Why Bloggers WANT to Hear About Your Brand
The Technorati State of the Blogosphere Report 2008 is out. It is a gold mine of information.
This year for the first time it has a section about brand visibility and blogs.
If you are wondering whether your small business should have a strategy to be seen on blogs and build your brand through blogs, the State of the Blogosphere report answers it. And the short answer: Yes!
Over at the Online Marketing Idea Exchange I analyze the Report and lay out 5 reasons that blogs can be a great way to build your brand — and I’m talking about other blogs besides your own:
I suggest there are 5 key take-aways from the State of the Blogosphere Report 2008 for small businesses when it comes to your brand-building efforts:
(1) Bloggers find it a natural thing to discuss brands on their blogs if those brands capture their attention in some way, good or bad (hopefully in your case all good). So don’t hold back from reaching out to bloggers. Blogs are now accepted places for reviewing a product, introducing a new product or service, or announcing a new marketing initiative. Blogs also welcome advertising messages highlighting your products and services, with the majority of bloggers now displaying ads on their sites.
(2) Blogs are credible sources of news and information. In other words, being seen on a blog can be as valid as being seen in mainstream media – more informal perhaps, but valid. It’s no wonder that many large corporations today proudly recognize product-reviews by blogs among their press mentions on their websites. Large corporations welcome – they seek out – mentions on blogs. Why not take a page out of their book?
Read the entire article — I think it will be worth your while: Blogs Hunger for Your Brand.
Founder of Infusionsoft
Author of Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath In Your Industry (Portfolio)
CEO of Indie Business Network
Getting your company or product mentioned on a blog is a good thing as long as the mention is positive in nature. Having real people give real reviews of your products is a perfect way to get your brand respected and wanted. The basis of my blog is finding cool businesses and products to showcase to my readers. I always hope that the businesses I mention are pleased with the way I present their products.
I don’t necessarily agree with the second point in their article. I remember reading about blogs not being very trusted sources of information, ranking well below recommendations from friends/family, traditional media, etc.
I can’t find the article I’m talking about, though…
Yes, Amanda, that is a bit of a challenge, if you get negative reviews. But if someone has a bad experience about your product, well … they’re going to write about it no matter what. The silver lining can be that you learn some things which will help you make the product or your service better.
Also, I want to make it clear that I was not suggesting pay-per-post or anything like that.
– Anita
Four years ago I completed my MBA with a major in communications. At that time, blogging and social media were hardly recognized, and not easily understood. Today most companies I work with blog or work with bloggers. How times have changed. The challenge for small business owners is to ensure that they first understand blogging, and then build it into their communications and marketing plans.
Anita,
Interesting report from Technorati. To ask a frank question: How many are using Technorati nowadays in order to search for interesting topics, posts and blogs?
Read my post from 2005 on the media portal called Pajamas Media / Open Source Media. Pajamas Media has come a long way during these years with podcasting, radio and now TV programs with original content. Full disclousre: My EGO blog is listed as PJ Network blogger.
“Perceptions about blogs have shifted since the early years of blogging. If you had this picture in your mind of nut wings blogging in their pajamas in their parents’ basements repeating tinfoil-hat conspiracy theories, you are missing what’s happening with blogs. Simply put, blogs have come to be seen as credible, influential sources – so much so that today, bloggers look primarily to other blogs for their information, instead of to the mainstream media:”
Not all blogs are reliable sources of information and I understand your point Shamiq. But whether we like it or not, blogs nowadays turned to be one of the most accessible and ‘trusted’ sources of information. Now, it’s the prerogative of the blogger to establish his blog to be a reliable one.
Hi Anita,
I agree with #1 as blogs are good sources of discussing brands, many of them are doing paid posting and allowing ads on their sidebar. However, I noticed that some of them overdo it which tends to drive their visitors away.
But forgive me for disagreeing that blogs (in general) are credible enough source of news and information. Please take note that blogs are not being regulated, and anyone can make a blog post anytime. Unfortunately, not all bloggers are resourceful enough and all they care is to submit a post.
Thanks!
Hi Shamiq,
Not sure about which study or survey you are referring to. However, the Pew Internet project wrote this back in July 2008:
From the Pew Internet project it would seem that one third of Internet users (or 24% of U.S. adults) read blogs. If you assume there are 216 million adults in the United States, that roughly equals 52 million people reading blogs.
I’ve got to believe that a large proportion of those 52 million are reading blogs because they find the information reliable.
Best,
Anita
Hi Angel,
True, there’s an awful lot of crap out there on blogs today. No wonder Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt recently called the Internet a “cesspool.”
Yes, not all blogs are credible, and not everyone thinks they are credible. Still, I think it’s hard to ignore the findings in the Technorati study which say:
Yes, that means 51% do not believe they are just as valid sources, but 49% is still a big number.
And if you consider that 33% of Internet users read blogs (see my previous comment), you’ve got to assume most of those do so because they consider blogs reliable.
So, just some more data points to consider ….
– Anita
The whole conversation about the advantages and disadvantages of blogging reminds me of the “web site” conversation in the 90′s. How do you make money? Is this something we should do? Is this a good use of time and resources? We know the answer to the “web” question. Why do we think the blogging question is any different?
In fact, I think asking the question “is this worthwhile?” or “how do I make money on this?” is the WRONG question. Some better questions might be “In what ways can I use blogging to build my brand? In what ways can I use blogging or social media to more clearly communicate the value of my offering?” “In what ways can I use blogging to build a thriving and loyal community around my offering?”
Precisely, Ivana.
I agree to Angel Cuala, Even I myself think that the information in the blogs is enough. There should be a limit of advertisements in the side bar. In this way even i will never like to visit such a blog which gives more ads rather than the information ….