Blogs & social web

Whilst traditional media – such as radio, TV, newspapers and magazines - can still be useful for promoting campaigns and websites in some environments. You should also consider marketing your message by going where people already spend time - online.

• Vast numbers of people are using blogs, social networks, photo and video sharing sites, and these are important marketing and engagement tools. Building your buzz in these spaces is a good way to recruit advocates to your cause.
• Getting the right bloggers to write about your campaigns (blog outreach) is a good way to reach interested people. So if you're working in human rights, you could start by contacting these human rights bloggers.
• Build traffic and search rankings by exchanging links with relevant blogs and other sites, and remember that a personal request works best.
• A good way to start is by commenting on other blogs that are writing about your topics. It's also a good idea to have a blog as part of your site; it's an easy way to keep the content fresh and the site alive.
• Learn what kind of blog posts will attract traffic - sometimes it's a simple as using the right headline. No one knows for sure which blog posts will attract traffic, although there are many different opinions. The main thing is to develop an authentic voice, and monitor your web stats to learn what your audience like.

Find out more about promoting your blog.