Blogging: Tip of the iceberg
Blogging is not a craze. It is a fact of modern communications. Already important in terms of breaking news stories and generating healthy debate it is going to become even more important as people and particularly businesses grasp the opportunities it and other forms of social media can provide. Witness the success of Mary Beard’s blog promoted by The Times or George Monbiot via The Guardian. Whilst these different pieces are backed by national media, it is their content that drives online browsers to read their copy. Because, pull away the exciting fact this is all happening online and you are left with the good old fashioned journalism. It is not who you are that counts the most, it is what you are saying and how relevant it is to your audience.
Nowadays a communications strategy must include the use of blogs and social media. This week (30 November ’09) Media Guardian reported on how student journalists at Goldsmiths, University of London, have started an online newspaper and promotes the stories and articles on Twitter. Tweets drive people to the site where they can enjoy features, listings, video and audio. The principle they have embraced can equally be applied to the selling and promotion of a product or service just as much as it can to an idea, a story or an issue that needs debating.
So, why aren’t sales and marketing directors capitalising more on the potential for blogging and backing up this tactic with tweets? My guess is that people are nervous of it. But in time, just as journalists have begun to embrace new media channels but stick to the sound editorial principles, PR and marketing is going to make the same shift. The dynamic consumer brands and many NGOs have already grasped the nettle. Many of these are driven by innovative designers and marketers. Right now, bar a few brave pioneers, the world of business to business and public affairs is dragging its heels. My instinct is that for ambitious and brave SMEs there is a big chance to build their brand, secure a niche and increase revenue via some innovative online marketing and PR.
Blogging is going to be a great way to PR a business, without relying upon the media to run a story. With a blog, you can run the story yourself, but still promote it to the media. The catch is writing about it in an objective editorial style that won’t alienate your market. It is early days; but blogging is no fad, it is here to stay and we haven’t begun to see what it is really capable of yet.
Tags: blogging, journalism, PR and marketing, social media