Sunday, September 28, 2008

Benchmark for Blogger Engagement Programs

There is a very useful diagram in Technorati's 2008 report about the State of the Blogosphere. It shows the vast number of blogs the search engine tracks and indexes (133 million). Notice the sharp drop to 76,000 when the diagram shows the number of f blogs with authority scores of 50 or more (i.e., those blogs with 50 or more links pointing to them, in the last six months).

The universe of on-topic and influential blogs for your brand may be very small - and there is nothing wrong with that. Relevance still trumps reach in blogosphere. 

chart-p0-auth.png

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Technorati Updates State of the Blogosphere Study

That flu virus kept me from keeping up with dotwom in the past week, but I'd be remiss if I didn't provide a link to Technorati's new State of the Blogosphere Study. I was particularly intrigued by the numbers that show the percentage of bloggers that mention brand names on a regular basis. More than a third (37 percent) say they frequently post product reviews.  Even more (41 percent) frequently write about brands they love or hate. That's growing evidence for the value of online monitoring and the need to invest in digital customer service teams. 

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Slacker Uprising Coming

Oscar winning documentary filmmaker and liberal political commentator Michael Moore will be releasing his next film, Slacker Uprising on September 23rd -- online, for free. His subject are the young voters in red states who decide to get actively involved in the political process. No more slacking, they're going to register and they're going to vote (to Moore's liking hopefully...)

Fragments of the film are bound to go viral, given Moore's public persona, the hot-button issues in today's political environment and the social statement the film makes. Mass media will cover it and push it to broader circles. Can't wait to see slacker games emerge...

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Consumer-Generated Media Makes A Difference for Health Information Seekers

Considering the millions of bloggers, social networkers, forum participants and their audiences, you might guess that the social media universe includes a broad mix of demographic groups. Indeed, there are plenty of teens, young and mature adults to poll about their social media activities. But we also need to pay close attention to the impact of social media on consumer behavior. The market is big enough. Soon, many companies looking to this space as a marketing platform will look for results beyond building brand equity. The latest data from Manhattan Research, a pharmaceutical and healthcare market research firm, suggests that brands who can engage patients and caregivers online may have the opportunity to strengthen their reputation and earn new customers.

Manhattan Research conducts ongoing studies focusing on ePharma consumers--adults who have researched pharmaceutical information online for themselves or for someone else in the past 12 months. According to their 7th ePharma Consumer(R)
survey, nearly half (47 percent) of ePharma consumers report that user-generated content has at least some impact on their health or prescription treatment decisions.

The percentage of consumers who indicate being influenced by user-generated content increases among younger ePharma segments. For instance, 64 percent of 18-34 year olds indicate that blogs, chat rooms, message boards and social networks have at least some impact on their health-related decisions.


There seems to be a craving for different perspectives and hearing others' experiences among caregivers. Among those who indicate that user-generated content has a strong impact on their healthcare decisions, 65 percent are parents with children in the household and 50 percent are people caring for someone with a chronic condition.


These findings point to significant advantages healthcare providers can gain by listening to relevant consumer chatter and becoming trusted resources to young adults and caregivers who are seeking answers online. Those healthcare/pharmaceutical companies that provide factual information to conversation leaders and answer patients' questions, will be mentioned in patients' conversations with physicians, caregivers and others suffering from similar conditions.