Mom bloggers have garnered much attention from PR pros. Now, with the sagging economy and the growth of “daily deal” firms like Groupon, deal bloggers are getting more attention. Leah Ingram, founder of the Suddenly Frugal blog and a regular guest on frugal-living segments on the 10! Show on NBC10 in Philadelphia, says deal pitches should be made well in advance and include all relevant info. “Put the URL right in the e-mail pitch so I know where to go to get the deal’s details,” says Ingram. As for the deals themselves, here’s what constitutes a blog-able deal:
• Only send deals that nearly everyone can take advantage of: “When I get pitched deals for only the first 1,000 fans on Facebook, that doesn’t help me because it limits the scope of my audience, which is more than 1,000,” says Ingram.
• Not everyone can win: “I don’t consider sweepstakes and contests true deals because you’re dealing with luck or chance,” says Ingram. “What I love is when a PR person sends me something similar to, ‘Go like this brand on Facebook, and you’ll get a coupon you can print out for a buy-one get-one free lunch, etc.”
• Fan-gating, which makes a visitor “like” the brand on Facebook or follow them on Twitter before receiving the deal, is OK, but 15 pages of reading and click-throughs aren’t. “I don’t mind if there’s a ‘like us’ step involved,” says Ingram. “What I don’t like are deals where consumers have to go through page after page of rules to follow—that’s too much.”
PR News subscribers can read more about pitching deal bloggers and how Ogilvy PR Worldwide helped promote MaggieMoo's Ice Cream And Treatery's free Tax Day product giveaway in the case study: "Two-Scooped Media Effort and Co-Pitch Partnership Produce Sweet Tax Day Returns for Ice Creamery."