By Amy Dawson, Senior Vice President/Healthcare Account Director

It’s Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Do you know where your turkey is?

Well, if it hasn’t been thawed out by now, you’re outta luck. The in-laws (or out-laws) are on the way over and you’re up to your elbows in frozen poultry. What a culinary conundrum.

You or your friends probably know people who are completely overwhelmed at the thought of cooking a turkey. After all, you probably do it only once a year, right? Know anyone whose mom left the package of “parts” inside while it roasted? Ever order a pizza because the turkey wasn’t finished cooking after eight hours?! We all have stories like these, the key as a marketer in the new age of online marketing is to offer solutions to life’s puzzles - turkeys not excluded.

I just discovered Butterball Turkey’s amazing Web site, Butterball.com, that even the most seasoned turkey roaster would love. Butterball has established a great brand, due in large part to their toll-free Turkey Talk Line. Now, Butterball has taken it a thousand steps further with Butterball.com, offering a completely interactive and informative experience for their users. To name a few, visitors can sign up for text messages that give thawing reminders and temperature guidelines, read blogs written by “seasoned home economists,” participate in live chats or watch how-to videos.

How turkey talk becomes turkey chat.

Butterball.com is stuffed with goodies like juicy tips (turkey is fully cooked when the thigh’s internal temperature is 180 degrees), precise tools (I can find out what size turkey to get if I am feeding five adults and two kids and love leftovers) and other tasty sides to gobble up, including an online Recipe Box, ready-to-print personalized shopping lists, recipes and access to the community forum, where you can share ideas with other home chefs.

Even though I’ve prepared and served up a few turkeys in my adult life, I can still find valuable help and information on the site. I can only imagine how beneficial it is for the first-time home cook staring anxiously at the giant frozen blob in the grocery store freezer.

Give thanks for meaningful brand experiences.

It’s no coincidence that Butterball.com has seen a spike in site traffic over this time last year, now with over 40,000 unique visitors a month.

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By Alaina Sheer,

There’s no doubt that the blogosphere, collectively, is now a major force to be reckoned with and one any good marketer, advertiser or public relations professional can’t ignore.

My personal blog, a mommy blog, now has over 10,000 unique visitors per month.  I have yet to spend a single cent on advertising and have grown this readership through grassroots social marketing. And with the growth of my blog has come a huge amount of pitches from marketing professionals. What began as a trickle, a few pitches every few weeks, is now a daily occurrence.

Tomorrow I’ll be speaking at the Central Ohio PRSA luncheon on this very topic. I’m not sure if I’m an expert, but I am definitely rejecting more pitches than I’m accepting, so at the very least I can give you my reasons for tossing some in the trash and turning others into full blown posts or reviews.

Before I dive in, know these facts about bloggers:

• Most are blogging in their spare time, outside of their full-time job, families, friends and other obligations. Time outside of posting is usually devoted to responding to reader comments. You are last on the list.
• Bloggers - on average - make less than $5,000 a year on their blog. For most, it’s a passion and a hobby, not a money maker. Any perks or gifts you bring to the table will often be very well received. And unlike journalists, we can accept bribes. But, like journalists, we rarely compromise our ethics and will still give your product a bad review if it deserves one.
• Every blogger is different and every blogger is reaching a different audience.

With that said, here’s how to launch a successful blogger pitch.

1. Take a moment to read the blog. You should be doing this anyway for a myriad of reasons. Before taking the time to pitch or give away a product be sure the blog is a) engaging b) active c) compelling and d) in line with your product or story’s message. But the primary reason to take a few minutes - maybe five to 10 - to read up on a blog before your pitch is so you can write a personalized e-mail pitch to the blogger. This will increase your chances of a response exponentially.

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