Blogger Survey 2009 conducted by Text 100 surveyed 30 bloggers in Germany. Some key findings:
1) 73% of bloggers welcome contact from PR firms to provide information and suggestions, and 97% had been contacted in the past 6 months.
2) Email is the most preferred means of contact, while SMS and IM are least preferred. 47% of bloggers indicate their preferred contact method on their blog.
3) 70% of bloggers prefer an introductory contact before receiving information from an unknown PR firm. Photographs are the most frequently used content type.
2. Survey Methodology
• Text 100 conducted the survey based predominantly on
relationships with technology, news and lifestyle bloggers across
21 countries. This is the report for Germany;
• Text 100 was responsible for respondent identification and
recruiting, while Aha! Research programmed and collected
responses via an online survey, analyzed, and reported the results;
• A total of 30 surveys were analyzed.
• Note that for some questions the sample size is small and should
be interpreted with care;
• All surveys were offered in English;
• Survey period: April 6 to May 11, 2009.
2
3. Bloggers’ interest in
contact with PR people
Bloggers generally welcome contact from PR firms or a corporation
to provide information, comments, and suggestions. Bloggers in
APAC are slightly more welcoming than their counterparts in the
USA and Europe
93%
87% 89%
(2008: 66%)
APAC EURO USA
Q.1: Do you welcome any contact from Public Relations (PR) firms or any corporation to provide information, offer comment or suggest people
you might be interested in talking to? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
3
4. Bloggers’ past contact with PR people
Bloggers report that contact initiated by a PR firm or corporation
varies from 70% in APAC to 100% in the USA
100%
86%
70%
(2008: 66%)
APAC EURO USA
Q.2a: Have you been contacted by any Public Relations (PR) firms or corporations in the past 6 months about areas you have been focused on
or are interested in? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
4
5. Bloggers’ interest and past contact with
PR people - Germany
Welcome any contact
from PR firm?
73% of the bloggers welcome contact from PR firms or
corporations to provide information, comments, and suggestions.
No
27% Past 6 months contact?
No
3%
Yes
73%
Most (97%) of the Yes
respondents have 97%
been contacted in the
past 6 months
Q.1: Do you welcome any contact from Public Relations (PR) firms or any corporation to provide information, offer comment or suggest people
you might be interested in talking to? (n=30)
Q.2a: Have you been contacted by any Public Relations (PR) firms or corporations in the past 6 months about areas you have been focused on
or are interested in? (n=30)
5
6. Frequency of contact
100%
4%
7%
7%
90% 21% 8%
80% 15%
Almost all surveyed Less than once every two months
18%
bloggers (96%) in the USA 13% Once every two months
70%
get contacted by PR firms 11%
Once a month
or corporations once a 60% Once a week
13%
week or more often. In
More than once a week
Europe (65%) and Asia 50% 31%
(36%) bloggers get Daily
contacted once a week or 40% 23% More than once a day
more often
30% 63%
12%
10% Once
20% a
14% week
10% or
19%
4% more
6% often
0%
APAC EURO USA
Q.2b: How frequently have you been contacted any Public Relations (PR) firms or corporations in the
past 6 months? (n= APAC:163, EURO:163, USA:27)
6
7. Frequency of contact - Germany Almost half
(47%) got
contacted once
a month or
more often
100%
90% 17% More than once a day
Past 6 months contact? 3%
80%
Daily
10%
No 70%
3%
More than once a week
60% 17%
50% Once a week
Yes 40%
97% 31% Once a month
30%
Once every two months
20%
17% Less than once every two
10%
months
0% 3%
Q.2b: How frequently have you been contacted by any Public Relations (PR) firms or corporations in
the past 6 months? (n=29)
7
8. Preferred means of contact
6,3
Email Mean score 6,0
5,7
on 7-point
scale 3,6
Face-to-face 4,1
4,5 Email is the most
preferred means of About half of bloggers in APAC
3,0
Comment on blog 4,1 contact with bloggers, and Europe indicate their
4,3 preferred means of contact on
while SMS and IM are
their blog
3,0 least preferred. APAC
Micro-blogging 3,8
4,1 bloggers seem to be 57%
52%
3,0
more flexible in their
Social networking invitation 3,3 preferred means of
4,1
contact 30%
3,0
Telephone 2,8
