Edelman/Technorati Blog Study Results

Edelman and Technorati have published the results of their recent survey. It's designed to "better understand bloggers’ attitudes towards corporations and PR firms as well as help clients understand why and how they should engage the blogosphere." Highlights include:

Smart Notification: Bloggers that took the survey and gave their e-mail were notified via an e-mail "from" Richard Edelman. In the brief note, he gives the link and mentions he'll be blogging about it tomorrow. Even though Richard probably did not type this up on his laptop and hit send, it was a nice touch and well-timed.

Good Sample: 821 respondents. Considering the universe of PR bloggers is around 200-250, my assumption is the results should be reflective of our corner of the blogosphere. Edelman should have a handle on its own landscape. Regardless, this sample size can be projected a bit more than the usual surveys we've seen blown out of proportion.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: The primary reason this sample of the sphere blogs is to gain "visibility as an authority in my field" (34%).

Realistic Posting Frequency: Thankfully, the majority (38%) only blog every few days vs. daily (26%) or multiple times each day (18%). So I can stop guilting myself. To the 18%, I'll simply say: "STEP AWAY FROM THE BLOG!"

Gimme Free Stuff: Go figure, 70% of those surveyed said they wanted product samples to evaluate on their blog. Did I mention the ultra luxury blog I created?

Bad Pitches Blown out of Proportion: These two questions give me pause and hope.

• How often are you contacted by companies or their public relations representatives? Never (48%).
• How do companies and their firm’s PR representatives generally interact with you? They don't (41%)

So do the pitches that are being sent plunge to new depths of deficiency, or are the bloggers being pitched just, um, "extremely vocal" about calling them out? I'm willing to bet the answer is somewhere in the middle. But more than half of this sample has not been "assaulted" by a bad pitch. So the timing of this survey is great...there's still hope. Here's my PSA: "Don't become a statistic. Look, listen and learn before you start pitching blogs. You can start here."

UPDATE: If you’re interested in survey methodology and how the media are reporting on surveys, check out Constantin’s analysis. He also provides a thorough list of links to related discussions on the Edelman/Technorati study. My take above remains and I agree with Robert French. It’s a start.

tags: public relations, blog, PR, edelman, technorati

Comments

[Constantin Basturea]

Kevin, I'm not sure I understand your argument about the survey having a "good sample". Could you please offer more details?

[Kevin Dugan]

Constantin - It's not an argument, just an opinion based on PR math. Media Map tracks more than 1600 bloggers in their database. The survey had more than 800 responses. This number of responses to an online survey seems pretty high based on my brief, anecdotal experience with online surveys.

Now I assume the survey respondents are not the same ones tracked via Media Map, but I am willing to bet there is some crossover.

Many research reports I see covered in the media and online make broad claims based on tiny sample sizes. I think this sample size is big enough that you can read the results with equal parts confidence and caution. And yes, I type this knowing that the number of blogs, and therefore bloggers, is in the millions..even if you take away the ones that are inactive.

I'm sure we'll learn more when the final report and stats are published.