Corporations these days are looking to streamline their marketing efforts. They don’t want billboards, they don’t want expensive TV commercials with casts of celebrities and elephants. They want marketing and PR that are credible, and that is cost-effective.

One of the best options is to start a corporate blog, or connect to professional blogs written by their key people. Some of my customers are surprised by the idea, because they think of a blog as a personal diary. But blog technology shouldn’t be discounted because of it’s use (or abuse) by people who think that the world needs to know the amusing things their children or pets are up to.

Blogs are often more credible than static websites because they are current. If you visit a company’s website that has obviously not been updated in years, you may wonder if they’re still in business, if they’re keeping up with the times, or if they have run into financial difficulties.

I recommend that companies use a blog the way they would use a customer newsletter. Some make it more informal in style than their newsletter, but at a minimum the process should a review of each post by the someone responsible for the company’s marketing and PR.

Benefits of a corporate blog:

  • A blog is much easier than updating a website. Once the blog is set up, no special skills are required to publish a post. (You can even do this on your techie’s day off.)
  • No printing or postage are required
  • Readers can find your blog on the Internet
  • Readers can subscribe or unsubscribe themselves without your staff getting involved.
  • Search engines like Google and Yahoo will give your blog (and your web site, if you link them together) much more traffic than a static site.
  • You can post text, photos or even video quite easily.
  • You can (and should) encourage readers to comment and react to what they read.
  • You can (and should) moderate those comments to keep out the spam and crazies.
  • Posts may be quoted, linked to, or reprinted in other places throughout the web.

Some Examples of Corporate Blogs

In the next couple of posts, we’ll go over some lists of great topics for corporate blog posts, and some ethical considerations.

Meanwhile, if you need any assistance or have any questions, feel free to drop a comment here, send me an email, or give me a call.

Thanks!

-Paula
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