First things first, what is a blog? A contraction of ‘web’ and ‘log’, it is an easy-to-publish website. The manner in which blogs are written are informal and conversational, and they are published in chronological order. Blogs can be public and found by anyone searching the web, and some may be for company use only. So what then is ‘corporate blogging?’
As defined by Debbie Weil in The Corporate Blogging Book, “Corporate Blogging is the use of blogs to further organizational goals.” Whether you wish to improve internal communications, get closer to your customers, or manage an upcoming event or project, corporate blogging is the answer.
Who should write in corporate blogs? It could start from top management, down to rank and file staff, and sometimes, even customer evangelists (those who love your products or services so much that they spread the word for you). Here are some important things to know before you get started:
1. Individuals blog, not the company. All blogs are written with a human voice, thus, in-house bloggers should be identified. Your President / CEO is not obliged to blog, they could be anyone from different departments and even customers (unless you have assigned your marketing communications department for full responsibility).
2. Blogging is not a replacement. Though an effective marketing communications channel, it still cannot replace other forms of off- and online marketing. It could complement your marketing campaign, as you can reach your customers easily with your blog. It is a low-cost, high-impact add-on to your marketing strategies.
3. A good corporate blog is updated frequently. Do not start a corporate blog if you cannot maintain it. Ideal is daily updates, though a couple of times a week is acceptable.
4. There are legal risks to blogging. The legal risks of corporate blogging involve things you do not want to reveal (trade secrets, financial information) and things you can get sued for (copyright, libel, privacy issues). Thus, it is important to draft corporate blogging guidelines and implement it so that employees will be very careful in what they write in your company blog.
Is your company ready to blog? There are a lot of things to consider, really (we sure did). Only you can answer that question, but do come back here for more on corporate blogging.
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