Lessons on Blogger Outreach

I often get pitched for new products and services and wanted to share some thoughts on how people and companies could make more of this kind of marketing program by way of example. Social media gives you great access to people, however social media should not be used as a vehicle but as part of the brand engagement strategy. Too often people are using social media for quantity and not quality of the networks

1. I was recently sent a new phone - an Orbit XDA. I was sold once I opened the box. I loved it! I used it and blogged about it, not because I had to because I wanted to...this device solved some of the problems that I had with my Virgin contract. I emailed 3 times to say, look I want to transfer to O2, this phone is fantastic...guess what....NOTHING! No one contacted me back, no one followed up...the result I felt that O2 did not want me as a customer. At the moment I remain with Virgin, looking for a new provider. What a wasted opportunity...what a waste of a customer...what a waste of a blogger outreach program! Sure I blogged that I loved the phone but imagine if they had answered my emails and brought me on board. They would have converted me to an O2 evangelist for their brand...now, I love the phone but doubt if I would use O2. Lesson - Don't just reach out, convert the converted!
2. I was approached by 3MobileBuzz to test out the new dongle. I have had trouble setting it up, not sure why, but now it works brilliantly. Throughout the problems Sam e-mailed me, checked on the status, even emailed me to see if it was now working. Truly personalised service. Again, I love the product, it has saved me money and now makes it so easy to work on the move. Again, they potentially have an evangelist for their brand....let's see if they pass the final test by wanting to convert me to a customer. Lesson - Personalise the program because you personalise the brand
3. The outreach has to be relevant to either myself or the listeners to the podcast or the readers of this blog. If it doesn't provide value to me, then I will ignore it. Outreach programs too often just use the technology because ...well they can, but to gain true ROI then you need to target people that you can show you can provide value to. Lesson - Outreach to out value your competitors

Outreach programs should be targeted, be personalised, be transparent, be valuable...but most of all be ready to convert the recipient from a blogger to a customer.