Does Blogging Work For Brands? Why PR Pros Need To Pay Attention

One of the questions most often asked by PR pros and small business owners of bloggers is, “Does blog outreach work, and will it boost my bottom line?”

Thanks to the team at AskYourTargetMarket.com, the world’s first affordable, self-service market research tool that lets companies easily find out what their target markets think, the SheBlogs team was able to conduct our own market research survey and ask women ages 18 – 65, “How powerful do you consider blogs?”

The results are, for us, not surprising. Of the more than 200 women nationwide who took part in the survey, 72.4% turned to blogs and Web searches to get product recommendations, read product reviews, and get shopping tips. Only 4.9% actually listed magazines as a source of shopping inspiration – and that’s where many PR pros focus product placement efforts!

While less than 10% of our survey takers claimed that they would be “very” influenced by a positive or negative blog review, 73.4% said they would be “somewhat” influenced, but would research multiple sources before making a purchase decision. While this offers companies the security of knowing that one negative review won’t necessarily hurt their business, it also emphasizes the importance of getting your word out to the blogosphere in as many blogs as possible – to ensure that the positive reviews are found and read by prospective customers.

When asked, “Do you read blogs on a regular basis to learn about new products, sales, or promotions?” nearly half of respondents (44.3%) said they turn to blogs when researching a purchase decision, but 35.5% log on either once daily or when they have spare time to stay up to date on these news bits.

What does this have to do with me? This great market research, and the handy charts below, are great selling points for you, the blogger, when dealing with a small business or PR pro who’s hesitant to get involved with a new blogger, or who doesn’t understand the importance of the blogosphere.

We hope you find this information useful! Please feel free to post part or all of this survey in your own “About” section or with your media kits, or share it with your contacts!