Last month, I held my annual blog reader survey. I've been doing these for a few years now, and every year I learn so much for the responses and insights! I also like to share the results publicly after the fact, and share some thoughts on blogging for the rest of the year head. Let's get to it!
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Romper // Sandals // Earrings // Bracelets {old, similar here} // Purse {old, similar here} // Watch c/o //
2020 Southern Belle in Training Reader Survey Results:
Demographics:
*Similar to the past few years, most of you are female, in your 20s or 30s, and living on the East Coast. Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and New York were the most popular states! There were also a few more international folks who took the survey this year (SO cool!), and a few guys as well.
*Your favorite stores to shop at are LOFT, J. Crew, Target and Old Navy, with several votes for Lilly Pulitzer and Amazon as well! This was very helpful for me to know. While I do shop a decent amount at LOFT and J. Crew, I haven't been featuring Target or Old Navy pieces as heavily on the blog in awhile, so I'm definitely going to be pursuing shopping there more this year.
*75% of you voted that you love Instagram giveaways and would like to see me doing them more frequently! (Not large loop giveaways where you have to follow a ton of accounts- small giveaways with just my account and a brand sponsor or me and a couple other bloggers.)
*You all really enjoy Instagram and blog post try-on hauls! 50% of you thought doing them every couple months is good, and 40% of you want to see them a lot more frequently.
Your thoughts on Southern Belle in Training:
*70% of you thought that continuing to share 2-3 dedicated outfit posts per month was a good amount, and otherwise you enjoyed seeing more lifestyle content.
*For the second or third year in a row, Midweek Ramblings are by far your favorite posts to read! This always cracks me up because these are so easy and simple for me to put together compared to other longer-form blog posts, yet they remain a constant favorite. Glad to hear it! They will definitely be continuing for years to come.
*This year compared to last, many more of you said how much you love my travel posts! This was so exciting for me to hear! Curating travel content is one of my favorite things to do on the blog- whether it's for a press trip or just recapping my personal travels. Obviously that type of content is a little harder to create in 2020 with so much travel being paused or cancelled, but I'm hoping I can at least create some more Virginia travel guides for the second half of the year.
*You also really love my winery review posts! The analytics on these has never been as high as other content so I was really surprised to see so many of you love them. I promise to keep reviewing Virginia wineries as I keep visiting them, and also creating other winery content along with my travel posts.
*You really enjoy seeing Delilah, try-on hauls, recipes and memes on Instagram Stories! A lot of you also said you love when I tell funny stories or just talk about things that have happened in my week.
*Several of you also took the reader survey who either don't have Instagram at or don't follow bloggers on it! I was honestly shocked to see that- but it was such a good insight. Makes me glad that I don't put my entire focus into IG and also prioritize writing blog posts still!
Other bloggers you like + your suggestions for the year ahead:
*This year your five other top favorite bloggers are Caitlin of Southern Curls and Pearls, Kate of Lonestar Southern, Brighton of Brighton the Day, Carly of Carly the Prepster and my friend Gentry of Girl Meets Bow. There were also several shout-outs to Erica of Whimsical September as being a favorite to follow- I was previously unfamiliar with her blog so I'm glad to have been introduced!
*For content that you'd like to see more of in the rest of the year, faith posts were a big one. While I have blogged about my Christian faith in deeper personal posts from time to time over the years, it's absolutely something I could be addressing more frequently, so I'll try to do that!
*You also want to hear more about the behind-the-scenes about blogging! How to start a blog, how to make money blogging, how I balance my time working a full time job and running a blog. Honestly- the reason I've shied away from from doing a blogging series before is because I always think I'm unqualified to do so! I suppose that's imposter syndrome. In my head- there's tons of other bloggers who do it full-time and make way more money at it than I do that would be better to learn from. But for a few years now you've wanted to see those types of posts from me, so I am happy to do so finally this year!
*You'd also like to see more posts on radio and more home/apartment decor posts. I would love to bring back my Radio 101 series soon! I've been brainstorming post ideas to relaunch that in the fall. And as far as home/apartment content, I'll try to keep doing as much as I can! My current apartment is smaller than my last place and already furnished and decorated (see it here!), but I'm sure I can think of some creative home content ideas to still do.
*A few of my favorite comments from the survey this year:
I follow you because of the appreciation of southern style, but also to inspire my two god daughters to appreciate things like Lily Pulitzer. - This comment was so sweet!!
I read your blog because you seem like a really genuine person. I know this isn't the most constructive but I just love bloggers who are authentic and true to themselves. I am a an atheist New Yorker who wears all black so I don't really shop from your blog. But you just seem really nice and it's nice to see people be true to themselves! Keep on doing you! - Oh my gosh I love this! I love the fact that those who don't share my fashion taste or interests still read here regularly. Thank you for your kind words!
I've been enjoying your content more this year. You seem to have gotten more confident (maybe its the hair color, lol) but keep it up! It shows! - This one made me smile!!
It really brightens my day when I read and you often have interesting content and I have come to trust your recommendations. It is also really inspiring to share openly about your faith (its not really done in my country), and it was after reading your post on church hunting that I finally found the courage to try going to church. - One of the sweetest comments I've ever received! I am so humbled to know that my little blog inspired someone to find a church and embark on a faith journey. WOW!!
Here's last year's Reader Survey recap if you'd like to take a look at that as well!
God Bless,
xoxo Annaliese
Well this is the sweetest surprise ever! I can't believe some people suggested me to you. Thank you for including me in this post. Just followed you on IG and am so excited to keep up with you! xoxox
ReplyDeleteAhh this romper is darling. Scarlett has a dress in this pattern and I ordered a matching dress from Poshmark in it. Cannot wait to get it. I loved hearing what people voted on for the survey. Such a good idea to poll your audience.
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