Interesting blurb in Boston.com’s Business Filter today about blogging being mainstream:

“Blogging has only been around a few years but a new study reveals that “eight out of 10 Americans know what “blog” means, and almost half have visited the blogosphere – some as often as daily.” While it’s not surprising that 90 percent of 25- to-34-year-olds are blog-aware, what’s shocking to me is 64.5 percent of those age 65-plus are too. 8 percent of Americans have their own blog. 14 percent are men and 20 are women.”

I think there’s still some debate about how “mainstream” blogging is, but for those of you finding it difficult to convince your execs or clients to embrace bloggers as part of your PR program, here’s a tip: drop the “social media” title, and treat them like any other influencer. I think more companies get hung up on the “social media” space, because it’s that scary, new, wild west. However, it’s pretty easy to make the case that a key blogger with 200,000 daily visitors (focused on the market you sell to) belongs on the top tier influencer list, next to the professor who writes a column for that key trade magazine and the analyst who also edits a newsletter that all of your customers read.

Start small, and once they appreciate how to approach a blogger and cultivate a relationship, you can add a few more to the list. Then, you can start incorporating other social media outlets — again, sans title. Once you’ve got the results to build a case for a more focused program, then introduce the word “social” to the planning conversations. I think you’ll find an open mind at that point.