So, I’ll admit that anytime the word ‘blog’ comes up I cringe. It’s one of the most overused words of 2008 and has made huge promises for many marketers that haven’t delivered the anticipated results. With that said, bloggers are real people, with real audiences and can have a major impact on your brand if you have fair expectations, offer substance that they can sink their teeth into and if you actively engaging the ones that have loyal audiences that potentially care about your brand. Here is a fantastic use of embracing bloggers in a way that directly had a positive impact on a company’s bottom line. Hewlett Packard, in an effort to announce the release of their new kick-ass computer (HDX Dragon notebook), enlisted the help of 31 bloggers who were considered influencers to their core target market. They gave each one of the bloggers the computer (worth $5,100) for them to offer contests on their blog giving away the computer to their readers. In a nutshell, it empowered the bloggers to build a connection with their readers by giving them the computer to give away – rather than HP hosting some larger sweepstakes without them. The result – “the promotion was credited with an 84 percent increase in sales on the unit, a 10 percent increase in overall PC sales, and a 14 percent increase in traffic to hpshopping.com.” I believe half of what I see and just about none of what I hear – BUT, I really like the idea of what they did here on this campaign and I think it highlights the success that marketing to blogs can have if the campaign is done with the necessary focus and attention to detail.
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