Corporate blogging: A new marketing communication tool for companies

Because technology is changing rapidly, this means that the way people communicate, both personally and professionally, is changing rapidly as well. Corporations that used to rely on pen and paper have advanced to voicemail, e-mail, and even instant messaging to make sure that employees are connected to volumes of information at any given second.Some companies are even looking even beyond e-mail and instant messaging to other new ways of communicating electronically: through blogs (Web logs), podcasts, wikis, discussion boards and streaming video among other means. Indeed new ways of communicating digitally are being developed at a fast pace and with greater speed.

According to a recent report by Forrester Research that looked at 90 blogs from Fortune 500 companies, most corporate blogs are “dull, drab, and don’t stimulate discussion.” Sadly, two-thirds hardly ever get any comments, 70% stick strictly to business topics, and worse 56% just republish press releases or already public news.The research states that Amazon is one of the companies that really get corporate blogging and produce blogs that are informative, fascinating, and a joy to read.

Amazon Web Services Blog is a corporate blog about Amazon web services, products, tools and developer information. It helps to improve the communication and its customer services, attract more people to consume and discuss new products online. It is truly one of the great corporate blogs because it reads like a fan blog. You’d never know that Jeff Barr, the scribe behind the AWS blog, is a Web Services Evangelist at Amazon just by reading his posts. That’s because Barr doesn’t write like a corporate flak. Instead he writes with the voice of someone who is truly amazed each day by the stuff that people build on Amazon’s suite of web services, and that makes reading the blog a pleasure.

Pros and Cons of corporate blog

The pros:

• It’s very easy to set up a company blog. The technologies available today are so user-friendly that the average employee will quickly learn how to update the company blog. Therefore, this task can be delegated to trusted staff members with solid writing skills, and they can be empowered to make updates as necessary.
• Corporate blogging appeals to younger consumer groups and employees. If you want to capitalize on the energy, enthusiasm and buying power of this demographic group, then corporate blogging is an excellent resource.
• In the face of a crisis or emergency, a company blog is a good way to spread information. Blogs have quickly become a powerful tool for combating public relations fires and responding to catastrophic situations. They can be modified quickly to post critical information for employees, consumers and stakeholders.

The cons:

• A company blog is time-consuming to maintain. It takes a great deal of creative energy and regular updating to keep the content fresh. The time it takes to maintain a good company blog might actually end up costing more than the benefits that it generates.
• Corporate blogging requires strong written communication skills, and you might not have the right people in positions to produce good posts.
• Blogs are so popular that their credibility as a source of information is declining. Anyone can compose and post information in the internet these days. Visitors to your website might not view a company blog as a credible source. Likewise, stakeholders and employees may respond more effectively to more traditional mediums like email communication, memos and announcements in meetings.

Referred links:

1.http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/08/08/15-companies-that-really-get-corporate-blogging/

2.http://www.helium.com/items/254062-the-pros-and-cons-of-corporate-blogging

3.http://www.selfseo.com/story-19130.php