How Bloggers Have Impacted on External Marketing Strategies of Public Relations Consultants - Research Proposal Example

How Bloggers Have Impacted on External Marketing Strategies of Public Relations Consultants How Bloggers Have Impacted on External Marketing Strategies of Public Relations Consultants Introduction Even though corporate websites, chat-rooms, email customer response tools and electronic news release distribution are increasingly coming to be viewed as core aspects of public relations practice, the large majority of public relations practitioners are finding that dealing with new media is a big challenge. Research has shown that in many instances, practitioners either do not fully embrace new media, do not have the skills and training to do so or have a distinct fear of technology (Ahn et al, 2010, pp. 45-47). Public relations practice is also facing a distinct shift with new media, bringing about a significant increase in the strength of stakeholders in terms of actively facilitating communication. Any individual with access to a computer and internet access can be able to public information that could potentially be consumed globally. It is therefore clear that the internet has in many aspects revolutionized public relations practice (Argenti & Barnes, 2009, pp. 36-37). Social media in the form of a personal profile or a blogroll is often turned to by the large majority of audiences for any updates in the market. Reputable brands and firms are fast turning to the use of social media channels to not only inform but also increase on their consumer base through distinctly exposing the brand (Reich & Solomon, 2008, p.29). Newly emerging as some of the most trusted influencers are bloggers who provide a way in which the firms can not only showcase but also provide information to a bigger, global audience of their brand as well as their products. Bloggers have slowly become core sources of both new as well as emerging trends for many consumers to rely upon for both inspiration as well as consumption. Because blogs offer a two-way type of communication, a blog’s audience is often encouraged to integrate communication to not only drive their purchasing behaviour but to also inspire individuals who follow the blog (Lariscy, 2009, pp. 314-315). Research Question For the purpose of examining the impact that the ever expanding blogosphere has had on the way in which Public Relations Consultants carry out their external marketing, the following question is postulated: How does the growing presence of blogs impact on the strategies that Public Relations Consultants put in place to carry out external marketing? Review Of Literature Based on current research, bloggers are evolving into significant assets to firms as a way in which to remain relevant in their respective industries. Outreach towards these individuals is often in the form of product placement and a number of other tactics which provide the conversations as well as links with consumers that firms heavily rely upon to both maintain as well as significantly increase on brand awareness as well as profit (Quan-Haase & Young, 2010, pp. 350-351). These bloggers, characterized by large followings across their social media networks, have seen them become the newest and most reliable brand ambassadors. In making products more accessible in the form of publication of new products, bloggers have essentially created a two-way form of communication that ensures that firms are able to remain active in a competitive marketplace that relies on immediate and visual mediums (Sweetser, 2011, p.425). Blogging is a tool that can be used to not only supplement but also to improve on public relations as well as marketing strategies within many industries. Public Relations consultants are finding that firms are not only relying on their own teams in-house, websites as well as single social media networks (Kelleher, 2009, pp. 172-173). Instead these firms are turning to bloggers seeing them as influencers and ambassadors that consumers have perceived as trend setters who can be trusted. Consumer reliance on social media as well as honest reviews of the latest products are what determine purchasing behaviour (Kent, 2008, pp. 32-33). Modern purchasing behaviors in many industries often begin with mass conversation, a unique and distinct form of conversation that blogs promote. With the fact that many industries and firms are growing at a fast pace, reliance on a brand image that is unique and established relationships in all aspects of the business venture, blogs have slowly emerged as core foundations for strategic public relations as well as marketing(Porter et al, 2007, p. 92). Blogging enhances on the tools of product development, branding, pricing and forecasting. This is because the sites are often exposed to followings that are trusted and wide, driven by a combination of fans, email subscribers, page views and comments. When combined with the relationships with individuals from within the firm, the influence of bloggers extends far in the form of expanding on brand exposure (Yang & Kang, 2009, pp. 323-324). As with the large majority of social mediums, blogs perform an important