Ryan Levitt, PR director of Housetrip.com, took the stage at #SoMeT14EU on 9 April and he wasn’t holding back. His presentation, as controversial as it was captivating, focused on if, why and how destinations should select and work with bloggers. In a little more than 20 minutes, Levitt’s presentation ignited a heated discussion among attendees, travel bloggers and marketing professionals following along through Twitter. Highlights of the presentation are highlighted here in our blog: http://www.sometourism.com/somet14eu-finding-1/

1. Looking to old media for inspiration: Why
bloggers need to shape up or ship out

2. Presentation Agenda!
1. The truth about bloggers
2. Who reads blogs and what they read
3. Why the Daily Mail rocks (unfortunately)
4. Why work with bloggers then?
5. How to work with your bloggers

3. Why work with bloggers

4. The truth about bloggers!

5. Our findings !
Of the hundreds of blogs we read and
analysed, we found that approximately
99% were:

6. Grrr…!

7. The proof!

8. So we went back to the drawing board…!
… of which one was
written by a friend or
relative

9. And the topics? !
1) Gossip
2) Parenting
3) Money-Saving
4) Going Out
5) Fashion
6) Food & Drink
7) Health/Diet
8) Craft/DIY
9) Interiors
10) Photography
Travel ranked in 15th place…after music,
pets motoring and (even) politics

10. And the topics? !
1) Gossip
2) Going Out
3) Fashion
4) Money-saving
5) Food & Drink
6) Music
7) Weddings
8) Parenting
9) Health/Diet
10) Interiors
…nope still no travel

11. Why no travel love? !

12. So where are consumers influenced on social media? !

13. So bloggers suck, right? !

14. Lets analyse the Daily Mail then…!

15. The blogger – press equivalents!
The blogger = The publisher (responsible for ad
sales, circulation figures, etc)
To increase ad sales and circulation, a newspaper
must constantly deliver the kind of articles
consumers want to read.
They must then promote the newspaper and content
through ad campaigns, promotions, sponsorships,
re-targeting of top posts, etc
A blogger is no different.

16. So why work with bloggers then? !
1) SEO
2) Anything else (including influence building, brand
awareness, traffic driving, sales conversion, etc

17. How do I know this? !

18. What is useless!
1) Tweet-ups (also retweets and pretty much anything on
Twitter)
2) Blog houses, blog trips
3) Single post, single time
4) Not promoting the content
5) Using the wrong platforms
Remember, talk to your mother, your sister, your neighbour.
Stop relying on numbers, volume of coverage and number of
posts. It’s like hosting an amazing party that no one comes to.

19. If SEO isn’t our goal, then how de we
get the elusive items in number 2? !
1) Go niche
2) Attend blogger events
3) Ask for media packs
4) Read the blogs!!
5) Look at their social media profile
6) Engagement, engagement, engagement
7) Repeat trips
8) Two-year minimum
9) And finally – reference check
If it passes all these steps – and you have budget of your own
to promote the content on your platforms – then it’s time to work
with bloggers.
!

20. And the content?!
1) Topics that matter to the consumer – and remember it isn’t
travel (so food, fashion, money-saving tips are all great)
2) Features are fine – as long as they are packed with
information, interesting stories are being told and aren’t
written like a ‘My Summer Vacation’ report for junior high
3) Photo-rich, good titles (Think ‘Blew My Mind’, Buzz-Feed
Quizzes)
4) Journos are becoming bloggers, why not have blogger re-pitch
their work?
5) STOP with the free trips!! That should come at the end of a
working relationship. NOT at the beginning.

21. Thank you