In this blog we have discussed various types of non-traditional digital marketing including; social, mobile, and email. What about blogs? Many people ask me what is a blog? Here is how Wikipedia defines it:
A blog (a contraction of the term weblog) is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
The fact that you are reading this means that blogs can be an effective marketing/PR tool. Today, there seems to be a blog for just about everything. If you don’t believe me do a Google search on any topic and you can find a blog. If you tweet on Twitter then you are writing mini-blogs.
People do read blogs. The amount of readership really depends on the topic. If you want to write about Hollywood gossip and you have the inside scoop, then you could be the next Perez Hilton. His blog has made him into a household name and he even got to judge the Miss USA contest. Of course we all know the results of letting a blogger be a judge.
Video blogs are like internet TV shows. One very popular video blog (vlog) is Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library TV. He posts a new show almost every day. He claims to get 90,000 hits a day. This video blog is making him a household name not only in the wine world but in the web 2.0 world. Wine producers and sellers all know who he is. A good review on Gary’s show can mean a lot of wine sales. The main reason Gary does this video blog is to sell wine. Gary owns a wine store in New Jersey. Because of this video blog and the internet, he took his small family owned wine store to a $50 million business.
If you are a PR person for events, sports teams, shows, or venues you should have a blog. You don’t have to write something everyday. Just write when you have something to promote. I am sure you have a website for your product. Place the blog post on the website. Put it right on the home page. You could use this blog to announce on-sales, publish press releases, poll your customers, and interview artists. You could give your readers a behind the scenes look at the venue. How many times have you had a PR story idea that you could not get placed in the newspaper? Do the story yourself and post it on your website.
Blogs are a marketing/PR tool. With newspapers on the decline, you can be the information source for your fans and customers. Use it to stimulate your customer into buying tickets.
