Digital Parents Survey - This is Who We Are

This is Who We Are
_______________________________
Digital Parents Survey - October 2011

Copyright 2011 Digital Parents. All rights reserved. 1

Executive Summary
Parent bloggers are an important part of the online blogging community. They blog
in a unique way; the sense of community is enormous and their inﬂuence within and
beyond the blogosphere is becoming increasingly noticed.


Aim of the Study
The aim of this survey was to gain an in-depth understanding of the Australian
Parent Blogging Community, to map the inﬂuence of blogs and bloggers, to help
match brands with bloggers, and to understand a vibrant blogging community.


The Survey

Digital Parents and Parent Wellbeing conducted the survey. Digital Parents, founded
by Brenda Gaddi, is an online community where Australian Mum and Parent
Bloggers get together online to swap ideas and share stories. Parent Wellbeing,
created by Jodie Benveniste, is a parenting website that helps parents to worry less
and enjoy parenting more.
The online survey was conducted in October 2011 over a two week period. The
survey was created and sent to over 1,700 Digital Parents members from the
Digital Parents website http://digitalparents.com.au, and 237 parents responded to
the survey. Data was then analysed by Porzia de Cesare of Parent Wellbeing using
online software Survey Monkey.


Main Findings

• Mums make up the majority of parent bloggers (98%). The majority are aged
between 28 to 46 (85%), and are stay at home (59%) rather than working
parents (41%).

• Bloggers are highly personal and honest. The majority write about home life
and parenting topics and use a conversational writing style (89%).

• Seventy-one percent of parent bloggers have the goal to be an expert blogger
or to make money from blogging. Blogging is seen to have a positive impact on
their lives (92%), even though it is challenging at times.

• Parent bloggers are a highly interactive bunch. They tend to follow topics
relevant to them and similar to what they like to blog about. A strong sense of
community (96%) is common amongst bloggers and connecting with other
bloggers is highly valued.

• The bloggers surveyed preferred giveaways (86%) and product reviews (68%)
over other marketing initiatives. When working with brands, the bloggers cited
relevancy to own blog (97%) and clear communication (75%) as most
important. Many bloggers have not yet been approached by brands (58%) or
have not yet approached brand names themselves (69%).

• The majority of bloggers believe that they can influence readers to purchase an
item recommended by them on their blog (78%). Blogs are seen as a better
source of information than traditional media (83%) and influential in purchasing
decisions (98%) with trusting a blogger (72%) and similarity with the blogger
(62%) as important factors.

• Parents who blog do so with immense self-expression. When they do find the
time to blog they do so by networking with a community of other receptive,
interactive and supportive parent bloggers. Not only do they find community
important but are aware of the influence blogs have within and beyond the
blogosphere.


The Findings
Who are we?
The Digital Parents community is primarily made up of women (98%), aged between
28 and 46 years (85%). The majority have a university degree (61%) and a family
income per annum over $70,000 (64%). Stay at home parents are the majority
(59%), however, many are working parents as well (41%).


The majority of bloggers surveyed have 2 children (45%) with others having 3 or
more children (35%). Most of the bloggers’ children are between the ages of 2-4
(preschool kids) (61%) and between the ages of 5-12 (59%). Parents with children
18 years and above are rarer (5.5%). Most of the Digital Parents bloggers are
married (80%) and living in urban Australia (80%).


How do we blog?
Most parent bloggers have been blogging for less than 2 years (70%) and currently
focus on one blog (62%), with 57% never having discontinued a blog.
Popular blogging topics include home life (83%), Parenting (83%), Food and Cooking
(50%) and Health and Wellbeing (38%). Further topics include books, places to visit,
travel, fashion and beauty, blogging, news and politics, entertainment and celebrities,
personal life events, disease and disability, hobbies, religion and technology.
Bloggers tend to write about personal stories (96%), product reviews (52%),
opinion pieces (51%) and how-to articles (48%). Other common content includes
links, top tips, guest posts, interviews, reader questions, research updates, news but
also creative writing and interactive activities.
Most bloggers write using a conversational style (89%), with some using terms such
as ‘honest’, ‘real’, ‘personal’ and ‘raw’.


Most bloggers post 3-5 times a week (40%), however not regularly on the same days of the
week (60%).
The majority of bloggers either want to become an expert at blogging (29%) or have a goal to
make a career or money out of blogging (42%).


An astonishing 92% of bloggers say blogging has had a positive impact on their lives. The ability to be
self-expressive, being apart of a supportive, interactive and receptive community, gaining knowledge
and new experiences are common rewards.


