Despite the hype about blogs, podcasting, RSS and other digital tools, most people still get their news and other kinds of content via TV, print and the Web, writes Advertising Age....

MicroPersuasion summarizes it nicely:

* 7% of American adults write blogs and 22% read them (Jupiter)
* About 8% listen to podcasts and 5% use RSS feeds (Jupiter)
* 88% of the at-work audience doesn't know what RSS is (WorkPlace Print Media)
* 92% of brand conversations were taking place offline (Keller Fay)

So does that mean that pods and blogs shouldn't matter to marketers? Not exactly.

Ad Age points out that the nascent technologies appear to be a key to reaching influencers. It writes, "In Keller Fay's studies, for example, while 92% of brand conversations took place offline, nearly half involved some reference to media or marketing that people had seen or heard and were talking about. And the internet nearly tied TV as a reference source."

There's also what Ad Age calls the "be-there-first incentive -- the idea that marketers who get in early on digital trends find themselves poised to best exploit the technologies when they do explode -- two, three, four years down the road."

Micropersuasion's well-known blogger Steve Rubel isn't sweating the stats, either.

"The reason is that the small number of people who are using these technologies to build the Long Tail of content are the ones who are influencing what's written in the head of the curve (e.g. the mainstream press). This is why I advocate becoming an active participant in social media either through PR or advertising. You're going to vastly enhance your chances in getting covered in the mainstream media. And this starts the cycle all over again."

Nick Usborne wrote a very rational piece in the MarketingProfs newsletter last month on the many changes taking place for marketers right now. Nick said, “The point here is not that every company should use every new tool and service that comes along (although some of them are great)—but you should be aware of them.

“Why? Because there are always new companies and Web sites entering your market. And they have an advantage because they can build their model and their technologies based on a whole new set of tools and services that weren't around when you got started.... They can also appeal to new audiences simply because they are out there, in new spaces and communities that weren't online when you launched.”

The Ad Age article certainly offers some necessary perspective for any marketer exploring how blogs, pods, and other tools fit into a company’s mix. But the “be-there-first” incentive/competitive advantage is the smartest reason to pay attention to trends before they are widely embraced. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that many CEOs or CMOs scoffed at vehicles like email marketing, search engine marketing, or online advertising. ‘Member?