There’s at least copper in them thar hills
: Adman Tom Hespos says blogs do work for advertisers and he offers some advice. [via AdRants]
There are quite a few media buyers who end up here for one reason or another. I have this message for them: If you’re not considering advertising on blogs that deal with topics of interest to your clients and their target audiences, you’re doing your client a disservice. Put down the @Plan runs and the MRI crosstabs for a sec and take a calculated chance for your clients. It will pay off. Relevance is one of the prime drivers of success in online advertising. Blogs have dedicated audiences that come back again and again to consume quality topical content. Your client wants to be associated with such editorial environments (or at least they should). Propose a small test with a blog, gauge its success, and you’ll likely find it to perform particularly well….
I think blog advertising will be a force to be reckoned with eventually, but it’s going to take some time. First, blogs need to get on the radar screens of major marketers with money to spend. Then it’s going to take some time for them to engage in small-scale testing before they make serious commitments. My advice to the blog community is to be patient and to keep doing what you’re doing. Content truly is king, and as blogs draw more eyeballs away from mainstream news and topical sites, the dollars will follow the eyeballs.
Now those are words of encouragement.
