M.L. Kent’s article for the Public Relations Review provided good information about what blogs are and especially about how they can be used by the public relations practitioner. I am especially interested in blogs as a public relations research tool. I think it is vital for a company or organization to keep on top of what is being said about them in social media, and especially blogs written by opinion leaders. Being active in social media is important as a public relations tool but it seems that social media as a research tool is sometimes overlooked. Knowing what is being said about your company or organization will help you understand the effectiveness of the public relations and communications plans that are in place. Monitoring social media can serve as a method of testing the current environment that you are operating in.
Another point Kent made that I found interesting was blogs as a direct avenue to the public. Blogging can be a great way to reach a specific segment and demographic since blogs are usually issue centric. For example, people who are interested in environmental issues and news can seek out environmental blogs. People trying to reach that demographic can also seek these blogs out as a way to reach as many people as they can.
Blogs are very useful for public relations. While I don’t think that traditional public relations practices are going to go anywhere soon, I don’t think blogging will be going away anytime soon, either.
No comments:
Post a Comment