Has Blogger Outreach Hit Its Tipping Point?

There’s no doubt that blogger buzz can get the word out about a product. Just look at the new Frigidaire program that’s giving away new appliances to a variety of bloggers. You can hardly get through mom blogs without tripping over someone talking about the program. Just before Christmas it was the HP Magic Giveaway, which featured 50 different sites giving away several computers, peripherals, and software. The chatter level was astronomical.

So it’s obvious that big businesses with big marketing budgets are hitting the blogger outreach circuit. And the chatter about the various programs keeps growing. But as more companies jump on this bandwagon, and as bloggers rush to get in line for free items, increases in traffic, and maybe even a little cash compensation, one has to wonder: Has blogger outreach already hit its tipping point?

As Susan at Marketing Roadmaps mentioned, the signal to noise ratio is getting bigger – and that makes it harder to suss out the interesting things from among the racket. Bloggers complain that too many people are just in it for the money, thereby killing sense of community that has built up over a period of years. And it’s possible that a backlash is coming. It may already be here, as bloggers contemplate the ethics involved in writing sponsored content on their personal blogs.

There are companies who are trying to mediate the line between editorial and sponsored content. BlogHer, a community for women bloggers, recently clarified their position on how they handle advertising in their blog network, versus the paid review programs they also sponsor. It all comes back to transparency, doesn’t it?

In light of all the talking about bloggers, social media, outreach, and transparency, it seems like we’re pretty close to a tipping point, if we haven’t already reached it. As more companies sponsor giveaways, send out press releases, invite bloggers on all kinds of trips, readers will have to wade through the noise to find what they’re really looking for: good content. And they’ll give up if they can’t quickly find it. If the audience dwindles, then what?

Image: Newscom