The blogosphere has come of age. Do you remember when way back in 2007 blogs were all the buzz? Geeks were coming out and blogs seemed to be this new easy-to-use online toy. It seemed everyone had an opinion on something. Today content marketing is in the limelight – creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience. The philosophy of content marketing has encouraged some changes in the blogosphere. Those changes have been noticed and are now proven. About two weeks ago, an interesting research by NM Incite, a Nielsen/McKinsey company, hit the internet. It clearly shows that the blogosphere has become a serious business. It isn’t a jungle any more.
Not Just a Buzzword Anymore
Nielsen Wire emphasizes that blogs are sometimes overlooked as a significant source of online buzz in comparison to social networking sites. Only a month earlier Marketing profs reported how blogging was down among Inc. 500 companies, whereas research by Content Marketing Institute clearly shows that blogging had the highest “leap” in 2011 in terms of effectiveness when compared with other content marketing tactics. In addition, NM Incite tracked over 181 million blogs around the world, up from 36 million only five years earlier. A bit confusing, however it is obvious that the number of blogs has been rising, although everyone seems to be in love with social networks, at least at the moment. Therefore, I’m not worried. Quite the opposite. This is all great news. This just means that blogs have become indispensable, they are not just a new kid in town anymore.
Bloggers Are Influential Well-educated Parents
What does this research tell us about bloggers? Who are they/we?
- Women make up the majority of bloggers.
- Half of bloggers are aged 18-34.
- About the third of bloggers are moms.
- More than half of bloggers are parents with minors.
And the majority of bloggers are well-educated. This makes me happy, although I’m not saying that a college degree makes you a better blogger. A few weeks ago I, though, wrote that we, the bloggers, have become an indispensable source of boundless information: the blogosphere has become a very strong force; bloggers are (becoming more and more) influential.
Blogs Are Everywhere
On the other hand, bloggers have learned to use other tools at their disposal to spread their posts online and offline. The NM Incite research shows, “Bloggers are active across social media: they’re twice as likely to post/comment on consumer-generated video sites like YouTube, and nearly three times more likely to post in Message Boards/Forums within the last month.« My own case shows this perfectly. The entire year prior to mid December 2011 I virtually hadn’t updated my blog. However, since the mid-December 2011 I’ve learned that blogging regularly brings more visitors to my blog and raises my Klout score. Honestly, I didn’t expect that the decision to update my blog daily would bring such great and rewarding results so fast. In four weeks, my Klout score rocketed from 20 to almost 50. This is another proof how pervasive the blogosphere has become, spreading effectively through many other online platforms. Just another sign how blogs have really matured. Long live the blogosphere!
Do you also believe blogs have left the chaotic jungle and become a force of their own? How do you see this new research on blogs?
Related articles
Pingback: Not All Business Blogs Fail, Do It Right Before You Can Say It’s BS
Pingback: What Are You Waiting For? Just Do It Already! - Zemanta Blog