Blogging or dogging?

You may have heard a few months ago that 70% of cabbies and hairdressers thought blogging was the same as dogging! Now whilst this got the guffaws of those who know otherwise - the reality is most of them probably don't need to know and the rest probably should do, because blogs and their associated techniques in web content are here to stay.

So, before we get into discussing the uses - let's just set the record straight:

• Blog: Short for web log, blogs are regularly updated online journals that reflect the authors personality, knowledge and opinions.
• RSS: Really Simple Syndication is a way of making web content available to subscribers through XML.
• Podcast: Similar to RSS, Podcasts are audio clips and that can be subscribed to by listeners. Typically used for opinion pieces and radio shows.
• Blogvertising: Using a blog as a place to market. Through placement of advertising or endorsement by the blog author.

If you have knowledge, experience and opinion about your industry, it's worth having a blog of your own (if you don't already). What's really interesting about blogs is that they go back to the very root of what the web was supposed to be about - giving people freedom and opportunity to publish content quickly and easily and making it all link together to form a 'web' of information. With over 10,000 new blog sites created every day, it's not hard to see how it's become such a phenomenon.

How is this useful to your business?

For every business, there are clients and customers. And those same people are out there right now blogging and podcasting about their interests, opinions and recommendations.

The concept of blogvertising gives businesses the opportunity to gain potentially thousands of advocates for their proposition. Every day, referral deals, commission packages and inside information is being shared between bloggers and the commercial world to further increase the usefulness of the content they produce - the root aim of the web and ultimately blogs according to Tim Berners-Lee; the father of the internet.

Having a blog marketing strategy can significantly increase your brands exposure to your niche audience. You can also benefit from increased search engine performance, as their high frequency of updates gets them indexed regularly by Google, Overture and MSN. Finally, high reader numbers give blogs significance in the search rankings.

What are the downsides?

Be very careful. Blogs and syndicated content represent a huge opportunity for business and should not be ignored. However, the market conditions are changing all the time, so it's important to have a strong strategy and more importantly - an action plan on how to use it.

Working with respected bloggers with an interest in your products or services will only work if their opinions remain impartial. If they are pressured, they can turn against you and their posts could become a PR headache. It's also worth watching out for exploitation - as it's inevitable that some bloggers will start solely with the intention of generating money for themselves. But don't let this scare you off - every high reward marketing channel carries risks, but if you plan your approach well it can pay dividends.

What are we doing about it?

There are new ways of using blogs and content syndication for marketing emerging all the time and we're hot-to-trot on keeping updated with them.

Currently, we're working with clients on developing blog strategies and marketing campaigns through endorsement and search engine performance. We are also blog watching to pick up and analyse chatter about our clients brands; positive and negative.

Liked this article? Hated it? Got you thinking? Feel free to discuss it with us.

Next month: Mobile marketing is back and this time it's taking over.