Survey shows South African blogosphere becoming an increasingly mainstream channel

“Contact us more frequently and consistently, but with the right material, and a personal touch” say SA bloggers, interviewed by Text 100, to PR practitioners in our country.

Johannesburg, South Africa, 03/16/2010 — Text 100 Johannesburg joined the rest of the 21 Text 100 offices that, some months ago, endeavored in what is believed to be the first global survey of its kind. Text 100 has examined the communications / PR preferences of chiefly technology, business and lifestyle bloggers across the globe, now including the South African blogosphere.

The survey indicates a ‘mainstreaming’ of blogging in most markets, with many bloggers reporting increased contact from PR professionals or corporate communicators. It also highlights that some of the worst practices from media relations have been exported to global blogger relations practices. Importantly for companies wanting to engage with bloggers, the survey indicates that there is significant opportunity for deeper relationships with this increasingly influential community. The South-African survey’s findings are generally consistent with the rest of the regions, but have some local, interesting angles.

Text 100 Johannesburg has analysed the results and suggests FIVE key lessons for PR and communications professionals:

1. Corporations are increasingly recognising the influence of bloggers – The increased contact points to the “mainstreaming” of blogging as a communications channel, and the recognition by corporations that bloggers have increasing influence over their desired audiences.
2. Corporate News Releases are out - Bloggers say SMRs (Social Media Releases) - or other more de-structured, personalised ways of informing bloggers, will experience greater usage. Preferred source of SA bloggers are other bloggers, social bookmarking sites, social networks and microblogging sites like twitter and FB; TV, magazines and newspapers are deemed the least reliable
3. Consistency and continuity are key – only a few PR practitioners are dedicated and dynamic enough to serve bloggers in the optimum fashion. It is really a 24/7 sort-of-job, not the type of job which can work with one or two enquiries a month; some bloggers welcome contact after hours
4. The majority of bloggers are still part-timers – PR professionals should adjust their strategies accordingly. Outside of the US, the majority of bloggers surveyed blog for less than 9 hours per week
5. Most bloggers will acknowledge when a post is supported by a corporation - While more than 80 percent of bloggers, no matter their region, say they would acknowledge sponsorship of blog posts, North Asian bloggers in particular tend to be less likely or willing to acknowledge sponsorship.

More insights on the global survey, including SA:

Contact with PR People
- More than 90 percent of the 465 bloggers surveyed welcome contact by PR people – and SA is no exception
- Most report a high level of regular contact from PR people, with more than 96% of bloggers in the US being contacted once a week or more (versus 30% in SA, 36% in Asia Pacific [APAC] and 65% in Europe); SA seems to be still low in terms of frequency of contact
- Email is the preferred form of contact, no matter which part of the globe bloggers reside; and SMS and IM universally are the least preferred forms
- Around half of all bloggers in APAC and Europe indicate their preferred form of contact on their blogs, and as a result of this survey, a number were planning to add their preferred form of contact if they weren’t already showing this. Over 90% of bloggers in SA and APAC prefer an introduction before receiving information from PR people and corporations - and many of APAC bloggers also wanted a face-to-face meeting
- Bloggers are united in their desire for distinctive content, particularly around new product developments and reviews, feedback on content posted on their blog, market trends and interviews with key people

Content from PR People
- Photographs are the most frequently used form of supplied content, followed by charts, graphs, and video streaming
- Almost two thirds of bloggers in APAC and Europe intend to use more elements from SMRs (Social Media Releases) in the coming 12 months; SA bloggers seem less interested, as long as they are provided with links to look at relevant information, including images

Blogging Habits
- Bloggers in the US spend the most time blogging, with 63% spending nine or more hours a week; in SA, much like in APAC and Europe, time spent blogging is much less (only 30% of SA bloggers spend more than 9 hours blogging, 36% in APAC and 44% in Europe)
- Microblogging is used by more than 75% of all bloggers: but over 90% in SA, although our bloggers don’t particularly believe they are blogging more often because of microblogging, unlike in Europe and APAC

Continued Bad Habits from PRs
- PR people continue to blindly send corporate press releases to bloggers
- PR professionals are failing to read the blogs and truly understand their target bloggers’ communities
- They seem to expect bloggers to post corporate material, demonstrating a lack of understanding of the medium and the very reason why bloggers blog
- They treat bloggers as they would journalists – and not as influencers which are more appropriate.

About Text 100: Text 100 is a global public relations consultancy with a staff of 500 people and a direct presence in 30 cities worldwide. We work with many of the world’s leading technology, internet and digital lifestyle brands with a client roster that includes IBM, Cisco, Fujifilm, Lenovo, MTV, SanDisk, Skype and PayPal. We are recognized as an innovator in the field of public relations – particularly in the emerging area of social media - and for leading the PR industry in staff development. Our strong culture has been praised around the world over the past two years during which time we have been recognized as the Best Midsize Agency in Asia, the Best Midsize Agency to Work For in the US, and one of the UK’s Best Small Companies. In 2009, we have been awarded the European Sabre Awards 2009 for the best campaign on new and digital media. For more information about the Company, please visit www.text100.com.

For media/bloggers enquiries:
Boitumelo Mkhondo, Rochelle de Paiva - TEXT 100 Global Public Relations Johannesburg
Bentley Office Park, Block 8, First Floor, Wessel Rd
Rivonia 2196, South Africa
www.text100.com
D: +27 11 803 2800
F: +27 11 803 5141

Media Contact

Please direct all media inquiries to:

Simona Menghini
+27 11 8032800
simona.menghini@text100.it