Useful Statistics for IMC Professionals

From the (in)frequency of my posts, it is clear that I have become the casual blogger I said I would try to avoid becoming. The good news is that I’ll try and put a few posts together on a regular basis; primarily as a resource for myself and anyone else who may find my random musings useful.

To that end, I recently ran across a great resource from Bazzaarvoice of Industry Statistics for anyone doing Integrated Marketing Communication research. This site has a collection of marketing-related statistics segmented by area of interest, such as:

• Word of Mouth (WOM)
• Consumer Demand Ratings
• Marketer Demand Ratings
• Conversion Results
• User-generated Content
• Advertising and Media
• Search

I found Bazzarvoice to be a great resource and they also have a Blog you may wish to review, as well. The Industry Statistics information proved beneficial when researching secondary sources for a recent assignment in my IMC Audience Insight class this term. The 2007 International Journal of Market Research review titled, “The Web of Insights. The Art and Practice of Webnography,” by Angali Puri, of AC Neilson India, was an interesting and insightful discussion on the topic of Webnography. Remember, I said interesting, not exciting.

Webnography, sometimes referred to as consumer generated media, really is a way marketers can gather consumer insights by studying the “natural conversations” found within various Internet forums, such as Blogs, newsgroups, social networking sites, message boards, or any other forum where consumer conversations are taking place online.

Like many marketers that are interested in how the Internet is changing the marketing communications landscape, the web, as an object of study for market research, presents an abundance of information that will enhance the future of product and service development and help marketers develop their integrated marketing communication strategies. Our challenge is to learn the best way to leverage and use that information.