They used to be humble personal online diaries, but blogs are gaining the attention of big business. This is partly thanks to the numbers: there are millions of blogs out there, with thousands more emerging each day.
Another factor is that blogs openly talk about products and services. Some marketing directors are getting distinctly jumpy about their brands being discussed by independent bloggers. Conversations are taking place in the "blogosphere" that companies cannot influence.
However, the more progressive companies are fascinated by this fast-growing medium. They want to know more about the possibilities blogs offer for changing the nature of their communications.
In yet another camp, executives are fretting because they still can't figure out how a blog is different from a website or discussion forum. The best way to clear that up is to do a Google search and look at some.
In a way, the corporate blogging situation is similar to the 90s, when company websites were just starting to appear and there were no established standards. For some clear guidance, a Forrester Research paper written by Charlene Li, at the end of last year, called Blogging: Bubble or Big Deal? is a good place to start.
Li forecasts that blogs will become core components of corporate communications in the next five years. She argues that the unique features of blogs means they are better at establishing connections with customers. The rise in texting and email shows people use technology for more personal communications.
In contrast, most corporate websites are generally regarded as too static, formal and impersonal. In the main, they are bland brochures.
Blogs offer companies the chance to present a more human face and start more natural conversations with customers. Search engines like blogs and feeds such as RSS means their content spreads quickly.
For aspiring corporate bloggers, Li recommends starting small with a pilot and a trusted editorial team. In the longer term, strategies can be drawn up for introducing blogs both externally to publicize news, services and products to gather customer feedback and internally to share knowledge on projects. Li envisages a day when you show up for a new job and are told what you can or cannot say in your designated employee blog.
However, corporates who enter the blogosphere are going to have to learn to loosen the shackles on their bloggers. Too much control will be the death of a blog and heaps of commercially-oriented material will not lead to much of a return. Traditional marketing material is not going to work in the blogosphere where values such as honesty and personality really count. Style of writing, quality of content and design will be decisive success factors. And, of course, it is important to observe blogging etiquette.
As with websites, standards will be mixed. There will undoubtedly be some good, bad, cheesy and truly awful corporate blogs.
But in the long run, those companies who feel comfortable having a close, two-way relationship with their customers should do best.
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