Commentary
Beyond Blogs: Niche Brands And Mommy Bloggers
- by Maryanne Conlin , July 1, 2009
I think it is. In fact I believe that the real power in the mommy blogsphere is in the marketing of niche products. And a new generation of analytical tools makes this a real possibility.
Lists of bloggers and blog networks for advertisers and PR professionals usually include high-profile bloggers and blog networks with north of 200,000 or even half a million uniques per month. While each blog has its own profile, the audience of larger blogs is of course, varied.
On the other hand, a number of smaller blogs boast niche readership, which may be exactly the target market for smaller brands. The "Nielson-Online Power Moms 50" gives a nod to this theory by listing a number of much smaller blogs in diverse categories such as travel and green.
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Yes, their readership is smaller but their reach in selected consumer segments is much greater. And, as any marketer knows, the innovators and early adoptors of just about any product category are research junkies, the ones most likely to be reading niche blogs.
Most important for niche brands, using the power of social media, bloggers have managed to expand their reach beyond their loyal readers to the wider world. In particular, bloggers on Facebook and MySpace straddle the word-of mouth worlds of real and virtual, as we've learned these sites are often a way to connect online with past and present friends and family rather then online buddies.
Twitter, too, enables bloggers to reach a wider audience than with a blog alone. Sophisticated search functions and hash tags alert those not usually inclined to read a blog to the interests and recommendations of high profile Twitter users -- who aren't necessarily top bloggers.
On one level what this means is that the reach of many bloggers is much broader than just their sites and heavily dependent on the blogger's use of social media. This impacts bloggers both large and small but is of particular interest when considering a niche blogger outreach program.
These same sophisticated search and analysis tools (of which there are a mind-boggling number) give marketers the opportunity to conduct research to narrowly target a specific set of bloggers that can best reach their intended audience. Keyword search and use of SEO research using various analytic tools can identify bloggers who write on a wide range of subjects and have a loyal following of both blog readers and social media users.
Finding bloggers who also participate in forums and online review sites is an added bonus! Since that moves their reach beyond the generally agreed upon 30% of Moms who read and write blogs.
Blogger outreach programs are moving into a new phase, where page rank and uniques may not tell the whole story or not the part of the story you need to know. Upfront research using keywords and analysis of social media use may be a better forecaster of blogger influence than sheer volume for niche brands.
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Excellent article. I agree that it isn't just about how many subscribers a blogger might have. For example, when I have a giveaway on my site associated with a review, I do my homework to drive traffic to the giveaway. I maintain a spreadsheet with about 60 places where I can publicize my giveaway - including .ning sites, forums and other blogs. And I haven't updated that list lately but know that many others have popped up since I created my spreadsheet. That doesn't include the bonus entries that other people get for sharing my giveaway on their own blogs, social sites, twitter, etc. So although my subscribers may be much lower than a major blogger, the marketing determines the beginning of the trickle-down theory of reach. But you're all marketing people so I'm just preaching to the choir!
On a side note, when I started blogging, page rank was a goal for many bloggers. However, recently, many people are having to start from scratch on their page rank after converting to their own domains. While others are seeing downgraded pagerank from Google based on paid advertisers. Add to that people migrating to Bing (which doesn't have anything to do with the Google page rank that people have been living and breathing). My point - I'm beginning to see bloggers say "Page Rank? Who cares."
It's an ever-changing cycle.
Nicole,
Good point about page rank. What do you find are the new metrics?
Enjoyed how you suggest that Twitter & Facebook can help reach a wider audience on the net. I am a dad blogger that specializes in a specific market - a destination for dads in and around NYC. My site traffic is good, but it is tough to get the word out so maybe you offer the answer here.
Also, I am wondering if these small niche brands will reach out to the dad bloggers as well.
Thanks
Lance at www.nycdadsgroup.com
Lance,
I do think we are beginning to see niche brands use blogger outreach effectively. The Engage Moms piece last week spoke directly to how important dads have become and brands efforts to reach them.
Maryanne -
In answer to your question "What do you find are the new metrics?" I guess my answer is "I don't know." No matter what I say, it will likely be different in a week. Actually, I'm hoping to hear an answer to that while attending BlogHer in a few weeks!
I've noticed that bloggers are all over the place - determining their strength of reach based on any of the following - page rank, site followers/subscribers, twitter followers, Facebook fans, site comments and of course, unique views. I've even seen a few still vying for Technorati rank.
Personally, I would love to see all of the above sparkle for me but I'm not in it for the rank and business. I write because I enjoy it - and I love trying out new products. When I become a big-time blogger, maybe my views and attitude about metrics will change.