Lenna Garibian, a MarketingProfs research writer and a marketing consultant in the tech industry wrote a fascinating article about how blogs outperform social networks for driving purchases. The blog showcases the studies, metrics, and performance of various tools used within digital marketing. These tools include retail sites, blogging, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
According to a 2013 Digital influence report, they have concluded that blogs are more influential than social media networks for shaping consumers opinions and purchase decisions. The report was based on surveys conducted among 1,200 consumers, 150 top brand marketers, and 6,000 digital influencers. They rated blogging as the third most influential digital resource (31.1%); However, brands seem to be investing more in other social media channels, particularly Facebook, then on blogging. Which is not surprising in a financial sense because it costs more to run a Facebook campaign then the cost of blogging.
I was not surprised to hear that blogs are more influential than social media. They are inexpensive, easy to use, allows you to reach your audience easily with the exact content one would want them to see. I think blogs are highly underrated. The trick with blogging is that it would require talented and creative copywriters, and perhaps even designers to create a blog that is persuasive, entertaining and informative. The structure of a blog can act as a sales funnel, leading the customer to close the deal or exit the article more informed, perhaps even intrigued. This can enhance engagement and loyalty with the brand.
It appears that the most popular way influencers produce digital content is through blogging, according to the article 59 percent of them use blogs as their primary means of content distribution. Among all the influencers it’s been shown that 92 percent of them are Facebook and 83 percent are active, posting weekly through their accounts. It’s surprising to me that only 92 percent of influencers are on Facebook, which is the largest social media platform on the web because nearly everyone has a Facebook account and influencers want to reach large audiences. It makes one wonder why the remaining 7 percent chose to miss out on such large and successful social platform. Moreover, 88 percent of influencers have a twitter account and post 71 percent of the time on a weekly basis. This is not surprising as Twitter has been growing rapidly and is the second largest among influencers for producing shares.
Reference(s):
Garibian, L. (2013, March 18). Digital Influence: Blogs Beat Social Networks for Driving Purchases. Retrieved January 3, 2017, from http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2013/10336/digital-influence-blogs-beat-social-networks-for-driving-purchases#ixzz2NtxgaqMv
