Commercial Use of Blogs in the Light of Own Research

Background. The changes in the process of communication that have been observed in recent years have forced companies to look for alternative solutions enabling them to reach a customer. A contemporary consumer does expect to get reliable opinions, recommenda-tions and relations based on mutual trust. Therefore, using external blogs in a commercial way is an area of growing interest. Research aims. The aim of the article is to determine the level and specificity of cooperation between companies/brands and bloggers in the process of communication with a client. Methodology. The article was prepared on the basis of literature review and the authors’ own research. The conducted research comprised of 412 blogs and was carried out by means of an internet questionnaire, which was related to the objective and research subject. The research was conducted in the period between 29.10.2013 - 12.11.2013. The obtained results were supplemented with the opinions of bloggers participating in the quantitative research. Key findings. Blogs have a huge marketing potential. However, for the process of communication with a client to be effective, all aspects of cooperation between a company/brand and a blogger must be precisely determined, especially when non-standard actions are concerned