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Infographic: The role of bloggers in the path to purchase

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By The Drum Team | Editorial

November 25, 2014 | 2 min read

Bloggers have become an important part of the savvy marketer’s online toolkit, with research suggesting they play an important role in the path to purchase.

Over two-thirds (84 per cent) of people make purchases after reading about products on a blog, with two in three people reading blogs a few times a week – but over a third (36 per cent) are discouraged by paid content in blogs, according to research.

The study into the influence of blogs on purchase decisions found that over half of the 1,000 respondents surveyed had read blogs that contain advertising, and one in four people buy something on a monthly basis after reading about it on a blog.

Readers are more discouraged by paid content within blog posts than by advertising in blogs, the research found, with only 27 per cent stating they would be put off by advertising, and 36 per cent saying they have been turned off from a blog that contains paid content.

Blogs are more popular with the younger generation for sourcing information. When asked what sources of product information they value most highly when considering a purchase, blogs were the preferred source for both the 18-24 and 25-34 year-olds categories.

Yet despite the role of blogs in the path to purchase, Muireann Carey-Campbell, who blogs at Bangs and a Bun, said agencies have some way to go when it comes to working with bloggers effectively.

“Very few agencies really have a well thought out strategy of how to deal with bloggers. I understand that it’s very time consuming to research every single blogger and to do an individual pitch to each, but all too often we’re just one on a big list they’ve sent exactly the same email to and it’s just not relevant."

You can take a look at the results of the research, conducted by Research Now, in the infographic below.

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Research Now

Research Now SSI is the world’s leading global provider of first-party consumer and professional data based on extensive, proprietary market research panels. Around this core asset of opted-in, managed data, the company has built innovative data services and solutions that bring the voice of the individual to the entire marketing spectrum, from research to marketing to advertising. Research Now SSI serves more than 4,000 market research agencies, media and advertising agencies, consulting and investment firms, and healthcare and corporate customers in the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. For more information about our range of data-driven offerings, go to www.researchnow.com and www.surveysampling.com.

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