IP Democracy: Marketers Approach Blogs With Care

The Washington Post’s Kim Hart has this piece today about the inevitable attraction of blogs to marketers. The piece kicks off with a blog campaign for Nokia designed by none other than Andy Abramson, who is totally “jazzed” by the attention paid by the mainstream press.

Although it’s inevitable that blogs are a natural draw to flacks and marketers, bloggers, or at least good bloggers, are more resistant to pitches and spin.

Marketing firms are advising companies to have conversations with bloggers rather than simply pitching a product and giving free samples. Follow the blogs carefully and join the dialogue by responding to posts only when it’s appropriate, suggested Fionnuala Downhill, chief executive of Elixir Systems, an Arizona-based agency specializing in search engine optimization, or increasing a company’s search ranking.

That’s why it’s better for flacks to follow the conversation — in other words, know the subject matter — and try to slip in a message where it’s helpful.

“As soon as you try to control the message, it takes away from the whole spirit of blogging,” Downhill [Fionnuala Downhill, chief executive of Elixir Systems] said. “Once a commercial site influences a blog, a lot of people really frown on that. It’s supposed to be consumer-generated, not company-generated.”

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on August 5, 2006 2:06 PM to IP Democracy