Comments on: Why track blogs? http://www.attentio.com/blog/2006/02/19/24/ Fri, 04 Jul 2008 03:42:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: John Cass http://www.attentio.com/blog/2006/02/19/24/#comment-24 John Cass Tue, 18 Apr 2006 16:23:23 +0000 http://www.attentio.com/blog/2006/02/19/24/#comment-24 It makes sense to me that explaining the benefits of blogging beyond market research benefits to the market research journalist would have to be done. I just a little surprised about the lack of connection to the market research benefits. Though I suppose it is a little bit of a shift to move from sample results to observational results. Really search rankings are ancillary to other marketing goals within the context of blogger relations. To get a high ranking on search engines for a topic you don’t write content that relates to getting a high ranking, you write content that’s relevant to the audience and encourages linking because of the value of the content. I also think Richard is right that negative comments can leave a stronger impression than positive comments. That’s one strong argument for corporate blogging. Don’t let a negative comment go without a response from your company, either on the blog that made your comment or on your own blog. By responding you demonstrate you are prepared to discuss any concerns or issues. You don’t have to agree with the negative commenter but by responding you dispel the perception that the negative comments are right because you did not make a comment. The more you comment and establish yourself as part of the community you gain friends and supporters who will critique negative comments even when you are not around. I’d also like to hear more about your product, maybe even see a demo. It makes sense to me that explaining the benefits of blogging beyond market research benefits to the market research journalist would have to be done. I just a little surprised about the lack of connection to the market research benefits. Though I suppose it is a little bit of a shift to move from sample results to observational results.

Really search rankings are ancillary to other marketing goals within the context of blogger relations. To get a high ranking on search engines for a topic you don’t write content that relates to getting a high ranking, you write content that’s relevant to the audience and encourages linking because of the value of the content.

I also think Richard is right that negative comments can leave a stronger impression than positive comments. That’s one strong argument for corporate blogging. Don’t let a negative comment go without a response from your company, either on the blog that made your comment or on your own blog. By responding you demonstrate you are prepared to discuss any concerns or issues. You don’t have to agree with the negative commenter but by responding you dispel the perception that the negative comments are right because you did not make a comment. The more you comment and establish yourself as part of the community you gain friends and supporters who will critique negative comments even when you are not around.

I’d also like to hear more about your product, maybe even see a demo.

]]> By: Simon http://www.attentio.com/blog/2006/02/19/24/#comment-23 Simon Fri, 14 Apr 2006 16:56:54 +0000 http://www.attentio.com/blog/2006/02/19/24/#comment-23 Hi Colin, I agree that getting feedback from people who are unpaid and unprompted to write in blogs can be very powerful. The tools we provide do enable our clients to go to the source of the feedback (e.g. the article or the blog) but we also find the aggregate trends offer value and highlight if campaigns have been successful. As to your second point, the number of blogs is increasing dramatically and it touches more than consumers. Indeed there are many CEOs blogging in the US and more businesses realise that blogs can help them communicate with their clients. If you read the book "Naked conversations" it demonstrates how blogging is enabling this more open approach between companies and their customers. I think blogs are only the start and more forums will become available for people to write their views and share resources like music, advice, video, recipes, chat etc. 18 months ago who would have thought myspace would have been the phenomenon it now is... Simon Hi Colin,

I agree that getting feedback from people who are unpaid and unprompted to write in blogs can be very powerful. The tools we provide do enable our clients to go to the source of the feedback (e.g. the article or the blog) but we also find the aggregate trends offer value and highlight if campaigns have been successful.

As to your second point, the number of blogs is increasing dramatically and it touches more than consumers. Indeed there are many CEOs blogging in the US and more businesses realise that blogs can help them communicate with their clients. If you read the book “Naked conversations” it demonstrates how blogging is enabling this more open approach between companies and their customers. I think blogs are only the start and more forums will become available for people to write their views and share resources like music, advice, video, recipes, chat etc. 18 months ago who would have thought myspace would have been the phenomenon it now is…

Simon

]]> By: Colin Sanders http://www.attentio.com/blog/2006/02/19/24/#comment-22 Colin Sanders Fri, 14 Apr 2006 09:08:37 +0000 http://www.attentio.com/blog/2006/02/19/24/#comment-22 I think that tracking and analysing consumer generated content will become a must for any marketing department of major companies. The major advantages I see today from doing so are: getting feedback from consumers that is not influenced by a questionnaire, interviewer or the research methodology in general and it is fast & ongoing research. But many companies like to see unstructured data (like verbatim in market research) in a structured way and getting some good examples of articles to illustrate. How does Attentio deal with that? And is “blogging” a consumer thing or it is also applicable in a B2B context? I think that tracking and analysing consumer generated content will become a must for any marketing department of major companies. The major advantages I see today from doing so are: getting feedback from consumers that is not influenced by a questionnaire, interviewer or the research methodology in general and it is fast & ongoing research. But many companies like to see unstructured data (like verbatim in market research) in a structured way and getting some good examples of articles to illustrate. How does Attentio deal with that? And is “blogging” a consumer thing or it is also applicable in a B2B context?

