Ogilvy PR colleagues Virginia Miracle, Laura Halsch and our fearless vlogger Matthew Balthrop are here at the BlogHer Business Conference in New York City where 360 Digital Influence Group is sponsoring the Social Media Creation Best Practices Track. I'll be live blogging various sessions throughout the next two days - so without further ado, WE'RE OFF!
Welcome from BlogHer Co-Founders
Jory, Elisa and Lisa - the co-founders of BlogHer - welcomed the group of roughly 200 marcom professionals, bloggers and social media enthusiasts and shared some interesting stats about the crowd as well as what's going on in the social media space.
- 54% of the attendees are from the PR/Media industry.
- Brands that don't partner with users (and their authentically created editorial content) run the risk of competing with it.
- Women online do not appreciate being approached as a "single monolithic block" - moms, singles, etc. they are all different and should be treated as such.
- Conversation online is increasingly about utility - whether it be a Twitter stream, a product review, a widget, or an offline "meet up", conversation that provides someone with useful information is most valued.
BlogHer/Compass Partners Social Media Use Study Findings
To update findings from the 2006 Pew and Forrester social media use studies, BlogHer and Compass surveyed 5,000 women aged 18 - 75.
- % of Users Reading Blogs
- 2006: 39% / 2008: 53%
- % of Gen Y Reading Blogs
- 2006: 24% / 2008: 85%
- % of Gen X Reading Blogs
- 2006: 12% / 2008: 66%
- % of Boomers Reading Blogs
- 2006: 7% / 2008: 41%
These numbers are really compelling and help debunk the old, "social media doesn't touch the people I'm trying to reach" myth. Given these stats you might be asking yourself - if women are spending more and more time online reading blogs, what are they doing LESS of? A 2007 Nielsen study attributed a 10% drop in morning show viewers to women reading Mommy blogs and participating on Social Networks. The BlogHer/Compass updated these figures finding that women are spending 24% less time watching TV, 22% less time reading newspapers and 25% less time reading magazines.
Bottom line: We trust each other ONLINE....It's about 'us' not 'you'(your company) so engage influencers don't "pitch" them....this isn't a fad - it's your future.
I'll be live blogging more today from BlogHer Business, but if you just can't wait you can also follow Virginia Miracle's Twitter stream.
This post was originally created for the Ogilvy PR 360 Digital Influence Blog.
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