include dollars for staff time (the total hours team members should spend on executing a program and getting results). If an account executive starts investing time in a project, their boss will begin asking questions (and not in a nice way).

If your agency pushes back on your blogger outreach budget and tells you it’s not enough, reconsider the dollars so they aren’t forced to cut corners—and jeopardize your program.

5 Egregious Blogger Outreach Mistakes Your PR Agency Might Be Making