How to Interview a Brand for your Blog

Interviews may seem outdated and only for radio or television, but this age-old technique is what put some of the most powerful and influential people in their position – think Oprah, Paxman, Ellen to name a few. Whilst everyone else is reviewing the product, interviewing the designer about why they created it can set you apart as a real game-changer in your niche.

Plus, interviewing brands on your blog is a brilliant way to get some fresh, unique content when you’re stuck for inspiration – and they practically write themselves.

Have we convinced you? Here are our best tips for sourcing and creating a great interview.

Approaching the brand

Sourcing an interviewee may seem like a daunting task, but all it takes is an email or two. Identify the person you want to get the scope on and do a little research to find their contact details.

Drop them an email introducing yourself, outlining what you want to do and why, and give them insight into the exposure it could get them just like you would in your media kit. Tell them what you would require from them, that being their time and the number of questions you will be sending over.

So, how do I do it?

Now you’ve scored the interview, you’ll need to work out what interview method works best for you both. For any of the below methods you will need to have your main questions at the ready beforehand. We recommend writing a list of the questions you want to find the answer to, and then narrowing it down to the best – we would suggest keeping it to under 10, even better under 8, so that your interviewee won’t be overloaded.

If you’re conducting a spoken interview, it’s a good idea to send the interviewee the questions beforehand so they have time to prepare. This way they will be able to take their time constructing their answers, which will benefit both you and them.

Skype messaging is great for an informal interview. This way you can ask dig deeper into their replies by asking more questions, without length email back-and-forth.

If you want to get a more humanised approach, and both you and the brand have time, a traditional phone interview would be perfect. You would have to transcribe the conversation, but you would get a more raw and personal interview from the interviewee.

Make sure you end all your interviews by asking the brand if they have anything they would like to add, this could be beneficial to both of you giving them exposure and you the first scoop!

Then what?

Once you’ve written up the interview, it’s best practise to send it to the interviewee to check they’re happy with what you’ve written. Make sure you’re only writing exactly what they said to you in the interview, and only using it in the context that you asked, otherwise you could end up with an unhappy brand on your hands.

When they’re happy and you’ve published, send them over a courtesy email to thank them for their time and drop them a link to the interview – if you’re lucky they might share it on their social media.

So, now you’re all set to go and get some innovative and interesting interviews for your blog. Let us know in the comments below if you ever interview brands for your blog, and your top tips if so.