We all know the old saying “think before you speak”, but in the days of instant online communication we should also think before we hit send (just look at the recent example of one Labour candidates tweet on postal votes). This brings me to blogging.
Recent research published by Burson-Marsteller showed that one-third of Fortune Global 100 companies maintain corporate blogs (and that they’ve posted at least once in the past 3 months).
Much emphasis is placed on the frequency, regularity and reliability of blog posts. Naturally, if you want readers to keep coming back for more, you need to show them that there will be more to read, so yes these factors are important, but less so now that users can keep up with blog posts via twitter and RSS readers. The most important element of blogging is, and always has been content.
No one will rush to their laptop or iPhone to read their daily dose of dross.
Business bloggers need to ensure that their blogs initiate, stimulate and contribute to debate if they want to create an engaging read that the reader will tweet, comment on and link to. This means a big fat NO to the following:
– Press Releases – please, keep the press releases on the corporate website. Blogs should be more conversational and less about marketing speak.
– Ego Trips – “But it’s MY blog, that’s one big ego trip, isn’t it?” I hear you cry. Well yes, but have too many posts about winning awards and being the best can make you look like the party bore and see readers making their excuses to leave early. For brands, this information is best given via the company website.
Have a plan.
Businesses need to work out who they’re targeting, and what they want to achieve from a blog. Is it to stimulate debate? Or to inform clients about their latest initiatives? Or even test a few ideas? These are themes we’ll explore on this blog, and maybe pick some examples of blogs that work well for companies (and one or two that don’t).
