IPREX Blogbarometer 2014

Transcription

1 IPREX Blogbarometer 2014 Most bloggers are female and their average age is 33 Most earn some money from their blogs The most popular blog themes are focused on consumer lifestyle topics Most are open to approaches from the PR industry but these need to be relevant & professional Overall the PR business could improve its relationships with bloggers significantly through better research, more targeted approaches and more creative engagement

2 The IPREX Blogbarometer 2014 IPREX is an international network of owner-managed communication agencies, where 1,500 specialists work in more than 100 offices worldwide. A group of European IPREX partners decided to study the impact of blogging on the communication industry and so conducted an informal survey among bloggers, inviting two non-european countries to participate for comparison. In total the results that follow were derived from the responses of 1,360 bloggers.

3 The IPREX Blogbarometer 2014 Czech Republic Finland Germany Great Britain Italy Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland Slovenia Spain New Zealand United States of America

4 The blogs: age and size 34% of bloggers have already operated their blog for more than five years. Newcomers (under 1 year) represented only 4% of those surveyed. Similarly with the number of readers. The blogs surveyed have an average of 28,048 readers, although 22% are smaller, each with fewer than 500 readers.

5 Main blog themes are fashion and beauty The main themes: Fashion, style and clothes (15%) Food & beverage (13%) Beauty (13%) Travel (12%) A range of national differences emerged, for example: In Germany Social issues & politics scored as highly as travel at 12% In Italy nearly a third of all blog are about Fashion, style and clothes (31%) while travel scored 20%

6 Main blog themes: detail

7 Themes and their sources When asked where bloggers find material only 32% said they obtained them through press releases andproduct samples Own experience and thoughts 87% Current events, issues and news 72% Experiences of people I know 40% Press releases or product samples sent to me 32% Newspapers, magazines or books 30 % Reader feedback and ideas 28 %

8 Blogging is dominated by women Overall, 69% of the surveyed bloggers were women. In the US the figure is 92% while in Germany fully two thirds of respondents were men

9 Bloggers are older than expected Blogging is an activity that requires a certain life experience as well as having something to say. The average age of the surveyed bloggers was 33. Apparently the oldest live in Germany (40), Great Britain and the USA (36), while the youngest live in the Czech Republic and Finland (31).

10 Bloggers and companies 72% of bloggers said they have been approached for PR or marketing reasons 30% were contacted weekly and 34% daily Major regional difference: in advanced technology countries, a much higher proportion of bloggers is targeted by companies: 97% in the USA and 94% in Finland, compared with 48% in Slovenia and 34% in the Czech Republic

11 Bloggers and companies

12 How do companies communicate with bloggers? Not surprisingly, at 48% the most common method is the sending of information However, 47% of bloggers received invitations to company events and 42% received cooperation offers. Astonishingly, only 30% of bloggers received photos or other images from companies.

13 How do bloggers react to these approaches by companies? More than half of them (65%) view things positively and actually wish for more Only 7% are reserved about this contact and only 2% are against

14 How bloggers react to approaches: detail What is the reaction by bloggers to the approaches by companies?

15 What annoys bloggers about approaches from the PR industry? The bottom line is that companies do not seem to understand the needs of bloggers: At most, 10% of approaches are relevant I want honest and suitable offers, which are also rewarded accordingly Too many want quick and cheap advertising Quality of approaches is highly variable I would prefer higher-quality contacts

16 Motivation and Monetisation (1) When asked what motivated them to write blogs: 57% wished to share information and experiences 51% said they simply had fun with publishing 38% saw possibilities for professional development

17 Motivation and Monetisation (2) 29% said that they wished to earn money through 51% reported that they already earn 24% answered that they were directly paid for their blogging. These figures reflect smaller earnings from bloggers who carry advertisements in their blogs

18 Motivation and Monetisation (3) 43% responded that they additionally profit by receiving invitations to events 41% said they received product samples 17% receive free trips

19 Contact ORCA Affairs GmbH Schumannstraße Berlin Germany Michael T. Schröder C.E.O. and owner phone: michael.schroeder@orca-affairs.de