Digital PR:  Tips on engaging with bloggers as a social media strategy

Published 2008

As social media continues to expand, marketers, public relations staff and corporate communicators in Australia need to address the issue of whether their organisations should be using digital and online public relations techniques to monitor the growth of blogs and engage with bloggers.

An 2007 Australian study of online chatter on blogs, chat rooms and forums by advertising group Y & R brands was trumpeted in The Australian (13 September 2007) as ‘Big issues don’t rate on blogs’.

Superficially that might make Australian marketers think they don’t need to bother. However, the results were hardly surprising given that the events tracked included APEC and the Live Earth Concert. 

Many marketers would be astounded at the degree of ‘chatter’ that is taking place about organisations, products and service within social media.  The big public issues might not generate much online conversation, but there are dozens of niche subjects where people who have a passion are busily conversing.

So let’s dip our toe into the water on the question of bloggers and their relevance to marketers by asking - and answering- some of the basic questions coming from those new to the world of social media and online engagement and conversations.

1. The uptake of blogging is still statistically small across the Australian population - why should it be considered as part of our marketing or corporate communications?

A:  It depends on your sector. For some sectors (eg entertainment) there is a deep use of blogging by consumers - for others, there may be relatively little use.  Also consider that in most instances bloggers are as influential in your marketplace as media.  Organisations principally engage with bloggers because it’s a PR function - joining the conversation with people who are opinion formers or are influencers. You can’t apply the advertising reach criteria to blogging.  It’s not a numbers decision - it’s all about influence.

2. How do I discover whether there are a lot of bloggers in my sector? Also, how do I gauge how important they are?  It’s very time consuming!

A:   Unfortunately there are no ready-made lists of bloggers as there are for media publishers. There are tools that the few PR agencies in Australia which work in the social media and blogging space use, that short-cut the whole process. Essentially what you need to do is to identify and rank blogs on several criteria - both quantitative and qualitative. You also need to distinguish between influencers and enthusiasts.  The former are like media commentators while the later are like those who read, listen or watch the media and like to offer an opinion. There might be 1000 Australians blogging about your product or service, but they in turn might be largely influenced by just five. View The Influence Ladder  

3. Are bloggers really ‘citizen journalists’?  Should we think about dealing with bloggers as we do with media?

A:   Yes, there are a lot of similarities - after you have sorted out which bloggers in your sector are influential and opinion formers and are therefore acting like media. If your sector is rich in bloggers you should probably develop a blogger communication program to run in parallel with your media program. But bloggers are not journalists (ignoring those journalists who do blog). They are not obligated to report fairly on issues, they don’t run to deadlines and many have a personal bias (which they are open about). So don’t even think about stepping into this world with a corporate message or perspective without doing a lot of homework. Just as dealing with media requires specialist skills so do does dealing with bloggers.

4. We’ve already dabbled in some online promotions and done some interactive marketing campaigns and one or two of our brand managers are keen to try social media to support product launches.  Is dealing with bloggers just a natural extension of this?

A:  No - definitely not. Just as you wouldn’t use an advertising agency to help you build relations with the media, neither would you use people with promotional or advertising techniques and skills to enter the world of social media and deal with bloggers. This area is all about ‘joining the conversation’ and becoming part of a community; it’s also about a two-way conversation. If you appreciate the delicate nature of dealing with media, and understanding their needs, then multiply the ‘delicacy factor’ threefold when it comes to social media and blogs.

5. How do I make a case to management for our organisation to put this whole area of social media engagement, and bloggers, on to our marketing or corporate agenda?

A:  First, you have to determine whether bloggers have the potential to impact on the reputation of your product, service or organisation. Second, you need to determine whether online conversations are already taking place about your organisation - and that you need to monitor what is being said. Third, you need to be able to show that by participating online it will result in a marketing or corporate benefit. Fourth you need to see whether others in your space, or your competitors (here in Australia or overseas) are already engaging online, and what their experience is. Fifth, you need some evaluation as to what opportunities are here, because Australians have a very different attitude towards blogs than (for example) Americans.  In order to do this you probably need to use an external agency.

6. How do I make the case for PR to be driving our social media or blogging communication?

A:  Rick Clancy, senior vice president, corporate communications for Sony Electronics Inc makes the case for PR to be at the centre of the social media revolution.

Quoted in an article about ‘Sony’s “No Baloney” Blog’ in the Public Relations Society of America’s publication “The Strategist”, Winter 2008 he says, “The other factor from a corporate communications point of view is who’s in a position to really have a discussion, or dialogue, with people?

“Corporate communications and PR people are in a strong position to be at the centre of this whole social media revolution because we are the communicators. We are listeners. We can engage in a conversation, and we’re not necessarily going in with an overt agenda to sell or market or hire someone.

“We’re there to have a discussion. Certainly we’re advocating a point of view, whether it’s about a product or a technology, a social issue or an environmental issue, but we have the mind-set of conversationalists. You don’t find that in many other disciplines within an organisation”.