role in the creation of trends, actively sharing on news and opinion and spreading information through words of mouth. In many instances, bloggers will post new updates at least daily ensuring that their sites are important sources of public relations outreach in industries where products and branding moves at a fast pace(Quan-Haase & Young, 2010, pp. 354-355). The Social Impact Theory argues that it is important for public relations consultants to have a clear understanding of the way in which they can position themselves in order to draw out benefits from core changes that are occurring with regard to how people make decisions on the services and products that they wish to consume. Consumers look to social media for updates on the latest trends and more specifically to blogs where they can reference the product in a form where it is realistic, as in it is being worn or used by a human being(Porter et al, 2007, p. 95). In considering the perspective of electronic word-of-mouth bloggers provide firms with the benefit of product dissemination. For firms, bloggers provide a source of pre-purchasing phase of their products making them an important part of the marketing strategy (Kent, 2008, p. 36-37). With consumers, it provides an opportunity for the firm to have direct conversations with the community. This helps to create an ideal chance for understanding the purchasing behaviors and more importantly enhances interest on both current and future products that will be posted on the blog (Yang & Kang, 2009, pp. 328-329). Public Relations consultants are perhaps finding it more challenging because unlike traditional forms of media such as magazines and press releases, management of content is often done by the bloggers themselves (Argenti & Barnes, 2009, p. 40). Even though print media is still and continue to be a significant influence on determining consumer purchase behaviour, digital media is becoming more important in the sense that it provides more voices with the chance to be heard and to determine what will be talked about as opposed to one distinct voice. Many people find that industries such as fashion as exclusive, consisting of iconic brands that have built up and maintained a distinct influence (Ahn et al, 2010, p. 50). Bloggers provide an opportunity for these industries to be transparent, more relatable and therefore more available to the masses. Not only is this important to consumers around the world but also provides newcomers with the chance to be more accessible especially considering the fact that they must compete with established professionals (Reich & Solomon, 2008, p. 32-33). Many bloggers have gained success as a result of fulfilling a distinct need for a hobby of interest. They therefore play a critical role along journalists in shaping tastes as well as ideas. Many Public Relations consultants are finding that they have to deal with an employee who focuses exclusively on blogs (Lariscy, 2009, p.318). Apart from product placement, brands often prefer influential bloggers over established public relations consultants regarding efforts for collaboration. Results, either based on profit or increased awareness of brands are especially felt when bloggers and the brand they collaborate with share similar taste as well as consumer relationships. (Kelleher, 2009, p. 175). The blogging community provides a chance for firms to share trends and to have a more intimate connection with their consumers. Similar to celebrity endorsements of products, bloggers large followings help to promote increased exposure of brands and profit considering the fact that dedicated followers to buy what their favourite blogger is endorsing. This is the reason why many firms are turning to content marketing in an effort to engage with their consumers on a level that is deeper and more impactful (Porter et al, 2007, pp. 100-101). In comparison to public relations consultants who are the average voice that firms use, bloggers often have a much deeper voice online and are therefore more uniquely qualified to enhance on the voice of a brand. They are available across a wide range of social media sites, from Twitter to Facebook to Instagram and use these tools to increase on both branding as well as the audience (Kent, 2008, p. 39). Methodology The study design is a self completion questionnaire that will be created using Google Docs. This is a free online survey application that presents users with the opportunity to design forms using their specifications and to generate a URL link which the respondents can use to access. The major aim of this research is to gather opinions from public relations consultants and bloggers in Sweden concerning the impact that bloggers have on the external marketing strategies of PR consultants. The research will use random sampling which is used to choose the subset of a population. Random sampling was used to lower the bias for selection (Phellas et al, 2011, p. 181). Data Collection Methods The primary data for the study will be collected using questionnaires that will be distributed to the sampled population. The secondary data will be collected from journals and books dealing with consumer perceptions