Blogging has been a growing phenomenon, with bloggers beginning to take on the role as word of mouth influentials.
Yet many businesses do not as yet realize the importance of bloggers in their own marketing mix. A negative blog post from an influential blogger about a product may adversely affect the perception of would-be customers to the product. Hence what bloggers say about your business, and how you could influence a blogger to champion your business, should be an important aspect of any marketing mix.
I found this short report from GfK (Growth from Knowledge) entitled “Reason to Pay Attention to Bloggers” that looks at the possible role of bloggers in an organization’s marketing. The report starts by acknowledging the criticisms levied against bloggers — e.g. “dangerous amateurs with too much power and too little sense of responsibility.”
However, it goes on to say that bloggers — from a marketing standpoint — are an influential and desirable group. Several reasons are given:
- Bloggers are actively engaged in spreading influence: more likely to recommend products & brands to other people
- They have a younger demographic (and hence, more attractive to many marketers)
The main point of the report is that bloggers are going to be a compelling group for marketers to learn to engage because they are recommending brands to others.