3,9 USA
1,9 EURO
Instant Messaging (IM) 2,4
3,8 APAC APAC EURO USA
1,6
SMS 1,7
3,4
0,0 1,0 2,0 3,0 4,0 5,0 6,0 7,0
7-point scale where 1=“Very Low preference” and 7=“Very high preference”
Q.3a: Please indicate to what extent you prefer each of the following means of contact from PR firms or corporations on a
scale of 1 to 7, where 1 is “Very low preference” and 7 is “Very high preference” (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
Q4: Do you indicate your most preferred form of contact on your blog? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
8
9. Preferred means of contact - Germany
Email is the most preferred
means of contact among bloggers
Any indication of
By email 5,3 preferred means of
Comment on your blog 3,9 contact shown on
By face-to-face meeting 3,6 their blogs?
By micro-blogging platform 3,4 Mean score
on 7-point 47% of bloggers indicate
By social networking invitation 3,0 scale their most preferred form
By instant messaging 2,1 of contact on their blogs
By telephone 1,9
By SMS 1,2
0,0 1,0 2,0 3,0 4,0 5,0 6,0 7,0
7-point scale where 1=“Very Low preference” and 7=“Very high preference”
Q.3a: Please indicate to what extent you prefer each of the following means of contact from PR firms or corporations on a
scale of 1 to 7, where 1 is “Very low preference” and 7 is “Very high preference” (n=30)
Q4: Do you indicate your most preferred form of contact on your blog? (n=30)
9
10. Contact required before
information distribution?
In APAC, 88% prefer an introduction before
Introductory face-to-face meetings with new
receiving information from a PR firm or
contacts are more important in APAC than in
corporation with whom they have not had prior
Europe or the USA
contact, compared with only 41% in the USA
88% 4,1
77%
3,0
2,8
41%
APAC EURO USA APAC EURO USA
Q.5: If a PR firm or corporation with whom you had no prior contact wants to send you their press releases or other information, do you prefer them to contact you
first to introduce themselves, or just send you their information without an introduction? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
Q.6: How important you feel it is to have a face-to-face meeting before receiving information from a PR agency or corporation with whom you have not worked with
before? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
10
11. Contact required before
information distribution? - Germany
70% of bloggers prefer to be introduced before
receiving information from a PR firm or corporation
with whom they have not had prior contact
How important is a face-to-face
introduction meeting?
Prefers no Many of these bloggers
introductio don‟t think a face-to-face meeting is
n
important
30%
Prefers
introductio On a 7-point „importance scale‟, the mean
n is 2.93 which is leaning towards the “Not
70% Important” side of the scale
Q.5: If a PR firm or corporation with whom you had no prior contact wants to send you their press releases or other information, do you prefer them to contact you
first to introduce themselves, or just send you their information without an introduction? (n=30)
Q.6: How important you feel it is to have a face-to-face meeting before receiving information from a PR agency or corporation with whom you have not worked with
before? (n=30)
11
12. Interest in selected types of content
6,0
Research, insights, new product development news 5,6
5,3
5,0
Opinionated responses to your blog posts 5,2
Mean score 5,5
on 7-point 5,0
Products to review 5,4
The most preferred content by scale 5,0
bloggers is news of new product 5,6
Interviews with key people 5,0
5,2
development and products for
review, as well as feedback from 4,7
Market trend and forecast/analysis 4,7
4,8 USA
readers and interviews with key
people. 5,2 EURO
Product announcements 4,8
4,4
APAC
4,3
Bloggers show the least interest Competitive product analysis 4,2
4,7
in corporate news
4,3
announcements Event announcements 4,3
4,6
Long-term and strategic related content about 3,8
3,9
corporations 4,4
3,5
Corporate news announcements 3,1
3,5
0,0 1,0 2,0 3,0 4,0 5,0 6,0 7,0
7-point scale where 1=“Not interested at all” and 7=“Very interested”
Q.8a: Now let‟s talk about your preferred content for your blog. For each of the following types of content, please use this scale
where 1 means you are not interested at all and 7 means you are very interested in this content.
