Last week, Technorati unveiled its annual State of the Blogosphere report. Now in its sixth year, this report takes a look at key trends, learnings and findings from its yearly survey of bloggers and consumers.
Many have already blogged about the report. Lee Odden, had a great post last week that pulled out some of the key stats and facts for your review.
But, I wanted to look at this from a little different point of view. What does the report mean for the PR industry? And, what does it mean for PRs at agencies and brands across the country?
I took a deeper dive into the findings and pulled out a few nuggets I found interesting looking at the data through that specific lens. The following are four key stats from the report and why they matter to the PR industry–and you:
1- 64% of bloggers say they are treated less professionally by a brand rep than traditional media. As much as I’m disturbed by this statistic, I’m not surprised. Not based on what I’ve heard from bloggers the last year about the pitches they’ve received from brands and PR folks. But, as much as I want to shake our collective industry by the shoulders and scream, we all need to keep in mind that the practice of “blogger relations” is still relatively new. As a group, we’re still learning. So, it’s on US to help educate and train our peers and colleagues so we drive this number down the next few years. Who’s with me?
2 - Mommy bloggers are the most likely of all bloggers to blog about brands. A key trend throughout the report was the rise of women bloggers. There’s not a bigger collective voice in the blogosphere right now than women and mommy bloggers. But, does that mean we need to forget about the rest of the bloggers? Overall, as PR folks, I think we tend to “over target” mommy bloggers when it comes to blogger outreach campaigns. I’ve seen brands pitching ideas to mommy bloggers that just make no sense. Let’s remember, mommy bloggers aren’t the only bloggers who can influence purchase decisions. There are so many unique and smaller niches of bloggers out there that have engaged and powerful communities. And just because they’re smaller, doesn’t mean they don’t hold value for your brand. Remember, it’s no longer about reaching ALL the eyeballs. It’s about reaching the right ones.
3 - 33% of bloggers have worked within traditional media. This stat really comes as no surprised to me. Think about it. Media members are typically great writers and outstanding storytellers. They think in terms of words AND visuals. And, they’re often FAST writers. All elements that are vital to blogging success. But, think about this stat from a blogger outreach perspective. One third of all bloggers have worked within traditional media at some point. That means one third of all bloggers have seen bad pitches before, on the media side. They know what to look for. On the flip side, they know a good pitch when they see it, too. They also know what a resourceful PR person looks and acts like, too. So, remember your media best practices with these folks: Give them timely and newsy story ideas, help them package the post and be a resource. Don’t ask them to write a favorable review about your product. Don’t send them a straight news release with no context. Don’t be another “bad pitch.”
4 – 39% say tablets and smart phones have impacted their blogging style. The trend of more mobile blogging has significant impact for brands that blog. Most smart phones are now equipped not only with higher-powered cameras, but also with apps that make video and livestreaming capabilities fairly easy. What’s more, most blog platforms now have mobile apps that make remote publishing fairly easy, too (hoping these apps get even more robust in the months ahead). So, now brands can think about equipping staff with smart phones and live blogging industry events. They can consider asking key employees to livestream meetings and interviews their customers might not regularly have access to. And, they can ask staff to capture photos and video at community events–and post them in real-time. With the explosion of mobile apps and publishing platform tools, mobile blogging is just starting to take off. Think about how it impacts your corporate blog.
Did you read the Technorati report? What did you think of the data? Any additional takeaways for PR pros?
Note: Image above from the Technorati Web site.
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"Remember, it’s no longer about reaching ALL the eyeballs. It’s about reaching the right ones."
Arik, amen. I just keep wondering when the business world will realize this, because it's only when they do that PR pros will have to start focusing on real results instead of fluff.
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Like@Shonali You mean that more isn't better? :) You're one of the people who taught me that. My question for both of you would be what's worked best for you as far as getting clients to buy into that POV? We all have something in our head that attracts us to higher numbers like a dog to an unguarded T-Bone :). I even have to pinch myself sometimes.
Cheers. Great points in this post, Arik. Especially the point that the bloggers you should be reaching out to are the ones that make the most sense for your brand. Influencers as a term by itself means jack. Have to do research, build relationships to make it mean something for a brand.
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LikeUgh, I am SO late in replying, sorry, Justin! Blame it on the travel & holidays...
I know beating the numbers game is a tough one. And truth be told, sometimes when you reach those "big" bloggers, it does work in terms of reach. But even if/when you get one of those "hits," does it have an impact on the objectives one's trying to achieve? That's what I try to point out; what is it exactly that we're trying to do here, and let's track how the success/failure is going in those terms.
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