A blog by a PR student, about the purpose of blogging in PR.

Blogging. I like to think I know a little bit about it, given I spend the majority of my waking life contemplating the next move for my own blog - Wellness WA.

The opportunities I'm presented with, people I get to meet and personal satisfaction I gain from the day-to-day running of my blog constantly amazes me and just goes to show how deeply powerful carving out a little home for yourself online can be.

Cut to the world of PR, and there are myriad opportunities available for PR agencies and practitioners who are willing to take a closer look at the way that blogging and reaching out to bloggers can be sewn in to the running of campaigns and of their day-to-day business.

So what is the purpose of blogging in PR?

I decided to focus on three aspects:

♥ Blogging as a PR Company

Say you own a PR agency, you have great staff and office culture, a number of clients & are looking to scoop more work or employees/interns.

You could do the hard sell to potential clients and workers - but why not start a blog to showcase all the amazing work you're doing and promote yourself as an excellent employer and tech-savvy business, as well as help cement the idea within existing clients and staff?







There are a few PR companies I have seen that do this successfully, one of my favourites is Dani Lombard PR. Their blog has a variety of topics including:

- Showcasing their clients and the campaigns they have produced for them and media coverage gained, tips on how they do business with examples, eg. 'How to land a cover story' with a case study of how they did so for one of their clients (not-so-subtly talking themselves up, but not in an obnoxious way)

- Staff profiles with a fun and positive slant,  which helps personalise the business and makes them seem more friendly and approachable.

- Wrap-ups of events they've hosted, with lots of gorgeous photos, which has the triple benefit of promoting the brand, promoting themselves and promoting the PR industry.

- Tips for PR newbies and interns (which I'm sure helps them garner more work experience/internship applications!)

And much, much more. I think it's a very successful example of the use of blogging within a PR agency, and certainly makes me respect them and want to work there!


♥ Business blogging

There is no doubting that when done right a business blog can be a valuable tool. However there is definitely a word of caution attached, I have seen so many examples of businesses who have obviously been told by their marketing person 'start a blog, you'll expose yourself to more customers' and then push out below-average content on an infrequent basis, and presumably wonder why it's not working.

Upkeep and relevant content is the key. Also, customers don't just want to be marketed to, which is another reason I think that business blogs often fail.








Consider the following examples:

1. A local organic skincare company decides to start a blog, and updates once a month with their latest specials and sales promotions. The communication is very one way with no reader engagement or call to action.

2. Another local organic skincare company decides to start a blog, and updates twice a week with a variety of articles that their target market (people interested in organic lifestyle) would likely be interested in, but aren't directly related to selling their product, such as 'Best places to buy organic fruit and veggies in Perth', 'Organic cotton workout gear' and 'Why organic skincare is essential for your health!'

The articles have questions at the bottom - what do the readers think of the article? What are their thoughts on the arguments contained? Do they agree/disagree?

They also host a competition once a month to win a product from their range or a product from a related local business (that they know through networking!) that their target market would be interested in.


Which business blog has the most chance of success? Without a doubt it would be the second one, the communication has to be two-way and there has to be a benefit for the reader, not just for the business.







♥ Utilising bloggers in PR


And now to the section that I have the most direct experience with! Over the past few years the tables have been slowly turning. Bloggers are gaining more and more interest from brands and PR companies as they begin to recognise the power of connecting with online media.

Why is this the case? What is the purpose or connecting with bloggers?

If you're interested in something, and none of your friends are, you can jump online and likely find a 'friend' (in the form of a blogger) who is writing about the things you're passionate about. You become invested in the blog and the person behind it. There is a level of trust, and recommendations from a blogger who shares the same interests as you are often acted upon. There can be thousands of people who are following what just one person has to say.

This is where brands step in, if a brand can develop a positive relationship with an influential blogger, then their product can potentially be showcased to a wide audience, usually for just the cost of a few products or services - much, much cheaper than traditional advertising.

Personally I receive on average 1-2 emails a week from brands/PR agencies that I haven't previously worked with, and anywhere from 5-20 media releases and emails from those I have already established a relationship with. In comparison to many of the huge blogs out there, mine is tiny, so you can imagine how many requests they would get from brands and PR companies. All because they know how powerful the influence of blogs on consumers can be.

To summarise, two-way communication, stakeholder engagement, brand development and generating goodwill are just some of the reasons for blogging in the PR world.

Hopefully this has addressed the topic. I'm looking forward to reading my classmates interpretations of the purpose of blogging in PR!!

Be well,

Annette x