best practices for blog advertising

I often get asked what is important for a marketer to remember when it comes to advertising through blogs. With blog marketing becoming such a hot topic in marketing circles I thought I'd put together a list of lessons I've learned along the way...

They need to be part of the conversation. In other words, their campaign needs to engage the blogging community, not talk at them. “Try our new Nokia phone” will not work. “Create a new tagline for our new Nokia phone” will. Your objective is to create buzz so you need to give bloggers and their audiences a reason to talk about you.

Don’t be afraid to let your hair down and have fun with bloggers and their readers. Blogging for the most part is light-hearted so a brand needs to get down on the same level as its audience and join the party! You wouldn’t drink Pepsi at a pub would you? So don’t be too straight and rigid when marketing to a blogging community or you will be ostracized.


Be prepared to give back to the community. In all blog advertising endeavors, a brand should look to give blog communities the opportunity to trial their products. You create chatter about your brand this way and therefore more buzz throughout the blogosphere.

There you have it! Blog 101...