CardMarketing 2.0

Each issue, we examine a key word or phrase from the ever-evolving Web 2.0 lexicon. Some of these terms are obscure, others may intimidate but once you get up close, none of them will bite. We break them down and show how they are relevant to the world of online card marketing.

Today’s word: Blog

It’s funny how some words insinuate their way so quickly into the mainstream. Only two or three years ago, ‘blog’ – short for ‘weblog’ – went over most people’s heads, but now it’s getting close to ‘google it’ as one of the most-used words of Web 2.0.

Even though most of us now have a basic understanding of what blogs, bloggers and blogging are, it’s worth revisiting some of the basics and taking a closer look at some of the ramifications of blogging — in particular its role as one of the key ‘social media’ with a growing relevance for issuers, their cards and brands. Our guest writer this issue, Isabel Wang, is a prolific blogger, so to wrap up we’ve asked her a few simple questions, too.

Blogging emerged in the early nineties as a way for people – generally techies – to keep an online diary. The first blogs were very basic components of existing websites, and it was only when technology evolved in the late nineties, and ‘reverse chronological’ blogs became a lot easier to create and maintain, that blogging became mainstream and a way for anyone to express themselves online.

Blogs are essentially virtual patches of land where people can wax lyrical about whatever and whoever they like, and interact with their readers. Most bloggers are content to speak to only a small audience – their family, friends or colleagues at work – but a small minority of people compete with newspapers and mainstream websites for eyeballs, such is their authority on a given topic.

While many blogs are ‘horizontal’, covering anything and everything, there are countless ‘vertical’ blogs, too, ranging from fashion, travel and legal blogs (known as blawgs), to photo and video blogs (vblogs). Blogs either exist as websites in their own right or tend to be found on a special blog hosting ‘social community’ site such as MySpace or Facebook.

So how many blogs are there? Blog search engine, Technorati, is currently tracking over 63 million, which gives you a fair idea of how popular blogging is becoming. And while exact stats are hard to come by, as at the end of July 2006, Technorati CEO Dave Sifry, in his State of the Blogosphere, claimed that more than two blogs were being created each second worldwide, which amounted to 175,000 each day. That’s a lot of blogs, although it’s fair to say that only a very small percentage of the bloggers out there – the A-List– get the king’s share of the traffic (and can even earn a decent living from companies advertising on their sites). ………

Unsurprisingly, more and more companies are turning their attention to the millions of people visiting individual blogs and social community blog sites. The question for card issuers is: how can we use the blogosphere to promote our products and brand?

Prominent blogger Tom Hespos, who is also President of Underscore Marketing, believes the answer lies in audience engagement: “Blogs are really good at getting people engaged… have value as conversation starters… If we steer advertisers toward valuing conversation as opposed to a blog’s ability to get people to respond to a “buy my crap” message, we win. We win, and so do online communities in general… In that case, the ‘advertising’ is valued based on the conversation it is able to generate. In other words, if people are engaged by the notion of expressing their opinion on an advertiser’s blog (or on their own blog), the ad is deemed successful.”

So, to market to and monetize the blogosphere, issuers need to think less about ‘selling their crap’ and more about starting good old-fashioned conversations — engaging consumers in new, stimulating and two-way ways. In short, they need to start making friends, just like Adidas, Toyota and Burger King have — as Isabel Wang has noted before.

But just how do you engage consumers, make friends, start conversations? As Hespos suggests, the way to traverse blogs is to get people to participate, express themselves, involve them in a dialogue — to become their partners. Launching a new card? Then run a competition where consumers put forward names for it.

Rebranding and need a new logo, a new strap? Let everyone pitch for the account, not just the agencies, the damn expensive agencies, you usually deal with. (You are, after all, acting in the public’s best interests so it makes sense that the public defines who you are and the values you abide by.)

Want feedback on an aspect of your service? Create online message boards, forums and blogs and make sure an articulate, knowledgeable employee responds promptly to the comments you receive. In other words, crowdsource, crowdsource, crowdsource. Think crowds and you’ll stay ahead of the crowd.

Isabel Says

1. Why do you blog?

I started blogging about a year ago, soon after I started reading blogs. Initially, I thought of it as kind of a notebook (which happened to be public) for keeping track of interesting ideas. But I think Doc Searls, who is the senior editor of Linux Journal, is right. He says blogging is just like email, except you can copy the whole world, and oftentimes people write back. I’ve made dozens of contacts that I otherwise wouldn’t have through blogging.

2. How much time do you spend blogging a day?

In terms of writing, it really varies. But in terms of reading other people’s blogs, several hours. I’m finding that I rely more on blogs than traditional media for news, not to mention information on products and services I’m looking to buy. Speaking of which, I recently read a study from IPSOS, a market research firm, that 39 million Europeans have decided against making a purchase after reading other private individuals’ opinions on the web.

3. In that case, do you think blogs make a good advertising medium?

Well... I think blogs are a good marketing tool. But I’m not sure the best way to take advantage of it is to buy exposure on a cost per time, impression or clickthrough basis. For instance, I’ve seen many blogs with ‘Amazon wish list’ icons or ‘Shopcasts’ (a collection of recommended products) from a company called ThisNext.com. Instead of ads (which everyone is trained to ignore) these product placements become a form of the blogger’s self-expression.

Also, interestingly, James Governor from Red Monk, an analyst firm, recently pointed out that every blog post is now a potential RFP. A well-know start-up founder wrote on his blog that he’s intrigued with a certain vendor’s service; the vendor posted a “we’d love to talk to you” comment, and now their relationship is off to a good start. So, in addition to proactively building a marketing presence, it’s even more important for companies to monitor unsolicited exposure.