]]> By: Simon http://www.attentio.com/blog/2006/02/19/24/#comment-21 Simon Wed, 12 Apr 2006 18:55:33 +0000 http://www.attentio.com/blog/2006/02/19/24/#comment-21 Hi Richard, I agree that the negative feedback can leave a stronger impression, in recent times I would say that case studies of blogger power have also focussed on poor customer service (e.g. Dell story instigated by Jeff Jarvis) or product weakness (Kryptonite bike locks). As you can imagine we track a lot of products and industries and there are a significant number of stories where companies benefit from positive blogger buzz... On presentation, the jury is out here. The tools are getting sharper and some bloggers are very sophisticated. From my perspective I am glad that people find it easy to post. If we look at the actual presentation of "myspace" or Bebo it is not always beautiful but there are millions of young people writing about what they love or hate and this is incredibly powerful... Thanks for the feedback. Regards, Simon Hi Richard, I agree that the negative feedback can leave a stronger impression, in recent times I would say that case studies of blogger power have also focussed on poor customer service (e.g. Dell story instigated by Jeff Jarvis) or product weakness (Kryptonite bike locks). As you can imagine we track a lot of products and industries and there are a significant number of stories where companies benefit from positive blogger buzz…

On presentation, the jury is out here. The tools are getting sharper and some bloggers are very sophisticated. From my perspective I am glad that people find it easy to post. If we look at the actual presentation of “myspace” or Bebo it is not always beautiful but there are millions of young people writing about what they love or hate and this is incredibly powerful…

Thanks for the feedback.

Regards,
Simon

]]> By: Richard Savage http://www.attentio.com/blog/2006/02/19/24/#comment-20 Richard Savage Wed, 12 Apr 2006 13:33:32 +0000 http://www.attentio.com/blog/2006/02/19/24/#comment-20 As an ex-market researcher, I'm a convert to the need of companies to understand how consumers (actual and potential) are feeling and to follow 'blogged' comments. Sentiment about products/services/companies is clearly important for businesses to follow. However, the sheer volume makes this difficult without help. Personally, from the blogs I read, I find I'm more affected by negative sentiment rather than positive - and would be more likely to be put off something, rather than be positively influenced - but that could just be me! I follow a news feed on the football club I support and am amazed at the sheer number of blogs that appear on the site - while some may be of little interest to the club, there are some that comment on issues that the club would do well to listen to. I just wish that bloggers would work on the presentation of their sites - too many are just streams of text - they would do well to heed the advice given in Steve Rubel's site - Micro Persuasion, where there are tips to help them make their sites more impactful! As an ex-market researcher, I’m a convert to the need of companies to understand how consumers (actual and potential) are feeling and to follow ‘blogged’ comments. Sentiment about products/services/companies is clearly important for businesses to follow. However, the sheer volume makes this difficult without help. Personally, from the blogs I read, I find I’m more affected by negative sentiment rather than positive - and would be more likely to be put off something, rather than be positively influenced - but that could just be me!
I follow a news feed on the football club I support and am amazed at the sheer number of blogs that appear on the site - while some may be of little interest to the club, there are some that comment on issues that the club would do well to listen to.
I just wish that bloggers would work on the presentation of their sites - too many are just streams of text - they would do well to heed the advice given in Steve Rubel’s site - Micro Persuasion, where there are tips to help them make their sites more impactful!

]]> By: Simon http://www.attentio.com/blog/2006/02/19/24/#comment-16 Simon Wed, 29 Mar 2006 08:02:14 +0000 http://www.attentio.com/blog/2006/02/19/24/#comment-16 Hi John, when I spoke with the journalist, his genuine interest was why a company would want to track what is written in the Blogosphere. He had a lot of experience with new market research methodologies and wanted to see why this technique is valuable. The real crux of that conversation was explaining how blogs are influential in search engines and are powerful because of no editorial intervention. I am in this "blog tracking" industry so understand the potential, but a fairly traditional industry like market research needs persuasion. Regards, Simon Hi John, when I spoke with the journalist, his genuine interest was why a company would want to track what is written in the Blogosphere. He had a lot of experience with new market research methodologies and wanted to see why this technique is valuable.

The real crux of that conversation was explaining how blogs are influential in search engines and are powerful because of no editorial intervention.

I am in this “blog tracking” industry so understand the potential, but a fairly traditional industry like market research needs persuasion.

Regards,
Simon

]]> By: John Cass http://www.attentio.com/blog/2006/02/19/24/#comment-15 John Cass Tue, 28 Mar 2006 21:14:44 +0000 http://www.attentio.com/blog/2006/02/19/24/#comment-15 frankly I am shocked that the journalist did not talk about gathering information from customers. The journalist only mentioned marketing promotional tactics from blogging. I think there are marketing research benefits. Did you ask them about that issue? frankly I am shocked that the journalist did not talk about gathering information from customers. The journalist only mentioned marketing promotional tactics from blogging. I think there are marketing research benefits. Did you ask them about that issue?

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