Blog Monitoring
– A New Role For PR
Author: P. Headrick
Identifying and influencing a target audience’s
perception of
clients and their brands has always been a top priority
for
high-tech public relations professionals.
In the past, a PR agency simply had to track coverage in
a
handful of major magazines and trade journals to gauge
their
client’s reputation among its prospects and customers,
as well
as key industry advisors such as analysts. But today, as
the
importance of social media continues to rapidly rise,
understanding what the public thinks, wants, and needs
requires
a more complex and sophisticated monitoring strategy.
* Blogs Have Become Widely Popular
Blogs, also known as Weblogs, represent a new,
revolutionary
form of journalism. These online communication vehicles
provide
an information-hungry consumer audience with a steady
stream of
timely and relevant news and resources about the topics
they
are most interested in.
As the popularity
and number of print publications declines
(there were over 31,000 magazines available in 1999, but less
than 23,000 published in 2005, based on a study by the American
Society of Magazine Editors), the number of Weblogs seems to be
growing at an unstoppable pace. |
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There are currently more than 35 million blogs in
existence,
according to Technorati, and that number is expected to
at
least double within the next 6 months. Technorati also
claims
that the blogosphere, the universe of available blogs on
the
Internet, is more than 60 times bigger than it was just
three
years ago, with approximately 75,000 new Weblogs being
launched
every day.
* Tracking Blogs Provides Valuable Insights
When targeted and monitored effectively, these blogs --
as well
as message boards, wikis, and product review sites --
can offer
a wealth of accurate and timely intelligence about
consumer
opinions, behaviors, and preferences.
By tracking these social media channels, PR agencies can
gain
the valuable insight they need to create relevant and
high
impact messages, and develop more successful high-tech
public
relations, branding, and marketing plans. Additionally,
because
opinions, comments, and ideas that are both positive and
negative can spread like wildfire in the expansive
blogosphere,
this information helps firms implement PR strategies
that enable
them to effectively leverage online media to control
their
clients’ reputations and images.
* What to Consider When Monitoring the Blogosphere
The objective of blog monitoring is two-fold. The first
major
goal is to find the Weblogs that cover topics and issues
related to a client’s products and services, and
determine what
the link density of each one is. Those blogs with the
highest
link density are usually the ones with the
widest-reaching Web
networks, the greatest “mindshare” among the Internet
audience,
and the most influence over consumer opinion.
| Once the most
important blogs have been identified, the PR agency can then begin
building relationships with the bloggers, to help ensure that their
clients’ messages, images, and value propositions are accurately and
consistently relayed in any blog entries. |
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The second purpose of blog monitoring is to
track references
specific to the client. For example, blog monitoring can
enable
PR professionals to find and evaluate mentions of the
company,
product and brand names, or the names of top executives.
This
will help them continuously assess the company’s
reputation,
and the market’s perception of their products and
services, so
they instantly uncover any problems, and take
appropriate
action when needed.
* Tools to Help You Monitor Coverage
Many PR agencies outsource blog monitoring activities,
much in
the same way they currently use third-party service
providers
to track clippings and print coverage.
For those firms that choose to handle their own blog
monitoring, there are plenty of tools available.
Any RSS reader can be used to subscribe to
up-to-the-minute
news and Web content based on common industry key words
and
phrases (these can be the same key words and phrases
used in
press monitoring).
There are also a variety of quantitative blog monitoring
solutions, such as Feedster, PubSub, and Technorati that
provide key statistics such as the number of blogs and
the
frequency of posts or updates. Or, qualitative tools
like
Blogdex, BlogPulse, Daypop, and Blabble which can help
PR
agencies track the context of blog entries and other
online
discussions.
About The Author: SHIFT Communications is a full-service
public
relations agency specializing in high-tech, consumer,
and social
media public relations. SHIFT has offices in Boston and
San
Francisco. To learn more about high-tech PR visit,
http://www.SHIFTcomm.com.
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