Blogs Hunger for Your Brand

By ANITA CAMPBELL

A great place to build your brand is through blogs.  Many bloggers actually want to talk about your brand.They gladly display advertising for your brand. They hunger for news about your brand.How do I know that?  It’s all profiled in the recent 2008 State of the Blogosphere Report by Technorati.com, the blog tracking service.

Each year Technorati writes a State of the Blogosphere Report. http://technorati.com/blogging/state-of-the-blogosphere/   For the first time in 2008 the State of the Blogosphere Report addresses the subject of brands.   It’s a gold mine of information.  So let’s dive in and see what it tells us.

Bloggers Talk About Brands Frequently

Bloggers talk about companies’ brands all the time.  Brands now play a major part in bloggers’ online conversations, as several of the Report’s findings note:

·                       More than 80% of bloggers post product or brand reviews, and write about brands they love or hate. Even day-to-day experiences with customer care or in a retail store are fodder for blog posts.

·                       37% of bloggers post product reviews or brand reviews “frequently”

·                       Companies today are reaching out to bloggers: one-third of bloggers have been approached to be brand advocates.

·                       The majority of bloggers now accept and display advertising on their blogs.

Blogs Have Become Credible and Influential Sources

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:

·                       71% of bloggers believe that blogs are getting taken more seriously as sources of information. Blogs are getting accepted.

·                       49% believe blogs are just as valid media sources as traditional media!  Let that sink in a moment: almost half of bloggers believe that reading something on another blog is just as valid as reading it in, say, your local newspaper.

·                       61% say that blogs have advertising and content that entice them to learn more about products and services.  In fact, among bloggers, blogs are the #1 most influential source of information about brands – more so than mainstream media in print or on TV.

5 Take-Aways

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?

(3) Bloggers are most open to receiving marketing messages from other blogs.  If you want to reach the millions of bloggers (or just that segment of your market which blogs) the best place to do that is to be seen on blogs.  Blogs are the medium where most bloggers get their information today.  In fact, other blogs are the primary place where other bloggers look to get information about products and brands today.

(4) Bloggers as a group are educated and affluent.  Bloggers are a good target market.  The Report found that 75% of U.S. bloggers are college graduates, and 42% have attended graduate school. They skew male, and more than half have a household income over $75,000.  Hmmm, education and money to spend – sounds to me like a good combination for marketing purposes.

(5)  Your competitors are being seen on blogs.  With so many bloggers having been targeted by companies to become brand advocates, in all likelihood that means your competitors are already reaching out to, or advertising in, blogs.  Unless you too are there, you could be at a competitive disadvantage. 

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So, definitely consider blogs a fertile ground for building brand awareness and visibility.  The blogosphere is ready for you — in some ways hungers to hear from you and your brand