Bloggers are the new media; there is no way around it. Companies are beginning to see that there is a goldmine waiting to be dug up in the blogosphere. Most Bloggers are everyday people, not corporate big wigs or media outlets with advertisers in their pocket. Bloggers will tell you how it is, from their eyes, with complete honesty.
Or do they? As blogging has become a way of life and is now etched into our society, marketers are finding that they can reach so many more people through a blog than through a billboard. We all know it's not just about exposure to the masses, but appropriate exposure to your target audience and influencers. Awesome traction means nothing if your not seeing the intended results!
A Blogger has a relationship with his or her readers while billboards, magazines ads, and radio commercials are cold and unattached. Through a blog you can come to know the personality of the Blogger, whether they convey warmth, humor, their standards and beliefs and their season in life. Marketers are beginning to understand that these “everyday people” are the cash cow. Kim Hart, a writer for the Washington Post, wrote an article that I read this past August called, “Barging into the Blogger’s Circle.” She notes how Nokia increased their profit by 43 percent in their last quarter due to sending out their latest product to Technology Bloggers to write reviews on. While Marketers are more willing to peddle Bloggers their goods, more readers are becoming suspicious of whether Bloggers are giving their honest review or being fed corporate dribble.
As a Beauty Blogger, I will honestly admit that I am sent products from companies all of the time. In fact, many of my Beauty Blogging friends also receive products from companies. However, it doesn’t mean we are bought or that our reviews are not honest and sincere. One thing I think Marketers are forgetting, is that by simply mailing us your product does not make us obligated to write you a glowing review. One such Beauty Blog I love is DeLush. The women behind DeLush give you their complete, no-bull review on every product they try, good or bad.
Marketers need to understand that if you want to have the everyday person write a review to reach the real people driving your sales, then you are also going to get the review written from the perspective of an everyday person. You cannot push around a Blogger as you could a magazine, who could be threatened with having advertising dollars pulled if they don’t mention, or even publicly praise, XYZ product. Marketers need to understand that you cannot just intrude into a Blogger’s home, you need to knock first. A great post to review on this blog, is the interview Pierce Mattie had with Julie Fredrickson of Coutorture regarding Publicists and their relationship with Bloggers.
Marketers have also recently discovered “Mommy Bloggers.” This is something that Matthew Ingram wrote about in a recent article in WomensBizNews. There is no doubt that a mom Blogger can be a powerful force to be reckoned with. Some big name Mommy Bloggers? Dooce, Amalah and Mommy off the Record. All of these women have exceptional followings and marketers are not ignoring this fact. Speaking from a woman and mother’s point a view, I am more apt to listen to a fellow mother’s review on a product, than I am from someone who cannot relate to me as a woman, wife or mother.
What are your thoughts on this growing trend? Do you feel blogging and Bloggers are being taken advantage of because of their force as new media? Do you find value in a Blogger’s review of a product? Please post your thoughts in the comments section.
Posted by 
