More Statistics On Blogging

Advertising Age recently posted more statistics:

Consider: According to Jupiter Research, 7% of American adults write blogs and 22% read them; about 8% listen to podcasts and 5% use RSS feeds. According to a separate study by WorkPlace Print Media, 88% of the at-work audience doesn’t even know what RSS is. And recent data from word-of-mouth research group Keller Fay indicate 92% of brand conversations were taking place offline — far more than the commonly assumed rate of 80%. “We understand that while they’re powerful new tools, the bulk of human interaction is still high-touch rather than high-tech,” said Brad Fay, chief operating officer at Keller Fay.

I’m not sure how recent those Jupiter numbers are, because a July 2006 Pew Internet survey found that 39% of internet users read blogs. That’s about 57 million Americans. Advertising Age may be a bit cynical about the hype surrounding the web, but the fact is that it’s growing at a phenomenal rate. Perhaps not everyone is reading blogs – yet – but give it another year or two.

And no one’s saying that you should only market on the web or via blogs, rss and podcasts. The basic principles of marketing still apply – go where your target audience is. It’s just that tv, print, and newspaper advertising just isn’t as effective as it used to be. And it doesn’t look like that trend is going to reverse any time soon. You can continue to ride the sinking ship or you can be proactive, learn about emerging technologies, and be ready when your customers expect you to interact with them online.

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