The Boston Globe on Using Bloggers for Marketing
"Marketers say that bloggers are viewed as opinion influencers and trendsetters and that getting them to write about a product or service is an effective way to spread the word."
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“‘Blogs are the hottest area online,’ said John Cate, vice president of national media for Carat Interactive, a marketing firm that recently launched a blogging division in San Francisco. ‘There’s real power to be able to speak to and listen to influencers like bloggers.’”
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"… [S]ome advertisers joke that blog actually is an acronym for ”better listing on Google.”
The Boston Globe writes about how corporations are paying bloggers to advertise their products. The marketing firm USWeb pays the nominal sum of $5 for someone to write about a product on a weblog.
I learned about the article through Susan "Sooz" Kaup, who criticizes how the journalist portrayed the advertising situation on her weblog. The piece she links to, Bloggers vs Journalists: Agendas by Pete Caputa, is worth a read.
The article shows the positive side of using blogs as marketing tools. A businessman recently told me about the special meeting his company had regarding their perceived threat of weblogs. He seemed a bit dismayed that his coworkers view them with such fear when he sees them as being potentially powerful tools. Selling his company on blogging is going to be a big challenge because of the anxiety. I should start feeding him things like this article to share with his coworkers.
Speaking of honesty in clarifying connections and advertising, USWeb represents The Boston Globe.
If I ever blog under the pretense of advertising a product for someone else, I will try my best to make that connection clear.
