What do you mean Corporate BloggingWhat do you mean Corporate Blogging. BR SANKHLA
November 11, 2008
A corporate blog makes it easy for readers, be they customers or
prospects, to find the latest and most accurate information about its
new products and services. It can help achieve customer familiarity
with the company products or services. Through the corporate blog, a
company can converse directly with customers and prospects. Two way
communication creates trust and builds customer relationships. A
corporate blog is the perfect choice for interacting with existing and
potential clients. Corporate blogging serves as a channel for a company
and its customers to meet on common ground and to know each other more.
If a corporate blog can fit your company culture, selecting the
individual or employee who will write your blog is doubtless to say the
most important decision. An ideal corporate blogger is one who is an
expert in his field. He should also write with passion and sincerity.
The object of your blog is to engage your customers and prospects in
conversation and the most effective way to start a conversation is to
be sincere and honest in your blog while writing about topics that are
important to your company. He should have good writing skills. More
importantly, he should be one who is respected by his peers and reacts
calmly to outbursts. Blogging is an intense medium. The individuals who
will blog for your company should be the ones who can keep their cool
despite critical comments. Most likely, the ideal individual is not
your CEO.
In corporate blogging, goals or missions are of
prime importance. For a blog to yield value, it has to be created with
specific goals in mind. Some of these goals may be to increase company
credibility, enhance customer service and interaction, and give
customers a peek of the behind the scenes of the corporate culture,
showcase new products or services and more. The important thing is to
be clear about your goals. You have to be sure about what you are
trying to get done and stick to them. As with any corporate
undertaking, you also need to periodically evaluate how well you are
meeting these goals. If blogging is proving to be futile, then make
changes. If it still does not work, then discontinue blogging.
Do
take time to know your customers or prospects. Find out what your
audience care about, what they are interested in. You have to identify
what their needs are and what service you can perform for them. To get
their attention, work out a way to participate in a conversation
credibly. To be credible, come up with worthwhile content ideas,
insights, news and information. Content need not be long but should be
interesting. Corporate blogs should not veer away from its chosen
categories or topics. This is not to say you cannot be personal in your
blog posts because you should, but the audiences you are trying to
connect with do not want to read through your blog if it is injected
with a litany of personal rumblings.
Do draw up a set of
corporate blogging policies. Set limits on what information can be made
public. Make clear what is allowed and what is not. Legal issues crop
up in blogging. It is better to have some safety nets. In drafting
blogging policies, it is advisable to do some research on it and
publish proposed policies to get some feedback.
Lastly, a blog
is not a miracle cure. It will not single handedly turn your distressed
company around. Corporate blogging should be incorporated with other
marketing and communication tools to achieve desired results.
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