Bloggers have ‘arrived’ at the table traditionally occupied by journalists and analysts. For example, at SAP’s recent annual conference for 10,000 users in Berlin, there was a special room for bloggers to touchdown, plug in portable PCs and blog away. A clear sign of the increasing importance of bloggers. Maybe journalists and analysts should team up with bloggers (as they do on www.it-analysis.com) to form the JAB acronym?
Jupiter Research reckons bloggers are more educated, more affluent, and more passionate about things than your average internet user. They are also often younger, more maverick, more outspoken, and probably have no journalistic qualifications. Anyone, from a PC in their back bedroom, can join the ‘Blogosphere’. There are virtually no barriers to entry. In June 2008 Technorati reckons there were 112.8 million blogs and 250+ million pieces of tagged social media. Wow.
Blogs are influential. Attentio says one in three car buyers use social media before buying. Three out of four IT professionals consult social media tools and user-generated content before purchasing. Four out of ten patients use online support groups to discuss medication and therapies, and the same proportion of adult leisure travelers read blogs, share photos, or take virtual tours. Big chunks of market share are being influenced by bloggers. No wonder marketers are interested.
Attentio offers a solution for B2B and B2C marketers and marketing agencies operating in Europe. Attentio offers customized Brand Dashboards, Buzz Reports, and Industry Reports on a SaaS annual subscription basis from €1,000 per desktop per month. Attentio Brand Dashboards help Brand Managers in household-name companies like Johnson & Johnson, Samsung, Toyota, Intel and Lexus to see what bloggers and forum users are saying about their products in real-time.
Source : www.it-director.com
