Bob Bly wonders, "Does blog marketing make sense?"

Copywriting maestro Bob Bly has long been skeptical about the marketing value of blogs. Even on his own blog! Now he brings Bad News for Blogging Evangelists that...

According to an article in Internet Marketing Report (5/25/07), 52% of U.S. adults never read a blog, and 16% don’t even know what a blog is.
The article concludes that investing a lot of your marketing budget in blogging “doesn't make a whole lot of sense.”

But to me, going by the numbers alone is like choosing a book by how many pages it has. I care about what is inside, not how much. J.K. Rowling's books sell in spite of how much they weigh... not because of it.

Can the value of blogging be measured purely in numbers of readers? I would say it makes a lot of sense to reach 100 readers who are likely to buy and then tell their friends about your product. Especially when the cost of reaching them is minute compared to other media.

Not only that. The real reach of blogs is far wider than the reported "readership." Google immortalizes the information on blogs. Searchers (read "buyers") for your product will find you. Get tagged and you're it!

Get a ringside seat at the slugfest on Bob's blog.