Our Blog: where do you stand?

Beyond Blogging

By: Mistie Thompson | 09/28/2007

Presenter: David Parmet, Marketing Begins At Home

--If you're in PR/marketing and not blogging/engaging with bloggers, you're probably still working on a manual typewriter.

--David says when PR agencies start blogging, internal change happens - instead of paying lip service to social media, they really start to understand it - this changes their perspective in helping clients go blogging and beyond. We're no longer (or should no longer be) explaining to clients what blogs, podcasts, etc. are and/or deciding to blog - we're looking at what's next that can best help our clients.

--Who should blog within an agency? Anyone who has the time and the initiative to do it! A cultural shift happens when agencies start blogging - they begin to understand that nothing bad happened when the agency started a blog - nothing said anything offensive, etc. If you're doing it the right way, you're doing something that will engage others and be positive. PR agency staff should be encouraged to blog and use the blog as another tool to do their jobs.

--There's a suggestion from the audience that with PR agency blogs is that there should be a draft folder where all the posts go to get "soft edits" for grammar, etc., since written communication is a reflection on the agency. (Editorial note here: Everyone in your agency should at the very least be competent writers - they are, after all, probably communicating by email with your clients quite frequently - so if you're an agency leader and you're worried about this, you have a larger problem that needs to be addressed!)

--Another audience question involves tone - what tone should the agency blog take? David says talk to your audience - use the tone that you'd normally use with client communications.

--A question about ghost blogging - David says if blogs don't sound right to readers, they'll die. Readers are smart - they'll know when they're being conned - stay away from ghost blogging!

--David also advises not putting press releases on a blog - blogs are not sales channels but conversation channels. People don't go to your blog to read news releases. At some point, people aren't going to want to deal with companies that aren't transparent and honest - if you're blog is hijacked by sales pushes, people will resent the effort.

--What about nonprofit blogging? Can blogging help you work with boards that are often technologically challenged? David recently worked with Pound Ridge Democratic Committee (not exactly nonprofit, but very little money) and developed a blog for them. It's a great, inexpensive tool to help get the word out and generate Google juice. It also may help draw fresh blood into your volunteer and/or board ranks who are more technologically savvy. Again, social media efforts should not replace traditional efforts, but supplement them, if you have a technologically varied audience. Especially with medical/health issue nonprofits, people turn to the web for information - use blogging, Flickr, Facebook, etc. as a prime opportunity to reach people and further your mission. Nonprofits should also look to community newspapers - many are now creating online community groups/sites that allow you to get your information/message out for free. But again, it's not just a place to post press releases - do your homework and understand what information is relevant for these group members.

--Twitter, Blip, Flickr, etc. are all part of social media today, but who knows what will be next new thing? David says whatever will continue to encourage conversations. It's easy now to add audio, video, Flickr, etc. to even small corporate blogs that will add to your blog mix and continue engaging your audiences.

--A question - what about Facebook? It's important for agencies and companies to at least have a presence there - David is amazed by how many companies and agencies block Facebook, MySpace, IM, etc. - we need to be figuring out how best to leverage all these for clients, encouraging employees to be there and most definitely not blocking access.

Posted in Social Media, Digital Communications