State of the Blogosphere Report Released

Technorati released its annual “State of the Blogosphere” report this week and it has some valuable insights for corporate marketing managers. I’ll post a few of the highlights here, but I highly recommend reading the full report on Technorati’s website.

The Technorati report asserts that blogs are pervasive and part of daily life. The report cites the following numbers to support this conclusion:

The numbers vary but agree that blogs are here to stay:

* comScore MediaMetrix (August 2008)

• Blogs: 77.7 million unique visitors in the US
• Facebook: 41.0 million | MySpace 75.1 million
• Total internet audience 188.9 million

* eMarketer (May 2008)

• 94.1 million US blog readers in 2007 (50% of Internet users)
• 22.6 million US bloggers in 2007 (12%)

* Universal McCann (March 2008)

• 184 million WW have started a blog | 26.4 US
• 346 million WW read blogs | 60.3 US
• 77% of active Internet users read blogs

Another important conclusion highlighted in the report is that brands permeate the blogosphere, whether the brand has launched a social media strategy or not.

Four in five bloggers post brand or product reviews, with 37% posting them frequently. 90% of bloggers say they post about the brands, music, movies and books that they love (or hate).

Company information or gossip and everyday retail experiences are fodder for the majority of bloggers.

The opportunity here for brand managers is to reach out to bloggers in your markets and develop relationships with them as part of your social media strategy.

This years report is much more detailed than previous years. It contains demographic information on bloggers, interviews with active bloggers as well as insights into their motivation for blogging.

It also dispels the myth that bloggers like to remain anonymous. Here is the response to the question how important is it to you to conceal your real identity on your blog?

The report is being released over a 5 day period.

More coverage is available at these links:

• State of The Blogosphere: The More You Post, The Higher You Rank
• Technorati releases data on state of the blogosphere: bloggers of the world have united
• State of the Blogosphere 2008: Technorati Numbers Indicate Blogging Is Niche and Slowing
• Technorati Releases State of the Blogosphere 2008 Report

Tags: blogosphere, Social Media, technorati