(n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
12
13. Interest in selected types of content -
Germany
Research insights / new product development news is the most sought after
content type while corporate news announcements is of least interest
Research, insights, new product development news 5,5
Market trend and forecast/analysis 5,1
Opinionated responses to your blog posts 4,9
Interviews with key people 4,6
Long-term and strategic related content about corporations 4,2
Competitive product analysis 3,9
Mean score
Products to review 3,9 on 7-point
Product announcements 3,5 scale
Event announcements 3,3
Corporate news announcements 2,9
0,0 1,0 2,0 3,0 4,0 5,0 6,0 7,0
7-point scale where 1=“Not interested at all” and 7=“Very interested”
Q.8a: Now let‟s talk about your preferred content for your blog. For each of the following types of content, please use this scale
where 1 means you are not interested at all and 7 means you are very interested in this content. (n=30)
13
14. Content format: Frequency of usage
74%
Photographs 88%
88%
37%
Charts and graphs 44% Photographs are the most
41% frequently used content forms
while podcasts are least
USA
37% frequently used
Video streaming 43% EURO
34%
APAC
15%
Video podcast 26%
16%
% who used
15%
“a few times a
Audio podcast 13% month” or more
15% frequently
Q.9: How frequently have you used each of the following content formats on your blog over the past 6 months?
(n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
14
15. Content format: Frequency of usage -
Germany
Photographs are the most frequently used content type with 86% of the surveyed
bloggers using them a few times a month or more. Video or audio podcasts are
used less than a few times in the past 6 months by more than 73% of the bloggers
Daily Few times a week Few times a month Few times in past 6 months Less often Not at all
Photographs 30% 37% 20% 7% 7%
Charts and graphs 10% 20% 27% 17% 10% 17%
Video streaming 13% 33% 17% 7% 30%
Video podcast 10% 17% 20% 20% 33%
Audio podcast 3% 17% 10% 10% 60%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Q.9: How frequently have you used each of the following content formats on your blog over the past 6 months? (n=30)
15
16. Social Media Releases
Among those aware of SMRs,
effectiveness evaluation is on the
positive side (7-point
Social Media Releases (SMRs) have
“effectiveness scale where
highest awareness amongst APAC
7=Very effective)
bloggers (48%) (note: small USA sample size)
5,3
48% 4,8 5,0
38%
26%
APAC EURO USA APAC EURO USA
Q.10a: Have you ever heard of a Social Media Release (definition provided in the questionnaire? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
Q.10b: How effective do you think Social Media Releases are as a means to keep you updated on corporations? (7-point scale)
(n= APAC:112, EURO:72, USA:7)
16
17. Social Media Releases
Bloggers generally experienced an increase over the past year
in the usage of SMRs by companies to communicate with them
(note: small USA sample size)
68%
63%
57%
APAC EURO USA
Q.10c: Compared with a year ago, to what extent are companies using Social Media Releases to communicate with you and other bloggers?
