Blogs are a relatively recent phenomena, a channel of communication developed with the evolution of Web 2.0. Web 2.0 tools have changed the focus from the company to the customer. Broadly, Web 2.0 differs from Web 1.0 in that it is customer-centric, user-generated, interactive and dynamic, fosters community participation, and builds on collective community intelligence. Blogs are one of the leading tools in the next generation of the Internet tools in Web 2.0 (Singh, Veron-Jackson & Cullinane, 2008). Where in the beginning it was considered a bit strange or quirky to have one, in present times the role of blogs have become increasingly mainstream, as news services and even political candidates begin using them as tools for outreach and opinion formation.

The emergence, proliferation, and ubiquity of the Internet have not only transformed businesses, but also altered the relationship between businesses and the customer. Recent advances in technology have helped to migrate this relationship to an interactive level where technology contributes to brand building by creating and sustaining a long-term relationship with the customer. From a business perspective, the marketing power of a blog can enhance the consumers trust in a company, allowing the company name to be remembered, or in the case of smaller firms, to just be recognized in the industry. Sherwood (2011) describes a blog as ‘a long-term marketing asset that will bring traffic and leads to your business’.

In an age where everything is done electronically, the Yankelovich Partners Study in BusinessWire (2005) found customers respond more favorably to marketing when they have control over what they see, when they see it, whether it can be personalized to fit their needs, and when they can be active participants in the marketing process. Essentially, people may not be averse to marketing messages when they can control their delivery and format, and when the messages are personally meaningful to them. Marketing has seen a paradigm shift towards appealing to emotions of the consumer, creating a lasting impression and further building the relationship between business and consumer. Blogs are one way that businesses can make marketing more personal, many believing that they are now a prerequisite to a marketing strategy (Singh, Veron-Jackson & Cullinane, 2008).

According to Hafner (2011) a blog with regular postings will aid if trying to achieve the following:

• Getting your business to be remembered – it humanizes a faceless business
• Generate traffic to your e-commerce site.
• Overall increase profit, with better leads.

Despite all this the question still remains, can a blog successfully lead to increased sales?

According to 1&1, a web hosting company, a blog can successfully increase sales and they outline three ways in which it can:

•  Increase in web traffic – more visitors through the blog will hopefully connect to an increase in revenue, more visitors provides the opportunity to potentially make a sale. In addition, the new content a blog creates enables an improvement in search engine optimization (SEO), meaning your web page will appear higher on results lists of search engines such as Google.
• Delivering expertise and knowledge – by providing content that can answer a lot of the questions that buyers may have in your industry, customers will view your business as a reliable and trustworthy source, creating brand loyalty thus hopefully encouraging repeat business.
• Developing a relationship with the customer – similar to the previous, factors such as brand recognition and brand loyalty prevail. Within the blog a firm can communicate directly to customers to satisfy their individual needs, this in turn may be relayed by them to colleagues or friends, creating a viral trend through word of mouth.

Hubspot carried out a study to analyse ‘how often does one proceed to a purchase decision with blogging research?’ Results indicated that 71% of respondents stated that blogs affect their purchasing decisions, either to a certain degree or fully taken into account (Sherwood, 2011). As well as this, they found that blog frequency impacts customer acquisition. They discovered that in 2012, 92% of companies who produced multiple blog posts a day acquired a customer directly via their blog (HubSpot, 2014).

What about the risks of blogging?
Employee blogs limit the control corporations have on certain information as there is a chance for damaging content being exposed to the public. In addition blogs from the outside world in the form of customer blogging, perceived experts or even people hired by competitors of a company can be used to attack a certain product or company. Cox, Martinez & Quinlan (2008) explain this is full, along with an in-depth analysis of the relationships between blogging and corporations. Please search for the article in the references below on Google Scholar.

Further limitations include lack of control and commitment to continuity. To read more follow the link – http://http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/science/article/pii/S0007681308000323

References
Business Wire. (2005, April 18). Marketers must change how they appeal to consumers if they want to capitalize on promise of new media, according to study; Yankelovich unveils new marketing receptivity study at ARF conference. [Online] < http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2005_April_18/ai_n13627973 > [accessed 27 April 2015]

Cox, J., Martinez, E. & Quinlan, K. (2008) Blogs and the corporation: managing the risk, reaping the benefits. Journal of Business Strategy. Vol. 29 (Issue 3), pp. 4-12

Hafner (2011) Blog [Online] http://www.hafnercreative.com/Blog/bid/59291/How-does-blogging-increase-sales [accessed 27 April 2015]

HubSpot (2014) Marketing Statistics [Online] http://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics [accessed 27 April 2015]

Sherwood, G. (2011) Why Successful Companies Use Blogs to Grow Their Business. DBC Digital. 1 December 2011 [Online] http://www.dbcdigital.com/blog-0/bid/108416/Why-Successful-Companies-Use-Blogs-to-Grow-Their-Business [accessed 27 April 2015]

Singh, T., Veron-Jackson, L. & Cullinane, J. (2008) Blogging: A New Play in Your Marketing Game Plan. Business Horizons. Vol. 51 (Issue 4), pp. 281-292