July 2008

Corporate Blogging 101

10 issues to consider before you take the leap

By Charlotte Ziems

Blogging for the purpose of personal journaling spread in earnest in the late 1990s and soon became a vehicle for the dissemination of news and political outreach. But corporate blogging, especially for large enterprises, has been slower to take off. It was just three years ago that companies like IBM and Yahoo issued blogging guidelines, primarily in response to individual employees wanting to make their marks on the blogosphere. Not until very recently have large companies looked at blogging as an activity that can be strategic to their brand growth. The Blog Council, for instance, only launched in December 2007 as a community for official corporate blogs and bloggers that represent major global corporations; its first member activity was in January.

Alas, the rules and techniques and best practices for corporate blogs are still being defined. To clarify your options, Tendo offers the following 10 issues to consider before diving in:

1. Blogging culture
   Let’s face it, some company cultures are mistrustful and dysfunctional while others are highly functioning and open. If you don’t know where your company fits in that spectrum, blogging will certainly bring it into focus. Corporate blogging offers a more intimate view into a company than does a brochure or piece of collateral. In the blogosphere, your customers define your brand, not you. So you’ve got to ask yourself if your company’s culture will foster and encourage a blogging program or fear and hinder it.
   
   
2. Internal vs. external
   Many companies establish an internal blog first—so that their posts are visible only to other employees. This allows you to identify employees who have a knack for writing, an affinity for representing your brand, and the passion necessary for a successful external blog.  Not to mention defining the processes and systems necessary for blogging. If you’re not quite ready to dive into blogging, creating an internal blog lets you put a toe in the water.
   
   
"First and foremost, know that corporate blogging is different from corporate marketing communications. If your blog content reads like a press release, or outlines the specs of a new product that's being launched, it won't succeed."



3. Individual or group blog?
   Decide whether your blog will come from one individual or a group of individuals. The obvious benefit to a group blog is that it distributes the posting burden across a number of people; the challenge to a group blog is cohesion—posts need to be more planned, e.g., themes identified and timing set, so that the posts hold together. An individual blog doesn’t really have that challenge since it reflects one person’s perspective and personality.
   
   
4. Guidelines
   Corporate blogging guidelines shouldn't stifle the desire to blog but should offer clarity regarding dos and don'ts. You can find a great comparison of corporate blogging guidelines here.
   
   
5. Staff
   Depending on the number of people who've lined up to blog, you might want to think about whether and when it makes sense to hire an editor or contract out the function. If your blog isn't that active, someone in your communications department can act as an editor, but once posts are more frequent and comments grow, think about recruiting a community manager and/or strategist. This is an emerging role that encompasses several functions and spans all forms of social media (not just blogs). For the corporate blog, a community manager would do the following: manage and edit blog posts, monitor comments, work with your company's personnel to develop bloggers, and monitor and participate in the blogosphere for mentions of your company. You can find a great (and growing) list of people who hold these positions here.
   
   
6. Leadership
   Again, depending on whether you end up hiring a community manager/strategist, you’ll need to think about how a blogging program changes your company’s approach to leadership. Managing an employee who blogs is a bit more complicated than managing one who doesn’t.  For instance, a manager might need to either foster and encourage blog posts and ideas or monitor and temper them in a way that wouldn’t be needed if the employee weren’t blogging. Think of the difference between managing an internal vs. an external employee. It’s a slight distinction, but not something that can be ignored.
   
   
7. Frequency of posts
   This is probably the biggest stumbling block to corporate blogging success, but it’s a proven fact—the less frequently your company posts, the fewer people will read the blog. To keep your audience’s attention, Tendo recommends posting at least two to three times a week.
   
   
8. Time Commitment
   Some might say that writing each blog post doesn’t take long at all, but the post is just the tip of the iceberg. To regularly express compelling insight and opinion and thought leadership, you have to read other blogs, monitor other information sources, attend events, or participate in regular conversation around your topic, not to mention spend time commenting on others’ blogs. Corporate blogging is not just about self-expression—it’s about developing  the “self” to express.
   
   
9. Comments
   Remember that a blog is not a mouthpiece—it’s a conversation. It’s important not only to allow comments, but also to solicit, monitor, and respond to them. The bloggers who gain the most traffic are those who are vocal not just on their own blog, but in comments to other blogs as well.
   
   
10. Content
    First and foremost, know that corporate blogging is different from corporate marketing communications. If your blog content reads like a press release, or outlines the specs of a new product that’s being launched, it won’t succeed. Blog content is more personal and should reflect the individual and, as such, needs to be authentic, transparent, entertaining, and compelling. Your corporate bloggers shouldn’t be afraid of offering personal information, nor should they think that every post needs to be a tome.

About the author:

Charlotte Ziems, Tendo’s VP of client engagement, wonders if “corporate blogging” is an oxymoron. Let her know what you think.