Bloggers are out there by the millions and are a very influential group. If marketers can reach them in a real and authentic way – or target their readers effectively – companies can reap huge dividends.

What is a blog? It’s a simple web site or digital diary displayed in reverse chronological order. A blog provides commentary on subjects such as news, politics, sports, food, TV and entertainment, etc. Bloggers use text, images, videos, links to other blogs and web pages related to their topic to communicate their message.

A new blog is born every half a second! Over 75,000 blogs are being created every day and there are now more blogs than there are commercial websites. Most Americans read blogs to find niche information, gossip/buzz or immediate or breaking news.

To illustrate the point, Empower MediaMarketing encouraged our employees to share their own blogs through a recent company contest. It was fun to see what interests some of our folks had; blogs were devoted to everything from pets to hobbies to travel. Our contest also revealed some interesting consumer behaviors. Through blogs, many Empower employees essentially raised their hand and voluntarily categorized themselves by interests and consumer behavior. It proved blogs are a great place for companies to target a reader with a message, or influence a blogger to talk about certain products.

Here are a few examples to illustrate the range of consumer groups you might be able to reach by using this new marketing tool.

Passionate Consumers: Check out Beth Steele’s Disney Vacation Planning blog: http://bethsdisneyvacaplanning.blogspot.com/. It’s clear that Beth loves Disney and is a passionate fan! Just check out the Golden Mickey Ears and some of her trip planning suggestions.

Influencers: Lorne Lambert is a very influential music fan. After reading his blog (http://www.thespottydog.blogspot.com/), you just might go out and purchase some new music!

Social Networkers: Check out Rob Sarasua’s blog: http://www.bobsaratoga.blogspot.com/ . At least every week, Rob posts a new funny YouTube video that is a must see. Rob has created is a small social network where like-minded individuals participate in a conversation and can even vote on things such as when you’re too old to stop watching reality TV.

And finally there was Empower’s winner. Check out the creative blog Kate Brown created for her wedding: http://kbrwedding.blogspot.com/. Hotels, caterers, photographers and wedding retailers might find blogs like this to be a perfect fit for their marketing plans.

Our blog contest was a real hit and a case study all in one. At Empower we are always looking for new ways to effectively target and communicate with our clients’ consumers, and blogs are just another tool in our toolbox. It’s no longer effective to solely rely on demographic targeting. Blogs provide a new opportunity to pinpoint target on interests and behaviors where consumers are identifying themselves for us!

If you are Disney, wouldn’t you love to run a special offer on Beth’s blog? Or, if you were an up and coming band, wouldn’t you like to get your album in front of Lorne Lambert? The challenge is finding these passionate and influential consumers and then engaging in a meaningful conversation that is authentic and real. For more information on how Empower might help you brand influence bloggers (or target their readers), contact your client strategist today.

Sources: Technorati, Vizu Answers and Advertising Age, March 2007, eMarketer, Wikipedia.