February 28, 2006

One of the things we get asked about all the time here at Marqui is how to find the ROI in blogging.

The cost of entry to the blogosphere is very low -- pretty much anyone with an Internet connection can start a blog in as little as five minutes.

The longer term investment of time seems to worry people -- we find that overworked executives and marketers are sometimes concerned at the level of commitment required to keep the blog up to date and stay plugged into the constellation of online conversations within and around your company.  There's a good answer to this concern (and an interesting discussion to be had about how marketers spend their time when they're not actively engaged in conversation with their markets) but that's not my main focus for this post.

As marketing continues to become more of a left-brained discipline (increasingly analytical and measurement-driven), the big FAQ we get is: "I understand the investment, but where's the return?"

Lots of ways to answer this, but let's keep it simple.  This article from last weekend’s Sunday Telegraph offers a simple, utterly compelling answer.  In summary, the equation is: blog marketing initiative equals doubled sales.

The Telegraph tells the story of a startup South African winery, Stormhoek, whose founder, Nick Dymoke-Marr, took an unconventional approach to entering the UK market:

"...six months after Stormhoek launched, Dymoke-Marr despatched a bottle of his mid-price Sauvignon Blanc to 150 of the UK's most frantic-fingered "bloggers"."

At the same time, Stormhoek eschewed the traditional approach of a big glossy corporate web site -- their entire online presence is a blog. They also, not incidentally, started working with UK blog marketing genius and cartoonist Hugh "gapingvoid" Macleod, who blogged the blazes out of their launch.

The Telegraph story continues:

"Of course, anyone who doles out free booze might expect to get a good write-up. But the pith of the Stormhoek story is that the chitchat in the virtual world has generated real sales.

"Since last summer, monthly sales of Stormhoek's bottles have doubled," (my emphasis).

Bingo! You want tangible, hard-edged R for your I? There it is, right there. Doubled sales.  You'd be hard pressed to find a CFO who'd be upset with that kind of return.

Stormhoek's open, smart approach to this effort was exactly right:

"We were just really honest," (Dymoke-Marr) says.

"We didn't say we were selling the best wine in South Africa. We just said: 'Here's a nice wine, reasonably priced, tell us what you think.' "

Reminds me of Marqui's own Pay Bloggers program.  As Nick Dymoke-Marr concludes:

"The thing is that you can't control the message. You just wind it up and let it go."

...and where it goes might well surprise you. But one thing seems certain: nothing moves a message nowadays as fast or as far as the blogvines. When rapid message movement and buzz can translate directly into increased sales, why would you not want a blog for your business?

Posted by at February 28, 2006

Comments

Chris email -

This discussion happens hourly in PR wonderland. A client who asks “why aren’t we errr…blogging?” and the next hour is spent discussing pros and cons. I might suggest that the obstacle for the average PR flack is not necessarily communicating ROI but rather, suggesting that a client willingly expose themselves and their company to criticism and negativity. We spend a great deal of time crafting key messages, prepping spokespeople for interviews and building up a nice thick armour of rosy-red positivity, calling it a job well done when they’re favourably mentioned in a national daily. I can only speak for myself when I say that the challenge for many is recognizing that in the blogosphere, traditional PR rules don’t always apply. Obviously, a blog isn’t the answer for every company however, blog-borne cynicism and negativity should be embraced customer feedback in its purest form. It’s a hint that something might be wrong and in need of change. Those who choose to accept it as a means for improvement will be stronger as a result.

Michael O'Connor Clarke email - marqui.com

Couldn't agree with you more, Chris.

I like the way Jeff Jarvis over at Buzzmachine put it: "Think: why the hell do companies spend untold fortunes on focus groups, surveys, market research, product testing, and all that? To hear what customers want. When customer go to the effort of tellling you, why not listen? If it’s easier for them to tell you, why not help them? If they have good ideas, why not embrace them? If they show you what’s wrong with your ideas, why not learn? It’s that simple."

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