IS BLOGGING WORTH THE TIME AND EFFORT?

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Article by Karen Cioffi and reprinted from The Writing World newsletter. Subscribe today at http://thewritingworld.com and get How to Create an Optimized Website. 3 Essential Author/Writer Website Elements and 9 Must-Have Pages, along with writing and marketing tips, plus updates on free webinars.
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The writer and marketer must do lots and lots of things to keep their head above the marketing waters. And, those marketing waters are constantly moving. How do you keep up? And, what are the most effective marketing strategies to use?



Since the game is always changing, it's important to keep up with marketing trends. One useful tool for this is Technorati's 2013 Digital Influence Report.



According to their new report, which is based on "over 6,000 influencers, 1,200 consumers, and 150 top brand marketers," blogs are now heavy hitters with consumers. Blogs are regarded as trustworthy, they are popular, and they wield influence over consumer buying decision making.



So, to answer the title question, yes it is.



To further validate the importance of blogs, the report shows that blogs have more motivational buying power than Facebook. That's pretty amazing since FB is the top social network brands use to create visibility and develop relationships with consumers. In other words, brands use FB more than other social networks and they put more budget dollars into it than other social networks.



Reviewing the Technorati Report, Social Media Examiner explained that the reason blogs are so influential is because "bloggers tend to be very honest and sincere in their reviews of products and services. They talk about both negative and positive aspects of a brand, and in doing so become a trusted source of information. Trust drives action, and thus consumers look to bloggers before they buy."



The study also shows that FB cornered 91 percent of brand presence, while Twitter cornered 85 percent.



Another important finding of this study is that over 50 percent of consumers feel that smaller communities offer more influence. Even new sites were trusted over social networks.



From this study it would seem that people like connecting with other people, not crowds. They like the personal relationship, the kind of one-on-one relationship that social networks don't necessarily offer.



While the study focused on brand marketers, the results are applicable to your author or freelance writing site. Knowing that people in general trust blogs and look to them for information along with help and guidance to make purchasing decisions is powerful.



It's understandable that this information may not be interesting to most. You may not care about knowing which social network is more popular with the heavy hitters or the percentage of marketing budget dollars brands spend on social networking. But, having proof that you're not blogging in vein should put a smile on your face.



Keep blogging.


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See you on the blogs.