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.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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