Marketers 'divided on blogs'

18th March 2008

Web marketers are divided about whether blogs are a useful tool for targeting consumers, a recent report observed.

An article in Internet Retailer has noted that some companies are attempting to establish relationships with bloggers, despite evidence that there is no direct link between blogs and buying habits.

Some 2.6 per cent of US shoppers research purchases using blogs, a recent study from Jupiter Research found.

However, Screenlife LLC's director of consumer research, Tony Roscelli, told the publication that it is possible to gauge consumer demand by monitoring blog conversations.

The company has begun analysing forum chatter in collaboration with Buzz Logic.

"We can tap into these forums and really see what these people are into and build products based on that interest," Mr Roscelli said.

Meanwhile, eMarketer observes that some marketers have been deterred from pursuing blogs by the Jupiter Research study.

Pay-per-click, organic search and other strategies are deemed preferable to blog monitoring by some industry presences, the publication contends.