Friday, January 9, 2009

Blogs Can Ease Customer Communication

Blogs have long had an avid following, but corporations are finding that blogs can be a secret sauce to building solid relationships with their customers.

For one thing, blogs are popular with consumers. According to an August 2008 study by BuzzLogic and JupiterResearch, there has been 300% growth in monthly blog readership over the past four years. In fact, nearly one-half of the online population reported reading blogs.

The study also found that blogs have more impact on purchasing decisions than social networks. One-quarter of readers said they trust ads on a blog, as opposed to 19% who trust ads on social networks.

In addition, 40% of blog readers -- and 50% of frequent blog readers -- have taken an action after viewing an ad on a blog. Aside from technology-related purchases, for which 31% of readers said blogs are helpful, other categories for which respondents say blogs are influential included media and entertainment (15%); games, toys and sporting goods (14%); travel (12%); automotive (11%); and health (10%).

Marketers increasingly view blogs as a key part of their marketing plans. An October 2008 study found that more than 66% of executives employ blogs in their marketing efforts.
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