(n= APAC:112, EURO:72, USA:7)
17
18. Social Media Releases - Germany
SMR Effectiveness
Among those who have heard of
SMRs, 50% feel they are a very
effective means of keeping them
updated on corporations
(note: small sample size)
Compared with a year ago, 50%
About half of the surveyed of bloggers experienced an
bloggers are aware of increase SMR usage by
Social Media Releases companies wanting to
communicate with them
(note: small sample size)
60%
50% 50%
50%
No 40%
47% Yes
30%
53%
20%
10%
0% 0% 0%
0%
Increased Increased Remained Decreased Decreased
significantly somewhat unchanged somewhat significantly
Q.10a: Have you ever heard of a Social Media Release (definition provided in the questionnaire? (n=30)
Q.10b: How effective do you think Social Media Releases are as a means to keep you updated on corporations? (7-point scale) (n=16)
Q.10c: Compared with a year ago, to what extent are companies using Social Media Releases to communicate with you and other bloggers? (n=16)
18
19. Use of SMR elements
Usage of elements from SMRs in the Intention to use elements from
past year is highest in APAC SMRs in the next year is high in
(note: small USA sample size) both APAC and Europe
(note: small USA sample size)
Past year usage Next year intent to use
(often / very often) (somewhat / significantly more often)
26% 64%
61%
43%
15%
0%
APAC EURO USA APAC EURO USA
Q.10d: In the past year, how often have you taken elements (video, quotes, pictures, links) from a Social Media Releases to use in your own blog postings?
Q.10e: In the next year, how often are you likely to use elements from a Social Media Release for use in your own blog postings?
(n= APAC:112, EURO:72, USA:7)
19
20. Use of SMR elements - Germany
Only 12% of bloggers frequently took elements 76% said they will use SMR elements
such as videos, quotes, pictures and links from more often in the coming year
SMRs to use in their own blogs. (note: small sample size)
(note: small sample size)
50% Past year Next year intent
44% 70%
45% usage 63% to use
40% 60%
35% 50% 76%
30% 40%
25%
25%
19% 30% 25%
20%
20%
15% 12% 13%
10% 6% 6% 10%
0% 0%
5% 0%
0% Significantly Somewhat Same as in the Somewhat less Significantly
Always Very often Sometimes Rarely Never more often more often past year often less often
Q.10d: In the past year, how often have you taken elements (video, quotes, pictures, links) from a Social Media Releases to use in your own blog postings? (n=16)
Q.10e: In the next year, how often are you likely to use elements from a Social Media Release for use in your own blog postings? (n=16)
20
21. Popular blogging subjects
“Computers”, “technology” and “Internet” are the most
blogged about subjects
APAC EUROPE USA
Computers and technology 67% Internet / Web 2.0 83% Computers and technology 78%
Internet / Web 2.0 61% Computers and technology 74% Internet / Web 2.0 67%
Culture and Community 52% Media 50% Business and finance 52%
Entertainment / Arts/ Music 45% Brands / marketing/ media 45% Media 26%
Brands / marketing/ media 42% Culture and Community 43% Gaming 26%
Media 41% Business and finance 31% Brands / marketing/ media 22%
Current affairs 31% Gaming 28% Culture and Community 15%
General News 27% Entertainment / Arts/ Music 27% Entertainment / Arts/ Music 11%
Business and finance 27% Science 23% Current affairs 11%
Government & Politics 20% Government & Politics 18% Government & Politics 7%
Gaming 16% General News 17% Science 4%
Science 15% Current affairs 17% General News 4%
Q.11: Which of the following subjects do you normally blog about? (Select all that apply)
(n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
21
22. Popular blogging subjects -
Germany
The Internet, media, and “Computers and Technology”
are the most blogged about subjects among these bloggers
Internet / Web 2.0 83%
Media 63%
Computers and technology 63%
Culture and Community 57%
Brands / marketing/ media 47%
Government & Politics 30%
Business and finance 30%
Science 23%
Entertainment / Arts/ Music 20% % who normally blogs
General News 13% about each subject
Gaming 7%
Current affairs 7%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Q.11: Which of the following subjects do you normally blog about? (Select all that apply) (n=30)
22
23. Importance of various information
sources about corporations
“Other bloggers”, “Corporate websites”, and “RSS feeds” are the surveyed bloggers‟
most important sources of corporate information.
