Blogging

Definitions

• Blog – a blog or ‘web log’ is a type of website that contains regular entries or updates, usually in chronological order like a journal. Blogs are usually managed by one or more ‘bloggers’.
• RSS Feed – this is a technology that allows readers to subscribe to websites’ feeds and have updates aggregated into one place as they are released. This content can be viewed in an RSS reader or via email.

Key stats

• 60% of bloggers are 18-44 and two out of three are male
• 96% of bloggers are amateurs

Our findings

Only 8% of the retailers we looked at had a blog on their website and of those who did, the posting was infrequent, with only 38% posting daily. 50% posted monthly, with a further 12% not even managing this level of regularity.

Half of those that had a blog used it for product updates or company news. Only 25% used it for marketing (e.g. sales promotions) whilst 38% reported links to interesting or relevant articles.

Star example - Topshop

( http://insideout.topshop.com )

Topshop’s ‘Inside Out’ blog is a great example of how brands can effectively use a blog for enriching their ecommerce solutions by adding something extra to the website and conveying more of the brand’s personality.

The content of the Topshop blog is a mixture of product information and additional ‘lifestyle’ editorial that its target demographic would likely be interested in. The former is always put in context and doesn’t just read like a dry product description.

The content takes a variety of forms, with text updates appearing alongside images and videos.

The large number of comments demonstrates the high level of engagement that Topshop has
with its customers through the blog site.






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