The mom blog industry is a force to be reckoned with. Certainly not a casual hobby partaken during naps and school-time hours, mom blogs are run by business women, and they demand respect.
Manufacturers, press and CEA Line Shows attendees were schooled on Thursday, June 23, on this rapidly growing sect of product-reviewing, community-building, opinion-slinging women during the "How to Work with Mom Bloggers" panel seminar.
Wise advice to manufacturers, retailers and anyone interested in working with mom bloggers (careful about using the term "mommy" as most bloggers are mega-sensitive to this moniker) includes first getting to know the bloggers you are interested in soliciting. This includes becoming very familiar with the blog, its followers and the policies each blogger follows. Yes, policies.
"Look at the blog. Is it informational? personal?" Amy Oztan of www.selfishmom.com recommends. "Look at the 'About' page. See if the blogger has a plan to work with public relations professionals. Does it have a disclosure page? Respect the blogger's time.
Blogging has become a business, so do not be surprised when mom bloggers ask for compensation, or to be "taken care of" if the assignment requires.
Suzanne Kantra, CEO and founder of Techlicious.com and moderator of the panel, explained that mom bloggers offer a unique value to brands.
"The authenticity is different than [normal] editorial coverage," says Rebecca Levey of www.beccarama.com. "[We offer] a real personality. When women love your product (and they are not paid to love it), we are very good at telling people. I would also put money on someone who can write well. The good [bloggers] are good storytellers."
Kantra asked the panel, which also included Nancy Friedman of www.hiptohousewife.com, to offer three tips on working with mom bloggers. Friedman suggested that when hosting events for mom bloggers to keep in mind times these women are available. During school-time for example is not convenient for moms with children of that age.
"Also, know that a diaper bag is not compensation. Some people do not work for product," she added.
Friedman's last point touched on "Klout" scores, the grading measure from Twitter, which calculates how popular you are by the number of followers, tweets, etc. "We are more than our stats. Look beyond those to the real person," she said.
