Summary and reflection - Essay Example

In the article “Pitching to Mommy Bloggers,” the points out that there are a few rules that need to be followed if one wishes to be successfulrather than harmful when marketing products through blog posts. The article turns directly to the expertise of some small business owners as a means of illustrating why one might wish to market through blogging. The primary reason given is to market to a highly targeted market group without spending a great deal of money on advertising. However, the author suggests that it is not enough to simply start posting as it is emphasized that the success of this company was due to their decision to hire a professional consultant to learn how to achieve their objectives most efficiently.

Success is measured by the company’s ability to achieve retail distribution of their products as a direct result of the mommy bloggers who had reviewed them. The article then begins to provide the benefits of working directly with blogging. To begin with, customers are able to test the products and help define the target market. By distributing sample products among the bloggers, companies are able to take advantage of impromptu focus groups and promotional opportunities while also giving the bloggers something to talk about rather than simply trying to insert an advertisement.

This leads the author to write about some of the things to avoid when marketing to bloggers. Although it may seem second nature to hide one’s true intentions, the author suggests it is best to be up front and honest with them and the bloggers will help you form online relationships. Another important point is to avoid sending out mass emails that are inappropriately targeted or lie regarding your activity, which can be easily traced. One strong way of getting your news out to bloggers is to host a blogging event with giveaways that provide women with a means of meeting each other as well as giving them a reason to talk about your products or services.

The information in the article really makes it clear how the internet is forcing us to return to a more honest means of dealing with each other. It recommends working with the so-called Mommy blogs as a means of gaining instant access to the consumers most likely making the purchasing decisions, which seems like a great idea. However, once you’ve lied to them or made them angry with you in some way, you risk losing as much or more of the targeted audience. It’s also important to remember that it’s very easy for these bloggers to check your statements as they can look through their records to know if you’ve been there before or if you have posted before.

Although many people will tell you the heart and soul of marketing is knowing how to lie effectively, the truth is that marketers have to take special care to be honest with their target groups. I think this is the most important message being sent in this article. It is most clearly stated when the author points out that if you’re honest in your purpose when approaching the blogs, the bloggers will even go out of their way to help you out but if you try to lie to them, they will go out of their way to point you out as a bad risk to other bloggers.

In the end, it is important to foster the kind of relationship you want, an honest and supportive one, even if this may seem to go against your instinctual nature. However, once you’ve established the relationship, the author illustrates several ways in which it can help you gain widespread marketing miles for minimal effort. By following a few easy guidelines such as selectively distributing products, great things can happen including discovering multi-chain retail distribution for your goods without spending the yearly budget on advertising.