At least that’s the implication of a recent article from eMarketer called The Growing Influence of Online Social Shoppers. (You can buy the full report for only $700…)
According to this report, people trust financial analysts more than bloggers. Only 12% of of respondents said they would trust bloggers as a credible source for information about a company.
I have to wonder what this means for our blog networks. Every month, we tell readers take a look at what Zondervan is doing. Or Harvest House. Or NavPress. Or IVP. (Although after IVP’s April Fool’s joke, I’m not sure I trust them anymore!)
Not to worry. It turns out that the true power of blogging may be hidden in this report. Notice the number one source of credible information: “People like themselves.” See, for every Arriana Huffington and Grokdotcom, there are hundreds and thousands of bloggers with micro audiences who know them in the real world. When RealLivePreacher makes a recommendation, I trust him not because he is a blogger, but because he is my friend. Same with L. L. Barkat. Tina Howard. Chris Cree. Gordon Atkinson. Karl Edwards. Dan Roloff. Every Square Inch. Eve. Carl Holmes. Al Hsu. Craver. Mary DeMuth. Heather Goodman. Camy Tang. Merri Destafano. Becky Miller. Robert Hruzek. Abby Dennis. Brandon. Arly (congrats on the baby!) Wendy. And all of my other friends.
And by friend, I don’t mean someone on Facebook who contacted me out of the blue to give them permission to market to me. I mean people I’ve had coffee with. (So if you’re on that list but we haven’t had coffee yet, time’s a-wasting!)
Also, if you’re my friend, go read my interview with the president of Walden Media for the latest scoop on Prince Caspian, Dawn Treader, and The Screwtape Letters.
Who cares what the bloggers say about blogging.
This weekend while I was mowing my jungle lawn between the final performances of Midsummer Night’s Dream, I listened to a MarketingExperiements podcast called “
