I am a big reader of online content, I spend so much time reading magazines and blogs and there is one thing that I’ve clearly noticed: I seem to appreciate differently the content that I read on a blog compared with the content I read on a magazine. More specifically, I don’t find the same personal dimension on a magazine that I feel while reading my favorite blogs.
When I go on an online magazine, it is more to search pure information. On a blog, on top of finding the information, I also come to read the actual person behind the text. I follow them, I talk to them and I feel close to them.
Blogs’ popularity is undeniable and bloggers themselves, readers but also marketers can confirm this. Indeed, marketers, have a vested interest in wanting to position themselves in these environments where commitment is as strong. I wanted to share with you the results of a study on the effectiveness of advertising on blogs vs. magazines published in Journal of Advertising Research.
Para-social interactions (PSI) are defined as the perception of having a face-to-face relationship with a media player. This definition makes even more sense with blogs since readers are often exposed to personal details about the life of the blogger. These readers follow the blogger and comment with other readers.
We notice that PSI are reinforced with each new link with the media player. Again, the very nature of blogs with their frequent updates accentuates this effect. Indeed, after repeated exposure of private details of a person’s life with their readers, a sense of intimacy is developed. This special relationship leads readers to see the blogger as a friend. Ultimately the blogger will even take an important place in the reader’s daily routine.
We look forward to the new article, we visit the blog every morning in the hope of a new post. Who has never done that? I plead guilty on my side!
Considering that readers perceive the blogger as a “friend”, it is natural that they evaluate a blog and a magazine differently. Unlike readers of online magazines that have more of a unidirectional relationship, readers of blogs socialize with bloggers beyond simply reading their articles.
The Internet users understand the dynamics of magazines where the writer’s relationship with its content is primarily related to its responsibilities, a dynamic that does not exist among bloggers. The freedom of bloggers encourage readers to be more attentive and sensitive to the motivations of the blogger and because of their relationships based on PSI, they expect a lot of honesty about their dealings with brands. This affects the effectiveness of advertising, where the relationship between the blogger and the brand will have a greater impact on the publicity with blog readers, compared to readers of online magazines.
The blogger’s credibility has a major role in advertising effectiveness, given the high level of PSI on blogs and the word-of-mouth relationships that result from it. Indeed, a successful publicity is largely related to the perception of the blogger by the reader, more than any other aspect of the communication. The more the blogger is perceived as credible by its audience, the more its recommendations will be persuasive.
The effectiveness of advertising is therefore better on blogs than on magazines. Readers trust bloggers that they consider as friends and thus any sincere recommendation from their part leads readers to a positive attitude toward the brand as well.
A high-quality recommendation on a blog begins with the development of effective relationships with bloggers and that’s what we’re here for!
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Colliander & Dahlén, 2011. Journal of Advertising Research. Following the Fashionable Friend: The Power of Social Media. Weighting Publicity Effectiveness of Blogs versus Online Magazines.
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