The Next PR Frontier: Blogs?

A few days ago I posted an entry that contained a link to a marketing web site produced by some friends of mine. The primary developer of the site noticed the traffic coming from a couple blogs and started to wake up to the power of blogs.

Every blog represents a micro-demographic -- in most cases, a highly targeted group of people. More importantly, few blogs exist in isolation. The nature of a Blog Roll ties blogs together (why ChangeMedia.org does not currently have a Blog Roll is a topic for some other time), though the interlinking within blog entries does an even better job of creating micro-ecosystems. The comments left on blogs also help tie blogs into clusters.

Certain blogs (or certain blog clusters) are becoming quite influential in their various circles. In some cases, the blogeoisie are so powerful they are attracting naysayers who think their influence is potentially damaging.

Leaving aside, for the moment, the politics of blog influence I see a clear opportunity for the PR industry. Just as any good PR account rep needs good contacts in the media today, I predict that good contacts in the blogsphere will be equally important in the not-so-distant future.

Getting those contacts among key bloggers will not be easy, though. Whereas the reporters at the trade rags feed on the PR world (the worst just regurgitate the latest press release that comes across the wire), bloggers aren't usually fighting a deadline or getting evaluated by filling pages/making advertisers happy (yes, perhaps I'm overly cynical). It should be a win-win, though -- bloggers will tend to only post things they think are interesting and relevant for their readers, so if PR folks do manage to get their messages through a blog it should reach an audience who actually cares.