To blog or not to blog, a question mark

His editorial was written partly in response to a May 2 cover story BusinessWeek entitled "Blogs Will Change Your Business", which describes blogs as "the most explosive outbreak in the information world since the Internet itself itself "and that" blogs are not a business elective. They are a prerequisite. "

So, to blog or not to blog, that is the question. One thing is clear: more and more companies, including Sun Microsystems, General Motors and Boeing, are using blogs, and it would be a mistake to dismiss this market potentially powerful tool of communication and careful consideration of both sides of question.

At its most basic level, a blog for "Web log" is simply a public website that allows users to informally post, update and respond to each of the other entries. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, eight million Americans have created blogs, 12% of Internet users have posted entries in a blog, and in 2004 27% read blogs (up 58% compared to the previous year.)

Increased media coverage of global blog phenomenon (including an entire show Charlie Rose on PBS based blog editors) were fueled not only by the growing popularity of blogs, but their impact on everything from politics and journalism at the university and pop culture.

As to the impact of blogs on business, Booker cites Debbie Weil, a consultant for corporate blogs and helps BtoB: "There are two ways of thinking about blogging. The first is: Blogs will change everything, changing the nature of the relationship between businesses and customers. Another is this: Blogs are part of a gradual change in the way large companies talk to and interact with customers and other stakeholders. "

See Kolbrener is more consistent with the latter school of thought. We see blogs as a single tile mosaic evolving marketing communications company. When and where the tile is placed depends on the specific needs of a business, but it's true of traditional marketing tools. We respect Booker involvement that blogs are not a "must-have" for every business, but its wording fails to grasp the real value of blogs can be many companies.

To be sure, he acknowledges some advantages: blogs are easier to install and update a website or e-mail newsletter, they provide additional content for your website, and increased content and movement can improve your ranking on search engines web. But he quickly undermines these positive results by highlighting the disadvantages: a lack of laws (or standards) related to equity, publicity and defamation on blogs, and the fact that blogs, by definition, are "real , raw and unfiltered content. "

This concern reveals a common mistake: blogs evaluation, as if their value would be as a traditional marketing tool. For a traditional marketing mind focused entirely on the content control and perceptions, real, raw and unfiltered "content is more like a marketing problem of a marketing innovation. In fact, Booker concluded his editorial by setting guard against a tempting solution to this apparent problem: the creation of a blog "false" which is actually written by your marketing department or an outside agency. Booker rightly worries that the blog "false" could not become a significant false "If this deception is discovered, you'll probably be vilified by well-meaning the vast blogosphere. Will this thrashing ruin your business? Probably not. But It begs the question: What did you achieve your blog in the first place? "

This is exactly the issue of companies to consider. Booker conservative viewpoint is not necessarily bad, just too narrow a blog is not the best tool, if you expect to achieve "controllable" not marketing. The real value of blogging becomes obvious when you expand the market to include the often neglected field of community building.

Building Community, after all, was the purpose of blogging and the reason for their popularity right from the beginning. And even before officially blog software coming to market in 1999, business leaders were respected as Patricia Seybold stressing that the Internet is an inherently good for the community development and community building is inherently good for business . In his 1998 book, Customers.com, Seybold explains that the sense of community can keep customers coming back for more. The values it gives to the community construction of nearly parallel main advantages of blogging:

Guests will meet and interact with others who have common interests

Terminology and values specific to your business or industry are strengthened

Guests can enjoy "strutting their substance"

Customers feel as part of an "in crowd"

If the construction community, on its own, seems a little too touchy-feely, consider this more traditional service delivery: a blog by "real, raw and unfiltered" content provides valuable insight into what customers and other audiences sincerely believe, value, aversion and get excited. In fact, as a search engine marketing, blogs offer a level of authenticity difficult to achieve with the newsgroups and other "controlled" methods.

"To blog or not to blog" is not a simple question with an easy answer. And zealous defenders of blog can be as guilty of oversimplification Blog skeptics like Booker. Kolbrener advises looking at all the pros and cons before deciding if blogging fits into your overall marketing strategy. There are risks and challenges to consider, but naturally a blog community power capacity can be utilized to deepen customer loyalty and extend the brand values, and raw data that it provides can help you identify and understand key audiences and opportunities for growth. Like any other tile in the mosaic of marketing communications, a blog can play a valuable role to help you successfully develop your brand.

Kolbrener brand marketing agency increases the return on investment for high growth companies and organizations seeking a more sophisticated brand that engages customers realize the value, and keeps its promise