Marketers ambivalent about blogs
Wendy Davis over at Online Media reports back from AD:TECH in Chicago (here – via PRMachine):
“MARKETERS AT AD:TECH Tuesday indicated a deep ambivalence towards blogs, saying that their companies urgently want a blog presence but, at the same time, fear the consequences of letting consumers freely express their opinions.”
She quotes the head of marketing at Kimpton Hotel talking about the importance of word of mouth marketing in his business as saying:
“Yet, he added, with 60 percent of the hotels’ business coming from word of mouth referrals, unflattering comments can be devastating. When consumers start bad-mouthing his hotels on the Web, he doesn’t respond well. “I have a heart attack,” “
She further reports that many marketers at the conference perceive a lot of benefits from using blogs – including higher google ranking – and that some see it as the way of the future.
While I sympathize with the fears raised by Steve Pinetti at Kimpton Hotels – the reality is that if people have something negative to say about you, they will say it whether you are engaged with blogs or not. As said in previous posts and echoing what many blog gurus have said before me – the rules have changed! Your customers are empowered and will talk about you with or without your help. You can choose to join that conversation or not. But if you choose not too and something goes wrong – be prepared for all hell breaking loose!
(at the speed of light I may add)…
[Technorati Tags: ad:tech blogging]
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