It is not surprising that limited time is an immense challenge amongst bloggers. Bloggers say
that balancing blogging with family, work, promoting their blog and interacting with other
bloggers are the most signiﬁcant challenges. Consistent blogging, writing unique and relevant
posts, promoting their blog (and gaining readership) and keeping up with social media are
also challenging.


Community, Community, Community!
A large 99% of bloggers participate in the wider blogosphere by reading, following or
commenting on blogs other than their own. They do this on a daily (68%) and regular (95%)
basis. Bloggers follow as little as 2 or 3 blogs up to a 1,000 blogs!
Bloggers tend to engage with other blogs for socializing (83%) and for sharing stories
(79%). Gaining advice (65%), entertainment (60%) and sharing opinions (57%) are also
common reasons to network with and support other bloggers. These bloggers are online
socialisers, they are supportive of their community, personal and engaging.


A sense of community is common amongst bloggers (96%), with 81% considering other bloggers they
know to be friends. Ninety-three percent are somewhat to extremely satisﬁed with the blogging
community. The ‘supportive community’, ‘connecting/interacting with others’, ‘meeting interesting
people’, ‘making friends’ and ‘encouraging others’ are stated as the many rewards of blogging.


Blogger and Marketing
Advertising
Forty-four percent of bloggers say they like advertising on blogs, with 45% currently using
advertising on their own blogs and a further 22% aren’t using advertising currently, but
would like to.


Sponsored Posts
A slightly smaller proportion like sponsored posts (39%). Many never use them (26%), but a
large proportion would like to include sponsored posts on their blogs (42%).


Product Reviews
Product reviews are a favourite (68%) amongst the bloggers. They are rarely used by 30% of
bloggers, but a further 27% don’t use them but would like to.


Giveaways
Giveaways are popular amongst bloggers (86%), however 33% rarely include giveaways on
their blogs and 33% don’t but would like to. Ninety-three percent have entered a giveaway
on a blog.


Brand Ambassadors
Ninety-four percent of bloggers are currently not an ambassador for a brand, but a large
proportion of bloggers would like to (62%) and a further 32% have never thought about it.
Fifty-eight percent of bloggers have never been approached by a brand to write for them,
do product reviews or giveaways. An even greater number have never approached a brand
themselves (69%).


In working with brands, bloggers said that relevancy to their blog is most important (97%).
Clear communication (75%), an understanding of their blog (69%) and including them in
decision making (67%) are also very important. Respecting the bloggers sense of self and
values are other important considerations for brands. For example one blogger stated, “It’s
very important to not lose one’s sense of self as this is how your blog was started. It was
YOU.” Allowing bloggers to share honest opinions and reviews, and relevancy of the brand
to the blogger’s community were also important.


Currently 37% of bloggers make money from their blogs, with 26% making under
$1000. The majority do not currently make any money from their blog (63%). Those
who do make money from their blogs generate income via advertising (27%), sponsored
posts (16%), afﬁliate links (13%) and google ads (12%). Others earn income by selling
their own products/services, are paid to write and get paid for selling products for
businesses.


Bloggers love their Facebook and Twitter!
Facebook (96%) and Twitter (87%) are the most used of all
social media.


The influence of blogging is growing!
Fifty-five percent of bloggers somewhat agree that they can influence readers to buy a
product they have recommended in their blog. Sixty-six percent of bloggers somewhat
agree that blogs are a better source of information that traditional or mainstream media
for example television, newspapers, magazines and family and friends.
Forty-three percent completely agree that blogs can influence their decision about
purchasing a product. As a result 76% have purchased an item based on a blog
recommendation with child related products (48%), books (44%) and household items
(38%) most commonly purchased. However, trusting the blogger (72%) and the blogger
having similar opinions (72%) are important factors influencing a purchasing decision.
Thirty-five percent are very likely to recommend a product reviewed on a blog to a
friend or family.


Summary
From the findings, a picture of the Digital Parents bloggers emerges. The majority
are mothers. The importance of their community is distinct and their influence can
be attributed to their honesty, realness and interactivity in the blogosphere and
beyond. Blogging is shown to have a major positive influence in the lives of parent
bloggers. They also have the opportunity to make something more of their passion
for blogging through marketing and working with brands. However, when working
with brands, it is important to understand their personal approach to blogging and
how this affects the way they interact and are seen by other bloggers. The Digital
Parents community is vibrant, and something which many bloggers are extremely
proud to be a part of!


Digital Parents Survey - This is Who We Are

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