Are you a a
blogger yourself or do you just enjoy reading blogs? Think of a topic and there
will definitely be a blog somewhere about it. Blogs are becoming increasingly
popular as time goes on- You have those who write blogs as a hobby about
something they’re passion about, whether its food or make up or fitness. You
have those who write blogs as part of their job, whether its clothes or beauty
products, they get a commission out of selling any products that they
write/share about. And you have brands who have their own blogs like Miss
Selfridge to inspire the public on how they can use their products in the most
fashionable way and how to keep up with current trends.
Social media
is now used as a massive tool to help share blogs, increase readership and to
also let the public know more about the person or brand. 6.7MM people publish
blogs on blogging websites like WordPress or BlogSpot and another 12MM write
blogs using their social network pages.
Bloggers now
mostly link their blogs with their social networking site so that readers can
follow them across all social media platforms. It opens doors to ensure blogs
can reach out to a wide range of customers.
81% of online users trust the information involved blogs- this is
probably why bloggers and blog readers are increasing.
Brands are
catching up in the world of blogging and now link their social media pages with
their own blogs. 92% of companies who have a blog and creates posts multiple
times a day obtains a customer from their blog.
Bloggers
tend to create their own blog once they gain some life experience, finding out
what they like and don’t like and becoming more opinionated and reflective on certain
topics of life. Majority of bloggers are aged 21-35 year olds that make up 53%
of total bloggers.
Blogs has
become a factor that influences our purchasing habits. 61% of US online
consumers have made a purchase through recommendations on blogs- this shows the
number of bloggers are gradually increasing as they are able to make a commission
out of writing their blogs. So why not make money out of doing what you love? 37%
of marketers say that blogs are the most valuable content of marketing. People
may purchase items through blogs as they are based on an everyday person rather than brands using skinny models
to showcase their products. It is more believable to listen to the recommendations
of bloggers rather than brands.
Brands have
clicked on to using blogs as a way to make consumers feel more connected with
the brand. Brands who use blogs have found that they generate twice as much
traffic through email marketing than those who don’t.
But if brands are confident that their own blogs work, then why do they pay commission to bloggers to use, promote and sell their products.
Well I know I
would trust the opinion of a blogger rather than the advertisement from the
brand itself. Maybe that is the key to how successful blogging has become.
Stay tuned
for my next blog post!
I think a lot of company blogs feel clumsy, like an afterthought, something that they think they have to do, and just don't really work that well. It might be better for the brands to pick bloggers to "guest post" on their blogs, reviewing products or whatever?
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