I have to admit, I was little grossed out when I first heard that a marketing company called Issue Dynamics had launched a practice in “Blogger Relations.” But then again, is it any less skeezy when I do it and call it “blogger outreach?” 😉
Anyway, I have to give them some kudos for putting a few of their presentations for nonprofits online. The latest addition is “Using Blogs and RSS for Your Organization” (5MB PPT), and it’s actually quite good.
Here are a couple of of my favorite slides:
The Blog Phenomenon
- Blog or Weblog = Web journal
- 7% of 120 million U.S. adults online say they have created a blog = 8 million people.
- 27% of internet users say they read blogs = 32 million people
- Political blogs driving growth = 9% of internet users said they read political blogs “frequently” or “sometimes” during the 2004 campaign.
Source: Pew Internet Project, Jan 2005
Ways to Leverage Blogs for Your Organization
- Monitor Issues Impacting your Organization
- Story Placement
- Advertise
- Launch Organization Blog
There are several case studies in the presentation, including “RatherGate” and the campaign for the United Church of Christ whose ads about inclusion were rejected by network TV:
Case Study: Accessible Airwaves
- Searched Blogs to identify lead spokespersons.
Identified 5 leading Bloggers that already Blogged on issue.- Strategy call on issue with Bloggers and UCC.
- Gave Bloggers Network rejection letter before shared with press.
- Pre-launch email rolling out strategy to wider group of Bloggers
- Conference call with 15+ Bloggers at same time press were notified.
- Created Blog – The medium is the message.
Ruby, thanks for your kind words about my presentation. Blogger outreach does overlap with blogger relations, although we consider BR to include training on how to setup a blog, blog creation and blog traffic monitoring. We coined the term “Blogger Relations” in order to draw a parallel in folks’ minds to the already established terms of Media Relations and Public Relations. It’s tricky because our goal is to be the honest brokers who can help the powers that be hear the voice of bloggers more clearly and recognize this important constituency. It’s great to have a pro like you working in the same field!
All the Best to you and your readers!
Cheryl Contee
AVP, Issue Dynamics Inc.
Thought your readers might want to know that the link to the “Using Blogs and RSS for Your Organization” link has changed to http://www.idi.net/what-we-do/files/contentncoffee_blogs_rss_2005.ppt