Blog marketing and online referrals

Referral and word of mouth research lacks empirical data and research into online referrals and the use of blogs. This paper reports the findings of exploratory case study analysis into an online software company, Atlassian with specific focus given to the company's blog activities and online referral program. It is suggested that it is possible to actively encourage and manage the online referrals given by current clients to prospects by a firm. The findings show that customers are heavily reliant on referrals for information about the firm's current and new products and for information about services within the industry. The study highlights the importance of blogs for referral marketing and the importance of marketing a blog once it has been created.