The Corporate Weblog is now used by savvy marketing and public relations professionals as a way to communicate directly with journalists and influence their stories.
Until very recently, the only way to influence journalists was to have a direct personal relationship with them or to send out a generic press release and hope for the best. But today, blogs allow organizations of all kinds to tell authentic stories directly to the market. Journalists increasingly rely on blog content when they are researching stories.
I've had about a dozen journalists contact me as a result of my blog and have been quoted in some great stories that provide exposure.
According to a survey by Euro RSCG Magnet done in partnership with Columbia University, more than half of journalists use blogs regularly, with 28% relying on them for day-to-day reporting. Of the journalists who use blogs in their work, 53% use blogs to find story ideas, 43% for research and referencing facts and 36% for finding sources. And about a third of the journalists who use blogs say it is a way of uncovering breaking news or scandals.
Smart marketing and public relations professionals understand that corporate blogs are one of the best ways to deliver their story and influence journalists, but press releases are still part of the overall mix. Business blogs make it easy to deliver a viewpoint into the sprawling marketplace of ideas. When the posts are indexed by search engines and delivered via RSS feeds, journalists all over the world will see the thoughts and ideas and they will command attention. If the posts are compelling, stories will be written.
