Corporations are struggling with business blogs – at least according to a recent Forrester Research report mentioned by Ken Magill in his Direct Magazine article:
Business-to-business blogging took a nosedive this year, mainly because returns on corporate blogs haven’t matched investment, according to a recent report by Forrester Research.
However, analyst Laura Ramos, the lead author of the report, recommends businesses take a second look at corporate blogs.
“Rather than cross blogging off the marketing communications list, marketers would do better to embrace one of the four strategies prominently used by bloggers to attract readers, build conversations, and engage community members in sharing their experiences with their online peers,” said Ramos’s report, “How to Derive Value From B2B Blogging.”
Still, the number of new corporate blogs has dropped sharply in the last year and a half, according to the report, with 36 companies launching them in 2006, 19 in 2007, and just three in the first quarter of 2008, according to Forrester.
In my online marketing classes, I tell small business clients that engagement marketing is the great leveler; big businesses don’t engage well, but that small businesses do.
That’s a function of several elements, but in simplest terms, small business are often more “real” with customers. Corporations? They fall victim to their inability to escape boring, meaningless “corporatespeak.”
Indeed, Forester’s report speaks to the traits required to successfully engage customers:
Successful corporate blogs “talk openly with an authentic voice,” and are “humble and honest,” two traits that run counter to many corporate egos, said Forrester’s report.
Ouch.
Too many corporations see blogs as merely another pipeline into which they shovel PR materials, or worse – as Web-based showcases for preening executives.
The ugly truth is this: customers and prospects want useful information or thought leadership. While both are available inside your average corporation, the fear of transparency is a barrier most corporations won’t overcome.
Another trap lies hidden within the language itself; many potential contributors to corporate blogs aren’t very good writers, a fact which suggests the need for an editor.
Some organizations have shown excellent returns from blogging (like Patagonia’s Cleanest Line), and the benefits of engaging with customers (binding them to the brand via shared passions and values) are significant – and will grow more so as marketing costs rise.
The fact that growth in business blogs is slowing should provide additional fuel to those who are getting it right.
Stay engaged, Tom Chandler.
How true this is. The reason corporate blogs fail is because not enough thought has been given up front to what they want to achieve from blogging, their goals, intended audience and the nature of blogging itself. If companies take more time to consider these up front and to put a plan in place they greatly improve the chances of the blog being successful.
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