Business Blogs – Beyond the Hype

“Blogs are the most important thing to online marketing since sliced bread.” “Blogs may have their place… but it’s not in direct marketing.” With such disparate views, whom do you believe? The blog consultants? Or established “old school” marketing mavens?

Barraged with hype, marketers can have a tough time deciding whether blogs should be part of their arsenal. Listen to the blog consultants? But who profits from the blog phenomenon? Are we talking “opportunistic agenda” or “objective perspective”?

How about the marketing experts? Is it fair to say that blogging doesn’t belong in a direct or business-to-business marketing program? Why do so many veterans bristle at the idea of blogs? Is it simply because of imagined shortcomings? Or do blogs stump an “old school” sensibility that seeks a precedent for comparison?

A decade ago, with the dawning of the commercial web, marketers faced a similar dilemma. One faction wrote the web off as negligible, while another took to the barricades, waving the web banner and proclaiming the demise of other channels. As we learned, new vehicles do not necessarily replace old ones -- in fact, they may even supplement them.

“Okay,” you say, “history is well and good. But what happens in the next senior-management meeting when the CEO asks, ‘Does blogging belong in our marketing communications program?’ What do I tell him?”

First, you can tell him blogs are not an effective direct marketing tool. I doubt they ever will be. Blogging doesn’t allow you to precisely target audiences or permit any discernable control over who sees your message. However…

Blogs have already proven useful in publicity campaigns, generating word-of-mouth and, in some cases, media attention. CPG marketers have made the most effective use of commercial blogs, with highly imaginative efforts attracting throngs of consumers. There’s no question these blogs have affected consumer bonding with brands.

Blogs can also play an important role in business-to-business marketing. Management gurus, public speakers and prominent business leaders can wield some mean business-to-business blogs. Tom Peters, for one, has a very successful blog. For Peters’ fans, this is a godsend -- access to Peter’s daily thought process. Of course, the more people who clamor to glean Peters’ next idea, the more likely his next seminar will sell out and his next tome will fly off the bookshelves.

Are blogs right for every company or brand? No.

Are bloggers, and especially blog consultants, over-hyping blogs? Absolutely.

The first group is merely excited about technology. The second benefits from getting businesspeople to turn off their logic and open their pocket books. The unfortunate backlash -- wholesale discrediting of blogs by critics who have either never used them effectively or never used them altogether.

A brave new nirvana? Or just a passing fad? The importance of blogging shouldn’t be overstated or ignored. (Though, currently, the most interesting aspect of blogs is social, not commercial.) Blogs are unique. They aren’t direct mail, telemarketing, direct response TV, e-commerce or e-mail marketing … and that’s fine. Defining what they aren’t doesn’t diminish their potential in the hands of a smart marketer.

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Accurate Website Visitor Measurement Crippled by Cookie Blocking and Deletion, JupiterResearch Finds

According to JupiterResearch's recently released report, "Measuring Unique Visitors: Addressing the Dramatic Decline in the Accuracy of Cookie-Based Measurement," in 2004 58% of online users have deleted "cookies", which are small files often deposited on their computers by Web sites they visit. Tracking cookies is a principal means Web site operators use to track visitors, personalize their sites, and account for the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and Web site enhancements. If users delete cookies, accurate long-term measurement of consumer behavior on the site is severely compromised. If users block cookies, accurate short-term measurement is compromised, relegating increasing numbers of Web visitors to "anonymous" status.

The report found that as many as 39% of online users may be deleting cookies from their primary computer monthly, undermining the usefulness of cookie-based measurement and leaving many site operators flying blind. "Given the number of sites and applications that depend heavily on cookies for accuracy and functionality, the lack of this data represents significant risk for many companies," says Eric T. Peterson, Analyst at JupiterResearch. "Because personalization, tracking and targeting solutions require cookies to identify Web visitors over multiple sessions, the accuracy of these solutions has become highly suspect, especially over longer periods of time," added Peterson.

Privacy and security concerns on the part of online users are responsible for the cookie-deletion behavior that JupiterResearch has found. According to a recent consumer survey cited in the report, 52% of online users indicate a strong interest in stories and articles about Internet security and privacy, while 38% of online users believe that cookies are an invasion of their security and privacy online and 44% of online users believe that deleting or blocking cookies will protect them.

The JupiterResearch report provides advice to site operators for how to cope with the decline in accuracy of visitor measurement and predicts that Web analytics vendors will adapt their tools in the face of a consumer landscape that makes established measurement practices unreliable.

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The Bottom Line on Marketing Accountability

Marketing accountability continues to be a hot topic. The reality is that there is a lot of talk, but not an equivalent degree of action.

Consider a recent study by the CMO Council that found less than 20% of top technology marketers surveyed had developed “meaningful, comprehensive measures and metrics for their marketing organizations.” The last major study on marketing ROI found that 68% of marketers were unable to determine the ROI of their initiatives.

While marketing accountability is a priority, these studies send a clear message: We’re not there yet.

With all of the recent buzz over marketing ROI, the truth is, it is not necessarily the most appropriate metric for every marketing initiative. While determining marketing ROI is ideal for large initiatives and initiatives where it can be easily determined, such as direct mail or online marketing, it can be complex and cost prohibitive process to accurately determine marketing ROI on small offline branding campaigns. Don’t get me wrong, marketing ROI is the ideal measure, but it can be costly to properly implement. The majority of CFOs will agree and want to set thresholds for when marketing ROI is used as a measure of effectiveness.

The real bottom line is that CMOs need to sit down with CFOs to determine the appropriate marketing measures and who is best suited to monitor these measures.

In 2002, I provided the keynote presentation for IQPC’s “Measuring and Ensuring Return on Your Marketing Investment” and recommended that CMOs work in cooperation with CFOs to determine the appropriate marketing measures. Further, I suggested exploring whether it may be most effective to have a member of the Finance department take responsibility for managing and monitoring these metrics. A number of consumer goods companies have successfully implemented such an approach. At minimum, CMOs should explore this option.

A Marketing - Finance partnership is beneficial on two levels. First, it helps create important CFO buy-in of marketing measurements. Second, it can put responsibility for metrics in the hands of the most qualified staff to handle metrics. Additionally, having these measures monitored by a member of the Finance department can eliminate the need to promote marketing successes to the finance department. It also means an immediate awareness of failures, which is probably the part that scares most marketers.

There is another reason. The divide between Marketing and Finance is often the greatest between any two business departments. I believe that the CMO must make forging a strong relationship with the CFO a priority. Finance must be a partner in determining marketing metrics. This buy-in is essential to marketing gaining the organizational credibility it needs to reach its potential.

Peter DeLegge is the publisher of Marketing Today. He has nearly twenty years experience in marketing and advertising and has held marketing management positions at Fortune 200 and medium size firms. To contact Mr. DeLegge regarding consulting, speaking engagements or media interviews, please email .

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