Traditional media is of less importance
APAC EUROPE USA
Other bloggers 5,4 Other bloggers 5,8 Corporation websites 5,4
RSS Feeds 4,9 RSS Feeds 5,3 Other bloggers 5,2
Corporation websites 4,9 Corporation websites 4,9 RSS Feeds 4,9
Social networks 4,8 Corporate bloggers 4,8 Newspapers 4,7
Corporate bloggers 4,8 Micro-blogging sites 4,6 Magazines 4,7
Micro-blogging sites 4,7 Social networks 4,4 Corporate bloggers 4,0
Newspapers 4,6 Newspapers 4,3 Social networks 3,6
Magazines 4,4 Magazines 3,9 Micro-blogging sites 3,4
Social bookmarking sites 4,1 Social bookmarking sites 3,9 Television 3,1
Television 4,0 Television 3,0 Social bookmarking sites 2,8
7-point scale where 1=“Not important at all” and 7=Very important”
Q.12: Please indicate how important each of the following sources are for information about corporations? Please use this scale
where 1 is “not important at all” and 7 is “very Important”. You may use any number from 1 to 7
(n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
23
24. Importance of various information
sources about corporations - Germany
“Other bloggers” and RSS Feeds are the most important
sources of information about corporations
Other bloggers 5,7
RSS Feeds 5,5
Micro-blogging sites 4,5
Corporate bloggers 4,5
Social networks 4,2
Newspapers 4,2
Mean scores
on 7-point
Corporation websites 4,1 scale
Social bookmarking sites 3,8
Magazines 3,5
Television 2,0
0,0 1,0 2,0 3,0 4,0 5,0 6,0 7,0
7-point scale where 1=“Not important at all” and 7=Very important”
Q.12: Please indicate how important each of the following sources are for information about corporations? Please use this scale
where 1 is “not important at all” and 7 is “very Important”. You may use any number from 1 to 7 (n=30)
24
25. Time spent blogging
APAC bloggers spend the least amount of time
blogging while USA bloggers spend the most
7%
18% 9+ hrs / 21%
24%
week: 31%
36%
41%
30%
APAC 18%
EURO USA
9+ hrs /
week:
44%
35% 13%
40%
22% 9+ hrs /
week:
63%
More than 16 hours 9 to 16 hours 4 to 8 hours Less than 4 hours
Q.13: How much of your working week is spent blogging?
(n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
25
26. Time spent blogging - Germany
40% of the bloggers spend more than 9 hours of
their working week blogging
Less than 4 hours
17% More than 16
hours
27%
9+ hrs /
Germany week:
40%
9 to 16 hours
13%
4 to 8 hours
43%
Q.13: How much of your working week is spent blogging? (n=30)
26
27. Micro-blogging
The impact of micro-blogging on
81% of bloggers in the USA and normal blogging is the highest in
Europe use micro-blogging, compared APAC (29%) and Europe (27%) where
with 76% in APAC bloggers reported to be blogging more
as a result of their micro-blogging
81% 81%
76% 29%
27%
18%
APAC EURO USA APAC EURO USA
Q.14a: Micro-blogging sites such as twitter, Plurk and Fanfou are increasingly popular alternatives to blogging (and social
networking). Do you use a micro-blogging site? (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
Q.14b: IF YES: Since starting to use a micro-blogging site, has your blogging… (n= APAC:177, EURO:153, USA:22)
27
28. Micro-blogging - Germany
Most of the bloggers (69%) think that micro-
blogging has neither increased nor decreased
their normal blogging
87% of bloggers use a micro-
12% 19%
blogging service such as twitter 80%
69%
70%
60%
No
50%
13%
40%
30%
n=26 20%
19%
8%
10% 4%
Yes 0%
87% 0%
Significantly Somewhat Neither Somewhat Significantly
increased increased increased nor decreased decreased
decreased
Q.14a: Micro-blogging sites such as twitter and are increasingly popular alternatives to blogging (and social networking).
