I'd like to welcome Brianne Scott of Devon Consulting and thank her for taking the time to answer some of my PR questions. Enjoy!What kinds of products do you mostly work with?
The companies Devon Consulting represents are mainly beauty and lifestyle brands.
Beauty: Burt’s Bees, Upper Canada Soap, Green Beaver Company, Sampar, Orlane, M Asam, Garraud
Fragrances: Puig Canada – Prada, Nina Ricci & Paco Rabanne
Lifestyle: Clorox & GladWhat do you look for in a blog?
The main things I look for when coming across a new blog are the content, the design and monthly page views/readership.
I like when bloggers add in their personal views on products and not just copy press releases. It is important that the correct production information be available to readers but it’s nice when a little extra personal touch is in their as well.
As for design, if I come across a blog that has a million pop ups and buttons and is hard to navigate through I pass on it. Anyone out there can start up a blog and just add in random posts but I prefer working with bloggers that you can tell put in the time and effort into their blog. Those that show pride in their blogs have great content and the followers to prove it!
In the PR world impressions are everything so it is also important that people out there actually read your blog.
What should a blogger include in his/her pitch letter?
- A link to their blog (you wouldn’t believe the amount of people who contact us but then don’t tell us what their blog is)
- Monthly page views, number of followers, etc.
- And of course a little bit about themselves and why they want to do product reviews!
How do you find blogs to review products?
Depending on what new product we’re pitching we have our different blog groups (eg: mom bloggers, beauty bloggers, green bloggers, etc) so we will reach out that way. When looking for new blogs I usually find them through our current blogger contacts… most bloggers have a list of their favourite blogs and I find a lot of new contacts that way.
What do you like to see in a blogger's Media Kit?
- Up-to-date stats on monthly page views, number of followers
- Contact information
- What type of products they like to review
- Review period – I usually see that products will be reviewed within 4 weeks of receiving samples
What kind of traffic numbers do you like to see (ie. #Subscribers, Followers, Pageviews, etc).
Generally I look for 1,000+ monthly visitors / page views 10,000+ but I do work with bloggers that are under that, I find that once bloggers start doing more reviews and offer giveaways those numbers go up pretty quickly.
What do you like the review post to look like (ie. long, short, read like a press release, personalized)?
PERSONALIZED! But also with all the relevant product information. It’s important for us that bloggers put the product availability and pricing so that readers can purchase the products. It’s great to use some of the information from the press releases or fact sheets because those will give you the correct information on the products but it’s nice to have a blogger’s personal thoughts included as well. Also I like when bloggers add in their own product photos, some people are so creative!
What do you like the giveaway entry requirement to be (ie. Leave a comment or visit site and choose favorite product)?
I usually leave that up to the blogger but if the client does have a facebook/twitter page I like that to be followed. And it’s neat to see the comments that people leave when they visit the client’s website and list what product they would like to try.How many bloggers do you look for to review one product?
Each product launch we do will vary but now a lot of companies are much more aware of the social media influence and we have some launches that we just specifically send out to bloggers. Generally I could send out samples to 15-30 bloggers for one product review. Also as I get to know the blogger better I can judge on what types of products they would be into reviewing and will send out samples as I have them.
What type of blog design do you prefer?
- Readability (I’m a big font critic)
- Organized posts (easy to search)
What will make you choose one blogger to do a review over another?
Again as I get to know the blogger more I know what products would be more suited for their blog so I filter who I send new samples to that way. Monthly visitors/page views will play a factor too. We also have clients requesting to work with certain blogs as well so sometimes it’s out of my hands!
Do you like when bloggers email you with requests or do you prefer to seek them out yourself?
Of course, it makes my job easier if someone tells me exactly what they want to try because then I know they will likely blog about it.
Who are your favorite bloggers to work with?
I love all our bloggers! The best ones are those that:
- keep in touch,
- ask questions,
- request images, and
- let me know when their post is going to be up.
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