More blogs fail than succeed. Starting a blog is too easy. Running a successful blog is anything but easy. Most of these failures go unnoticed because they are individuals trying to inject their voice into the world. Corporate (business) blogs have more public exposure, thus more risk. A failed corporate blog implies that you are: not committing enough resources, boring, inward/insular, clueless to workings of the social web, et. al.
There are plenty of “how-to” blog books available. Most are rubbish. After blogging for 3 years and observing corporate blogs within the printing industry, it all boils down to two questions:
- Why do you need/want a blog?
- Who can accomplish the answer to question 1?
The Why
Why do you need a blog? After all, plenty of companies do quite well financially without one. Want a blog to increase “brand awareness”? It will fail. Want a blog to “put a human face on the company”? It will fail without the right faces. Want a blog to help with customer service? It will fail without flattening the hierarchy of your companies departmental channels.
The biggest motivation for a company to start a blog is because it is the most affordable, most efficient, and most Google-y communication channel at your disposal. Ultimately, the needs of the business should determine how you use this communication channel. If your surveys show you are lousy at customer service, then use it to help your customers – teach them. The one business need, of all businesses, that does and should not be the direct focus is on increasing sales. Existing marketing methods offer a better and more directly measurable return on investment. This is not to say that blogs, along with your increased web presence, will not increase the size of your sales funnel. It’s to say that if sales is your blogs only focus, you and your soon-to-be-departed audience will be disappointed.
Ultimately, existing and future customers will read your blog only if you provide them value. In more concrete terms, you can provide value through education, information, incentives, and as a direct link to your most valuable asset – your employees. Use your blog to show customers how to use your products or services in a better, cheaper, faster way. Link to information about your company, employees, business trends, and industry.
“What’s going to be challenging is that it’s going to require us to think like a publisher. Our main objective is to disseminate the intellectual capital inside our company to our customers.”* – Matt Blumberg of ReturnPath.net
A Few Good Print Blogs
The Who
Successful blogs are not ran by committee which could be the case with your company. Instead, they are ran by an individual or a small, tight-knit group. But how do you find this individual or small group? Largely, the selection process will be driven by the focus of your blogs. If the primary purpose of your blog is to provide customer service, do not staff the blog with accounts receivable folks. A little common sense goes a long way here.
Beyond common sense, there are two characteristics to find in your blogger that will greatly increase your chances for success. First, they must have a deep knowledge of your company or industry. The company blog is not where you put your interns to work. Since the blog is public facing and considering you want to interact with your customer base, your blogger needs to be a good steward and know a lot about the company. Second, you are looking for someone with a passion that aligns with the blogs purpose. If you are a blogger for Starbucks, then you better love coffee. Do not minimize the importance of finding people who are passionate, as their passion will carry the blog during difficult periods just like engaged employees do for your business.
Bloggers who catch the bug like to write. They like to get feedback. They can stand the heat. They’re often good writers, which is why their blog postings illicit a response. There’s no reason a corporate blog can’t develop the personality and flair of an individual’s blog.* — Debbie Weil
What you want in a Blogger
- A writer
- A reader
- A listener
- A task master
- Someone with Curiosity
- A networker – knows a lot of people in the company, cut through red tape
Once you decide on your blog(s) purpose and find the right people, then it is time to establish your blogging framework. Stay tuned.
* quotes from The Corporate Blogging Book by Debbie Weil
photo credit: floeschie
