For bloggers, consumers it's all about relevance

Just four short years ago, most consumers didn't know a blog from a news organization's website. Now, it seems consumers have their own blogs and are horning in on so-called professional content sites. What does that mean for advertisers? More places to advertise - if they do a bit of research first.

by Kristina Knight

Why? Because, although nearly everyone has a blog, not all blogs are created equally. For readers it is all about relevance. This brings readers back to blogs and recommending blogs to their friends. More recommendations means more eyes seeing marketers' ads, meaning a greater ROI. Currently about half of all US Internet users are blog readers with about 12% having their own blog. More than 77 million unique users log on to read blogs and follow their favorite bloggers.

How can marketers determine which blogs hold the best investment?

First, by looking at the numbers. Just like a traditional e-commerce website, traffic is key for blog advertising. A blog which has regular readership of 100,000 (per month) readers is going to give marketers a better return than a small niche blog which pulls in monthly readership of 10,000. But a niche blog may hold more interest when it comes to your products.

The key, then, is quality. How often does a blogger post? Marketers should look at how often a blogger posts, what the blogger posts and then readership numbers. Why? Because if the topics posted about are not relevant to your products readers will skim over the ad or ignore it altogether. For instance, most tech blog readers would be more interested in the latest gadget to improve their connectivity than in an ad for the latest vacuum cleaner product to remove pet hair.

By researching types of blogs and developing an advertising strategy based on the blogs of the most interest to your targeted demographic, marketers have a better chance of engaging the growing blog audience.

Tags: blog advertising, blog metrics, blogosphere, social marketing, Technorati