As we get wrapped up in our work, setting — and meeting/exceeding — goals (hits, placements, coverage, etc.), it’s easy to loose sight of what we are really doing. We can get too wrapped up in numbers.
Driving traffic to Websites.
Getting online and offline “hits” for product or company coverage.
Click through rates.
Unless you are making a “pitch” in face to face, it’s easy to become separated from your audience sitting in front of a computer or even on the telephone phone. Just type, click and distribute.
A post by CityMamma/Stefania Pomponi Butler about a BlogHer session reminded me of the importance of knowing who we are dealing with in our work: People.
“In the “State of the Momosphere” session on day 1 of Blogher07, I listened as not one, but two PR guys stood up to tell us mothers how proud they were of their strategy to ‘hook’ moms into trying their products by pretending to read our blogs (so we’ll trust them) before offering up whatever it is that they’d like us to blog for free.”
Two things stand out as being VERY WRONG in the above.
First, in media relations (as in sales), if you’re really good at what you do, you don’t “hook” people to publish your story (or buy your product). You match needs/wants with what your product/service/company can offer. Generally, bloggers and traditional media have a need for good content to maintain and grow readership. If you can show how your ________ can legitimately help them, then you have a great chance for getting a hit. (And, there are other reasons to have bloggers and media review your______ than just coverage.)
Secondly, and most importantly, the comment by the supposed PR pros gave little credit to the bloggers they dealt with. They’re not bloggers. They are people. Assumingly, smart people. People with their own personality, expectations, objectives in blogging. They are individual human beings. Not just bloggers or possible hits.
If good marketing is anything, it’s about how to connect with people. And, social media is so much more because it can be so personal; so one-on-one — even if you are just sitting in front of a computer.
So, the better we can keep in mind that we are dealing with people — with individuals — the better our results will be.
– Mike
Point to Ponder: For another great perspective on that each individual is worthy of being treated as a human — not just another face or a number — see a post from September and follow the link to a column by Toledo Free Press Editor in Chief Michael Miller.
