Businesses urged to enter blog space

A new report from eMarketer has advised businesses to make use of blogs to further their internet marketing efforts.

About 37.6 million US web users will be posting to their own blogs at least once a month by 2013, while 128.2 million people will read these blogs, its figures suggested.

To this end, firms would do well to think about adding their brands to the blogosphere by posting to their own blog or forming a branded presence on an independent blog, said Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the report.

"This blogging activity presents new opportunities for marketers to influence - and monitor - conversations that may be relevant to their businesses," he commented.

David Tokheim of Six Apart Media added that the lines are increasingly being blurred between standalone blogs making use of TypePad, Blogger or WordPress hosting, for example, and blog content created by media companies such as the New York Times.

A poll conducted by the Online Marketing Blog earlier this year found that over one-third of companies intend to prioritise blogs when it comes to their internet strategies for 2009.

Written by Tim Dunton