For many the term “corporate blog” occupies the same space as “jumbo shrimp” or “random order.” Blogging by its nature is informal, collaborative and unrestricted – in other words, everything traditional corporate communications are not.
Today’s ad:tech panel “Creating and Distributing a Corporate Blog” attempted to overturn that notion, presenting ways businesses can using blogs to foster a more open, more interactive dialogue with their constituents.
Stowe Boyd of Corante.com was up first. In case you’re not familiar, Corante.com is known as one of first official blog networks and spans some 30+ sites. Boyd began with a discussion of what corporate blogging is not: It’s not a way to broadcast information. Blogging is a social medium and the most successful bloggers are those that approach it as a conversation, not a one-way message. This is not a place for control freaks – a lot of the discussion that goes on will happen organically and it may be out of your command.
Boyd ended with some suggestions for successful corporating blogging: Write in a first person voice. Don’t assume your business has the benefit of the doubt. This may have been true in your grandparents day and age but the business world has changed (corporate scandals all over the news, CEOs going to jail, etc.). You have work to establish credibility (and maintain it). Boyd also recommended steering clear of business jargon and embracing the information organization and social networking principles of Web 2.0.
Pauline Ores of IBM Marketing & Strategy was up next. She shared some stats on the growth of blogs in the United States, both in the number of blogs and the number of people reading them. She went on to present a few quick slides on Web 2.0 and how tagging, folksonomies, feeds, etc. are changing the nature of the web.
Ores said that blogs have gone beyond buzz and they now serve several functions: As a new arena for discussion, as a space for learning and collaboration and finally as a catalyst for new thinking skills and methods of communication. According to Ores the last one is the hardest for companies to understand – blogging means they have to get used to new ways of spreading ideas.
Ores wrapped up by sharing some of the ways Big Blue is handling its internal blog initiatives: “Blog Central” for employee blogs and “Wiki Central” for employee-created wikis. Most interesting was they way IBM handled the development of an employee blogging policy, a touchy subject for many. They set up an internal wiki and invited interested employees to have a hand in creating the document. (SearchViews covered this last May).
Michael Terpin of Terpin Communications was up last. Terpin was instrumental in the creation of the first online press release system. He began by throwing out some reasons why companies should be blogging: To further define their corporate persona, to release new content quickly and cheaply, to reach new markets and to solicit feedback from their customers.
Terpin went on to warn against the 7 Deadly Sins of Corporate Blogging: 1) Brochurewear – Don’t throw up sales slicks on a web page and call it a blog, 2) Dead air – Don’t go dark for weeks at a time, if you have a blog then blog, 3) Generic content – If it’s boring or a re-hash of what’s already been said then why will anyone read it?, 4) Lack of an authentic voice – If it’s fake, readers will know, 5) Blogging in a vaccuum – You can’t blog without reading other blogs, 6) Bludgeoning – Don’t be overly defensive or heavy-handed with your opinions, 7) Being over-protective – it’s alright to have legal review, just make sure they don’t strangle what you say.
Terpin concluded with a few instances in which having a corporate blog can be particularly useful: In times of corporate crisis, for a special event and for a viral marketing campaign. Oddly enough, a lot of these reminded me of arguments for buying branded keywords).
The panel closed with a brief Q&A. All in all a great session – the speakers all knew what they were talking about and it’s always great to see Stowe Boyd speak. Last time I saw him was when our Marketing Director and I had drinks with him last summer. He advised us to highlight individual authors more on SearchViews and since then the team has been trying to do so. Good to know he practices what he preaches.
Speaking of blogs, make sure to check out the Official ad:tech Blog.
