I can blog, You can blog, We all can blog in the Corporate Blog
August 8th, 2008 by Caryl FelicettaConsidering a corporate blog? Of course, what forward-thinking, progressive company looking to thrive in “Recession Obsession” isn’t. (That’s a statement, not a question.)
A corporate blog can be a phenomenal piece of marketing for your company. It allows you to give your company a voice “outside” of your marketing - one that is more casual and real. It allows you to gain insight from feedback posted by fans and naysayers alike - and respond to that feedback by answering the charges head on and using the information to evolve your company.
I hear you saying there’s a downside: it’s more work on your plate. And then the blog wil likely not get the priority it deserves, and will not get regular posts.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
You will find that most successful corporate blogs are written by more than one author in an organization. Take the Dell Blog - Direct2Dell - for example. Not one author but several from different departments in Dell. Each one an expert on their own topics. Or WalMart’s Check Out Blog. Same scenario. Even the Single Throw Blog has everyone involved.
The days of when all comments must come from the President of the company are over. Allowing a “Corporate Blog Team” the opportunity to come together with the same goals, presenting highly relevant content from the “experts” in your company will provide an environment where everyone contributes to the growth ofthe company and fosters your marketing message.
BUT - there’s always a BUT - you need to create this “team” and encourage their participation. And you must create guidelines. Here’s a few tips on how to get started.
1. Build the Team Who can write, who likes to write, who has a lot of knowledge and can be ecouraged to write…these are the people you want on your Blog Team!
2. Who’s in Charge Here? Someone (or maybe even 2 people) should assume the acting ”editor-in-chief” to ensure that content meets marketing guidelines, and just generally oversea the project. All it takes is someone who will read the posts and note and issues or concerns to the author.
3. Set Some Ground Rules Have a meeting, talk about topics, what should not be in the blog…that sort of thing. Keep it simple. With the right people as authors, this should not be a huge issue.
4. Have Some Fun With It The posts need not be long. The can - and typically should - be written in a lighter more business-casual style (unless your audience is for some reason not business-casual). Pick topics that are interesting and even a tad controversial to get readers engaged and commenting.
You’ll find that sharing the content workload will make it a lot easier and provide you with a blog that is relevant, consistent and interesting. You don’t need to be the size of Dell to get more than one person involved. Gather your potential team together with some pizza for a lunch meeting and talk about it. I think you’ll find they are far more interested in corporate blogging than you think!