Do you use a micro-blogging site? (n=30)
Q.14b: IF YES: Since starting to use a micro-blogging site, has your blogging… (n=26)
28
29. Honoring an embargo
All bloggers (100%) in the USA would honor the
terms of an embargo placed on a story idea or
announcement, compared to only 90% in Europe
100%
97%
90%
APAC EURO USA
Q.15: If offered a story idea or announcement under embargo (that is, the material is sent to you in advance of when the organization
wants it in the public arena, and advise a time and date after which it can be used), would you honor the terms of the embargo?
(n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
29
30. Honoring an embargo - Germany
No
23%
77% would honor the terms of an embargo
placed on a story idea or announcement
Yes
77%
Q.15: If offered a story idea or announcement under embargo (that is, the material is sent to you in advance of when the organization
wants it in the public arena, and advise a time and date after which it can be used), would you honor the terms of the embargo?
(n=30)
30
31. Acknowledging sponsorships
Bloggers in the USA are more likely to agree that they should acknowledge that their blog or post
is „supported‟ when making positive posts in return for some sort of compensation
Product reviews Advertorials Posts that support a blogs advertisers Incentives or gifting to report
100,0%
89% 89%
90,0% 85% 85%
81% 80% 80%
80,0% 74%
71%
68%
70,0% 64%
60,0% 58%
50,0%
40,0%
30,0%
20,0%
10,0%
0,0%
APAC EURO USA
Q.16: There has been some discussion in the blogosphere regarding bloggers making positive posts in return for some sort of
compensation. Some say that ethically, bloggers should acknowledge that their blog or post is „supported‟, while others disagree.
Do you agree, or disagree, that bloggers should acknowledge corporate sponsorship for: (n= APAC:233, EURO:189, USA:27)
31
32. Acknowledging sponsorships -
Germany
Bloggers generally agree that they should acknowledge that their blog or post is „supported‟
when making positive posts in return for some sort of compensation
Strongly agree Somewhat agree Neither disagree nor agree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree
Posts that support a blogs advertisers 63% 10% 10% 3% 13%
Product reviews 63% 7% 13% 7% 10%
Advertorials 67% 23% 10%
Incentives or gifting to report 63% 3% 10% 23%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Q.16: There has been some discussion in the blogosphere regarding bloggers making positive posts in return for some sort of
compensation. Some say that ethically, bloggers should acknowledge that their blog or post is „supported‟, while others disagree.
Do you agree, or disagree, that bloggers should acknowledge corporate sponsorship for: (n=30)
32
33. Indication of association with
blogged about entity
Agreement is highest in the USA that bloggers should
always clearly state their employer or association if
blogging on issues or topics that relate to their businesses
96%
87%
75%
APAC EURO USA
Q.17: there has been some discussion in the blogosphere regarding corporate bloggers that don‟t clearly indicate their association
with an enterprise or organization. To what extent do you agree, or disagree, that “bloggers should always clearly state their employer
or association if blogging on issues or topics that relate to their businesses?” (n=449)
33
34. Indication of association with
blogged about entity - Germany
Most (87%) agree that bloggers should always clearly state
their employer or association if blogging on issues or topics
that relate to their businesses
80%
70%
70%
60%
87%
50%
40%
30%
20% 17%
13%
10%
0% 0%
0%
Strongly agree Somewhat Neither Somewhat Strongly
agree disagree nor disagree disagree
agree
Q.17: there has been some discussion in the blogosphere regarding corporate bloggers that don‟t clearly indicate their association
with an enterprise or organization. To what extent do you agree, or disagree, that “bloggers should always clearly state their employer
or association if blogging on issues or topics that relate to their businesses?” (n=30)
34