and the use of social networking sites as a tool for marketing. Public relations consultants and bloggers were chosen as a result of the fact that this aspect impacted heavily on both of them. After making the choice of using a questionnaire and considering the possibility that respondents might not fully participate in the survey, the researcher will endeavor to keep the questionnaire short. Due to the fact that the respondents’ answers will be directly computed onto an online database, the results will be transferred onto a Microsoft Excel Document. The chosen questions will therefore be only those that will be deemed as important and time will be taken to ensure that all the questions are easily understandable to the respondents. The survey will begin with an introductory section which will inform the participants of the aim and objectives of the study. Moreover, open ended questions will be chosen in a bid to gain a larger variety of answers. In order to analyze the results, a coding method will be used which will encompass an analysis of the lexical field that will require a review of the answers that will be provided by the respondents. In addition, component parts that will be seen as important will be labeled with numbers in order to aid in further analysis. This method will be used for every question that is open ended. Other questions will be ordered quantifiably such as the division of male and female respondents, age, household income or questions that will be answered as Yes/No. Risks & Ethical Consideration For the study, a number of validities are identified including the fact that the research presents a significant amount of content validity considering the fact that it covers a major area which will be used as a base to choose the variables for the study and the research question. In order to increase on the reliability of the study, the researcher will carry out a pretest among five individuals whose results will not be taken into account. This will be done with the intention of testing the terms used in the survey. In terms of ethical considerations, the researcher identified two challenges; issues with the acquisition of consent for participants of the study and also obstacles with regard to the protection of data from the questionnaire. Timeline Activity Sept 2015 Oct 2015 Nov 2015 Dec 2015 Jan 2016 Feb 2016 Mar 2016 Apr 2016 May 2016 Deciding on topic Approval for the topic Writing Introduction and Literature Review Creating Questionnaire Sending out questionnaire Collecting Questionnaire and compiling data Analysing data Discussion of the results Writing Conclusion Conclusion Social Media networks have increasingly taken over every aspect of society and public relations is no exception. Traditionally used as a way for firms to raise awareness for their brands, public relations consultants had a firm and established presence. However, the growing popularity of social networks has seen blogs become a more attractive avenue for firms to use with regard to raising brand awareness. The fact that bloggers already have a large following means that firms now have access to a greater market share than would have been possible using the traditional tools of press releases and print media that public relations consultants often use. In addition, blogs provide consumers with the chance to physically view the product and to read reviews, an aspect which is not possible using public relations consultants. In this regard, the study will strive to examine the manner in which these professionals have changed the strategies they use for external marketing in order to reach the consumer and still remain relevant. References Ahn, S.K. , Kim, H.J., Park, B. (2010) Blogging: mediating impacts of flow on motivational behavior. Bradford, United Kingdom: Emerald Group Publishing, Limited. Argenti, P.A. & Barnes, C.M. (2009), Digital Strategies for Powerful Communications. New York: McGraw Hill. Kelleher, T. (2009). Conversational voice, communicated commitment, and public relations outcomes in interactive online communication. Journal of Communication, 59, 172-175 Kent, M. L. (2008). Critical analysis of blogging in public relations. Public Relations Review, 34, pp. 32-39 Lariscy, R. W. (2009). An examination of the role of online social media in journalists source mix. Public Relations Review, 35, pp. 314-318 Porter, L. V., Sweetser Trammell, K. D., Chung, D., & Kim, E. (2007). Blog power: Examining the effects of practitioner blog use on power in public relations. Public Relations Review, 33, pp. 92-95 Quan-Haase, A., & Young, A. L., (2010) Uses and gratifications of social media: A comparison of Facebook and Instant Messaging. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 30, no.5, pp. 350-355 Reich, B. and Solomon, D. (2008), Media Rules: Mastering Today’s Technology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Sweetser, K. D. (2011). A survey of social media use, motivation and leadership among public relations practitioners. Public Relations Review, 37, p. 425 Yang, S. U., & Kang, M. J. (2009). Measuring blog engagement: Testing a four-dimensional scale. Public Relations Review, 35(3), pp. 323-329 Read More