By Natalia Barolin, Health Communications Manager
I recently attended the AllHealth Public Relations panel discussion, “Reaching Top Health Blogs in the New Media Environment,” at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, featuring four leading health bloggers. The event promised an opportunity to learn how to connect with health bloggers and online journalists and how to share our clients’ missions and initiatives to those who share similar interests.
In February 2007, a Zogby poll found that nearly 60% of Americans consider bloggers important to the future of American journalism. A March 2010 Pew survey found that the Internet is now the third most popular news platform, behind local and national television news. So, if you want to be relevant online, you need to understand the power of engaging health bloggers.
What I learned is that, while blogs allow health media a new and more responsive way to cover health news, the strategies for pitching to bloggers and online journalists are similiar to those for pitching traditional reporters. Here are some key insights gained:
1. Take the time to get to know your audience. Every blogger on the panel emphasized this fact. Some of their suggestions included: clicking and reading through the blog’s content, reading the blog’s “About” page, following the blogger on Twitter, commenting on the blog, and connecting with the blogger even when you’re not pitching. And, when it comes time to pitch, only send content and ideas that are relevant to the blog’s identity and readers. By doing so, you are more likely to be taken seriously and considered a trusted and reliable source. Otherwise, don’t waste your time and your clients’ resources.
2. Find out how a blog generates its content. Some blogs, like the Health Affairs Blog, are open to submissions from potential guest bloggers and invite bloggers to participate. Sometimes, the editors of the journal Health Affairs may even ask authors of articles to submit their materials to the blog, instead of the journal. Rather than generate its own blog posts, Kaiser’s Health News Blog Watch aggregates blog content. It rounds up the more opinionated blogs, while the more “newsy” blogs with a traditional reporting style end up in the Kaiser Health News (KHN) Daily Health Policy Report. If you want your clients’ blogs included in the KHN roundup of relevant policy blogs, Kate Steadman is the person to pitch. But, remember, focus on the relationship, not the pitch.
3. Know how to connect. Scott Hensley, of NPR’s Health News Blog, “Shots,” doesn’t accept guest posts, but is open to being pitched with ideas for the blog. Hensley says email is best: like most online reporters and bloggers, he does not like getting calls. If you do call, be prepared to deliver a strong and concise pitch in less than 30 seconds-and to be blown off. It’s nothing personal, but if they are interested in covering your story, they’ll call you.
4. Be ready to respond. Some bloggers are open to receiving posts and ideas from PR professionals on behalf of clients, but they will want to connect with your client very quickly and get the conversation going. The turnaround of a blog post is much quicker than a journal article, so don’t hold them up. Be the bridge to your client, not to an intermediary.
5. Timing is crucial. The chance of getting your story covered in a blog, just like in traditional media, depends on pitching the right story at the right time. Keep monitoring health news in traditional media, online and the blogosphere. That way you can identify and quickly move on the right opportunities to connect others with your issue or client.
6. Use Twitter to your advantage. Jeffrey Young, former editor of The Hill’s “Blog Briefing Room,” uses Twitter to find fresh content and determine when a story has saturated the blogosphere. Leverage this resource to make sure you’re not pitching yesterday’s news.
The AllHealth PR panel delivered a concise overview on how to connect with health bloggers, but let’s go a step farther. What tips do you have on connecting with health bloggers and online journalists?
Tags: Blogging, online journalism, pr, public relations