Why we should still work with bloggers

Wednesday’s seminar regarding working with travel bloggers sparked a lot of discussion, and after a lot of wondering and wandering, here is what I think about it all. This time my ramblings are in English so that this can be a part of the bigger discussion. 

For a little while I’ve had a feeling that there’s something we’re not doing right when it comes to travel blogs. They contact Visit Finland, they visit Finland (pun intended), they publish a couple of blog posts and then I see them goin to India to do the same thing. Fantastic, good for them. Only I feel like it’s only good for them, and not at all good for me, who paid for their trip to come to Finland. 

Ryan Levitt (the speaker of Wednesday’s thought-provoking seminar) argues that a lot of travel bloggers write terribly, only reach other travel bloggers and write content that is not interesting (except for the writer’s parents) and don’t promote their content properly. I’m not saying that all travel bloggers are like that, but at least in my experience many of them are.

So how do I feel about this? Here is my open letter to travel bloggers reaching out to Finland:

Dear (insert name here),

(see, it’s not so hard to find out the person’s name who you’re writing to. if I can do it, so can you)

Thanks for your email, I’m glad to hear that you are interested in visiting Finland and you feel like we should work together. How fun!

As much as I like the fact that you think Finland would be an interesting destination for your followers, I sort of hoped that you had an idea of what you would potentially like to see and experience in Finland. Just as much as you guys like to work with destinations that value your work, I like to work with travel bloggers who do their homework and offer some ideas of potential content they could provide. Generic emails that are clearly sent to everyone will most likely go to my ”deal with these” folder and I’ll respond when I get a chance. Meanwhile emails that tell me specifically why you are interested in Finland, what you would like to do, when and for how long, and what kind of content you could provide for us, will get answered. That just make both everyone’s lives a lot easier. Whether it’s blog posts, photos, video or something else, I’d like know of your ideas beforehand so that I can plan our content creation accordingly, instead of finding out later what you posted already. Your opinions can (and have to) still be yours, but I’d like to know the big picture. Especially if you expect me to pay you, because then I expect you have a concept and we discuss specifics together. Sorry I’m not sorry.

How about that reach then? Thanks for attaching your updated media kit with your latest impressive numbers and comments from companies you have worked with before! While I care a lot about the numbers, that’s only a small portion of all the things we really care about. You might have 10 000 unique visitors per month plus all the followers in your social media channels, but that only goes so far. I hope you understand that if I go through your blog’s Facebook page and find that most of your active likers and commentators are travel bloggers like you, I find it hard to swallow that you will actually reach the people I want to reach. Not that it’s bad if other travel bloggers like your work, but that’s not the reason why we are sponsoring your trip to Finland. I’m welcoming you to Finland because I’m hoping for content that inspires your followers to travel to Finland, and your fellow blogger friends most likely aren’t those people who will come here by themselves. Sorry I’m not sorry.

While I care a lot about your audience, I also care a lot about the content you provide. While you, your friends and your blogger friends might like those stories where you reflect on your life, that’s not the type of material that I can use for our channels. It’s ok, I like those posts too (if they are well-written), but the average Joe following Visit Finland’s channels doesn’t care about a travel blogger’s post about how much he liked his time in Finland. What our average followers care is information, tips and inspiration. To put it in a harsh way: they need less you and more info. Once again sorry I’m not sorry.

But still, if you have nice ideas about what we could do together, I’d love to hear them! While I think working with travel bloggers is not the best thing since sliced bread, I still think it’s valuable and we should keep doing it. I realize that the result of your (and my) work doesn’t come immediately, and to the loyal followers of your passionate niche blog you are the influencer who they trust when they make travel decisions. I get it! However, it wouldn’t hurt to tell me if the destinations you have visited have gotten visitors because of your work or if your followers have been specifically interested in some details about your travel posts. 

But that’s not the point. The point is that I think we should all get down from our ivory towers and start talking about this like grown ups. The way I see it, the field has changed a lot in a very short time when it comes to travel bloggers, and discussion like this (however heated) sparked by #SoMeT14EU is needed to clear the air and to shake us all a bit. Personally I think the conversation has been great, especially since many of the issues that have been touched are something that a lot of companies and DMOs (present company included) have been thinking but haven’t said out loud. Sometimes a good wake up call is really needed.

What I’m trying to say is that excellent travel bloggers are really, really valuable. This just means that we need to spend a bit more time researching their/your work to see if they fit our brands and can provide content that is valuable to us. Working with travel bloggers because that’s the thing to do is just stupid, but working with the travel bloggers that reach the audience you want to reach are a totally different thing. It’s the whole ”travel bloggers are the future, deal with it” -attitude that I have a problem with. I don’t think it’s an agreement that I (or anyone else for that matter) should accept without discussing the terms case by case first.

So, let’s all take a deep breath and try not to take things so personally. I think travel bloggers should stop acting like they are the kings and queens of the world, and us DMOs should do more research on what we want and who we’d like to work with.

A lot more issues could have (and probably should have) been touched here, but this is how I feel and maybe this is a start. Thank you and apologies. Kiitos ja anteeksi.

Kind regards, 

The ”Dear sir/madam” you just sent your email to