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Working with Bloggers – After the Press Trip

In this video Chris Christensen from BloggerBridge.com talks about what to do after a press trip. Getting the most out of the opportunity means good follow up with by both the DMO and the content creators.

I’m Chris Christensen from BloggerBridge and we’re talking today about working with bloggers. Specifically, what to do after the press trip is over. Remember, you had a plan before you went, how much content you were looking for, maybe even what sort of articles you wanted written or what kind of themes that were going on. Revisit that when they get home; make sure that they got all the content they needed. It may have been that that person that you wanted them to interview wasn’t available, so you’re not going to get that piece. Can you get something else instead?

So revisit that, revisit the schedules, make sure everybody is on the same page. And then think about what you’re going to do with that content. How could you promote that content that you’ve now paid for – paid for with whatever budget you have – and get the most out of it? How could you promote it with social media? How could use it on your blog and link to it so that we have long-term value? How can you promote it in newsletters? Can you reuse it in different ways? Can you take an audio piece and transcribe it? Can you take a written piece and present an audio podcast or turn it into a video and a slideshow? There are different ways to use content. The more use you can get from that content, the more value you and the content creator can get from that trip.

And then don’t forget to ask for feedback. What could you have done differently on this trip so that you can make things better for the next trip? What things went well? What things could use improvement? You’ve got someone here who has knowledge of you, probably loves the heck out of you at this point, this is a great time to ask them for feedback and see how you can do it even better next time. Are there people that they would recommend that you work with? Because you now have a relationship with them, don’t forget to stay in touch with the people who now think very highly of you and your destination. You may be able to ask them to re-tweet things or you may just keep them informed of things that are going on and they may just choose to do that on your own.

So don’t forget that you have a relationship with those people. Stay in touch. I’m Chris Christensen from BloggerBridge.

Malama Maui Press Trip

In late March I had a chance to travel to Maui as part of a social media team on a press trip sponsored by the Maui Convention and Visitors Bureau. The trip was titled “Malama Maui” which is Hawaiian for “to nurture Maui”. I had a chance to ask Keli’i Brown of the Maui Convention and Visitors Bureau some questions about the trip.

What was the goal of the trip?

As always, our goal is to allow journalists to experience Maui’s myriad offerings and to write about their experiences. The most recent press trip was unique in that we organized a social media campaign to include a team of experts to promote Maui via their respective social media networks not only during the week of the press trip but pre-and-post. This was a way for Maui to include new media as part of the press group, and it was a way for Maui to see new media in action. We also including traditional broadcast and print media for good measure!

How do you measure success for the trip, that is, using what metrics?

That’s a tricky question because one has to be more specific in regards to what you want to measure. For us (in PR), our first and foremost measurement of success is the experience. The satisfaction level of the media participants as well as our PR partners is all important as a membership organization. In the end, we want to know that Maui satisfies and we want the people who live on Maui to interact with visitors to have an enjoyable, positive, honorable experience.

Our goal is to share the culture(s), landscape, people, natural attractions, accommodations, activities, festivals, etc. Did Maui meet or exceed desired expectations or did we fall short? We then consider the editorial placement by the participating journalists. Was the coverage handled in a way that best showcases Maui? Will that story motivate visitors to come to our island? These are things we look at as the PR team so we are better suited to work with future media and assist our on island partners.

Next, we look at the value and reach of editorial placements. These figures provide a tangible measure of success, something we can share with others as a measurement of success. We use professional services to track ad rates and circulation figures. We compile this data and hope to have a minimum of 3 to 1 return on our financial investment. For example if we paid $1,000 to host a journalists airfare, rental car, etc. We hope the resulting editorial will be worth more than $4,000.

Would you be willing to ballpark the cost of the event?

I really can’t share specific costs of our press trip with you, but I can tell you that in general, “hard dollars” for a press trip can run anywhere from $10,000 – $15,000, depending on the size of the group. That number would typically include airfare, rental cars, some meals and some activities. That does not include in-kind support we receive for accommodations, most meals and most activities. There is also the “time” it takes to plan such a trip.