The New PR Tool

Change is happening and it is happening fast. Although blogging may never become obsolete in the media world, it is revolutionizing how we get information and who can give it.

Many people are learning to turn to expert bloggers for their personal opinion on a matter or product as opposed to taking what they hear on TV at face value. Blogging has truly opened the opportunity to influence the consumer in a way never possible before.

Blogging has a somewhat candid and transparent approach to communicating. It taps into the power of word of mouth marketing. One example of this was caught on TV recently. This week on The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, the CEO and the Medical Director of Bosley were interviewed on a new technology in hair implants. A procedure like this can be expensive, costing from $5,700 to $16,500. They decided to document the whole procedure using blogging to create some buzz.

http://www.battleagainstbald.com/battle_against_bald/2006/09/cost_of_the_bos.html

Credibility

“Media has become a participatory sport, in which not just journalists, but literally anyone can provide their perspectives on what they are seeing and what is happening.”
– rossdawsonblog.com

For PR practitioners, blogging is the perfect opportunity to bring their experience, knowledge and networking skills to the table. The ability to influence the audience perception can dramatically increase through the power of blogs.

In a post on Global PR Week 2.0, Elizabeth Albrycht discusses the importance of how blogging in PR is truly a network building tool. She believes, “the primary function of corporate communications and public relations today is network building. A prime reason blogs are such good tools is that they are link heavy, and the link is the core technology in making networks visible.”

Who you are linked to is important in this industry. In the world of networking, “it’s all who you know” and who thinks your credible enough to recommend you, or link you to themselves. Credibility is crucial in succeeding in the blogging world. Many are using this to their advantage. Today, CEO’s like Jonathan Schwartz, president and CEO of Sun Microsystems, are using this media outlet to promote openness and transparencey in business. Other businesses with blogs just added this year are corporate giants like Nike, Wells Fargo, McDonald’s and Starwood Hotels.

The following videos offer more insight to both the future of blogging and how it is being used today.