Blogs & PR

Blogs are increasingly being recognized as a key part of corporate public relations, according to a major research study conducted by Text 100, a prominent international PR agency. Text 100 recently consulted with a pool of 449 bloggers worldwide, in order to discover the role that bloggers play in corporate public relations, communication and marketing strategies. 

One of the most important findings is that bloggers are often seen as “influencers,” rather than traditional journalists. This means that companies throughout the world realize that because blogs are often written by every-day people and in a more personal manner, their opinions on company services or their product reviews can impact consumer choices and trends. Most of the bloggers interviewed for this study focused on three topics in their blog entries, namely the business world, computers and technology, as well as lifestyle or consumer issues.

In 90 percent of the cases, these bloggers had some type of contact with corporate PR representatives and also valued these contacts. The proportion, however, was even higher in the United States, were 96 percent of bloggers interviewed had weekly contact with PR representatives. Most of these bloggers also noted that what makes their writing unique and interesting to a wide range of players in the corporate world is that they offer an array of product reviews, regular interviews, as well as maintain contact with their readers through feedback. Importantly, however, these same bloggers noted that what they disliked most was when PR representatives simply forward corporate press releases, without a more personal, or targeted message.

The fact that more than 9 out of 10 bloggers come into contact with PR departments shows how important blogging has become in the corporate world and how seriously companies take this dynamic form of communication. But this reality also demonstrates how useful it can be for companies to develop their own blogs, rather than simply relying on the blogosphere.