Free Report: Most Powerful Online Tool for Influencing B2B Technology Buyers

A KnowledgeStorm research report found that 53% of B2B technology buyers had already been influenced by blog content at least once when making purchase decisions.

Industry peer blogs differ from a vendor’s blog or industry analyst blog because the information and opinions offered are perceived as being from an independent source not influenced by any particular company or organization. Technology purchasers consider these blogs to be similar to word-of-mouth, with the blogger leading the discussions and other peers volunteering information and opinions on the topics.

Examples of popular technology industry peer blogs include TechCrunch and Scobleizer, but there are a variety of peer blogs discussing various B2B tech niches including Customer Relationship Management,Enterprise Resource Planning, Service-Oriented Architecture, Business Intelligence, and Software-as-a-Service.

Want to know how a B2B software company uses industry peer blogs to drive a 30% product trial conversion rate? Get your free copy (no registration needed) of the full research report: The Most Powerful Online Tool for Influencing B2B Technology Buyers

The Big Mistake 90% of Marketing Directors Make When Engaging Bloggers

A great way to use industry peer blogs to influence tech buyers is submitting a public comment on a particularly relevant post that all readers of the blog can view (comment settings are different for every blog, some require blogger approval before comment is public). Most blog systems enable you to enter your name, e-mail address, and website along with your comment, providing other readers (and the blogger) an opportunity to go to the website you entered. It’s a terrific opportunity to increase your credibility with your target audience while driving quality website traffic.

However, according to professional blogger Darren Rowse of the ProBlogging blog (#27 on Technorati’s
list of Top 100 blogs), many comments left on some blogs are for shameless self-promotion purposes only and aggravate both bloggers and readers, and many are made by marketing or sales personnel.

Instead of adding value to the ‘conversation’ and knowledge exchange, comments that blatantly have no other purpose than advertising only serve to ruin your credibility, brand image, and chances of having bloggers link to your website or blog.

Discover the Top 10 Blog Comment Sins and How to Avoid Them

In the short time I’ve been blogging, I’ve already seen the tremendous value in driving traffic to my blog by posting useful, actionable comments on industry peer blogs - I highly recommend it.