Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

From market research firm Forrester:

Emotive Network activities “online activities that involve users connecting with others in mutual interest or support” now involve more than 60% of online Europeans. These Emotive Network users are an attractive group for marketers and retailers: They are the online users with most experience, are very active online, and are willing to spend on the Net. To reach them, advertisers must research how their behavior influences their product purchasing decisions and weave these influences into their marketing to ensure consumers feel empowered and informed throughout the purchase and consumption process.

More from Forrester’s Charlene Li:

Although Weblogs (blogs) are currently used by only a small number of online consumers, they’ve garnered a great deal of corporate attention because their readers and writers are highly influential. Forrester believes that blogging will grow in importance, and at a minimum, companies should monitor blogs to learn what is being said about their products and services. Companies that plan to create their own public blogs should already feel comfortable having a close, two-way relationship with users. In this document we recommend best practices, including a blogging code of ethics, and metrics that will show the impact of blogs on business goals.

Hmmmmmm. The first quote is from a report in June 2004; the second from November 2004. This equates to the age of the dinosaurs in today’s tech world. So, if they were saying this way back then…why are you still wondering what value blogging has to your business? Sure, some of the blogging content is absolute dreck, but a lot of it isn’t. Here’s the good news; you can still jump aboard.

Tag:blogging