Warning: this is a fairly long post that contains quite a few buzzwords.

More and more often these days, I hear from companies who want to “go digital”. Yes, “digital”, “social media” and “Web 2.0″ are rolling off the tongues of many marketers and it’s great that more and more folks are beginning to recognize the importance of communicating on the fast, fluid and sometimes fickle platform that is the Internet.

However, I find that many folks are clambering onto the online bandwagon and shooting from the hip without proper thought about the whys and hows.

Some common loose cannons:
- “I want to start a blog/Facebook group.”
- “Let’s invite some bloggers to our event.”
- “I want a microsite.”
- “Create a viral video for me.”

While these are all elements that can be incorporated into a digital influence program, they aren’t one-off solutions that can be pulled out of a hat and just thrown into the marketing mix. One of the first things I always ask clients is “what’s your objective?” The next thing I ask them to do is listen. If we don’t know what people are saying about our brand or products online and the places where these conversations are taking place, how can we figure out the best way to engage them?

Starting a blog, Facebook group or microsite is easy as pie. But if you build it, will they come? Keeping something like that going, however, requires commitment and compelling content. Don’t start something if you don’t have the time or resources to sustain it. Having credible, knowledgeable spokesperson(s) to front a corporate blog is key, as is having a rolling calendar of fresh, interesting content to put out there for readers. And, of course, the next step should be opening it up to reader participation and inviting additional contributions. Direct2Dell is a great example of how this works.

I’m all for companies involving bloggers in events, especially when there are interesting announcements, products and/or personalities that are relevant to the bloggers’ interests. But knowing what makes bloggers tick requires involvement. Communications professionals need to be in the same spaces as netizens in order to understand how they work. We spend so much time putting together media profiles and briefing books, building media relationships and poring over newspapers and magazines clipping away…we should do the same with the bloggers we want to engage. Set up an RSS reader and subscribe to bloggers’ feeds for a better understanding of what they write about. Then reach out and comment at the very least. It’s amazing how much one can learn by looking at someone’s blogroll and clicking on. Simply blasting out a generic press invitation to bloggers to try to get more bums on seats and score your “digital outreach” brownie points ain’t gonna cut it. Pat Law’s said it before and Ben Koe has a another neat post on the state of “pitching bloggers” that has spawned a few other interesting reactions from fellow netizens.

And give the bloggers content they can easily use. A standard paper press kit is pretty useless and swag bags will only go so far. Try adapting a social media release with links to more information and multimedia that can be posted, embedded, tagged and shared online. If that’s too daunting, consider jazzing up the standard online press room with podcasts, links (to event photos on Flickr, user videos on YouTube) and other multimedia content.

I can’t stress enough that digital influence is not a magic bullet or a shot in the arm. It can start simply by setting up Google alerts with keywords about a brand or product, and searching for your clients on YouTube and Facebook. That’s where you get your first online insights from. From there, it’s a matter of clicking on and building that knowledge for a better clue about the space.

I hate using the phrase “pitching bloggers” ‘cuz it sets my teeth on edge and I think creates a negative perception from the get-go…but for lack of a better phrase, here are 11 points straight from one horse’s mouth that every communications professional should hard-code into their heads. We need to stop propagating PR flackdom!

I sometimes don’t blame bloggers for sliming some of the more clueless folks in my industry because we sometimes get so lost in The Message and in trying to please our clients that we lose sight of what it is we’re really here to do. COMMUNICATE. And, as far as The Open Room is concerned, communication has got to be open and real. Remember how to talk to people? Like, really talk?

When I’ve spoken about Digital Influence…both internally as well as to clients and prospects…one of the things I always stress is the need to listen and understand. Blankanvas’ points #7 and #8 are your starting points. How can we ever know how bloggers tick if we’re not online in the space and using the tools? If you haven’t figured out RSS and the basics of Technorati yet, you need to NOW, otherwise chances are you’re going to get it all wrong.