| |
The writing is on the wall – or at least on the blog. Blogging is growing in popularity and influence; one out of 17 Americans has created a blog. But it’s not just a matter of numbers. Bloggers – or web loggers who keep an Internet journal and may comment about the companies they work for or their products – are ideal consumers. They tend to be affluent, influential with their peers and broad-band connected, reports Business 2.0. So given the growing might of corporate bloggers in the marketing landscape, how can a company use the blogging revolution to its advantage? Here are some suggestions recently offered in Business 2.0 and by Forrester Research.
- Pay attention to daily chatter in the blogosphere. Blogslines, Feedster and PubSub are search engines that can find blogs that discuss topics of interest such as your company’s brand and deliver those postings through a feed to your desktop. If you are already monitoring traditional media like press articles, you could consider using something like Intelliseek’s Blogpulse to track not only the frequency and tone of blog postings but also their total impact against traditional media.
- Communicate with the chattiest corporate bloggers. Some forward-thinking companies are using negative comments on blogs as a chance to respond to customers’ concerns, suggest solutions to problems or just set the record straight. Developing and maintaining an active relationship with a few influential bloggers, just as with traditional journalists, can go a long way towards bolstering your brand reputation. The task should probably be handled by a single trusted individual who has received the proper training and guidelines about what can and cannot be said.
- Create and operate your own corporate blog. Other companies are even establishing their own blogs, some of which attract thousands of readers each day. Several provide insights from a company president or board member. They’re a chance to provide frank and even entertaining insights as well as a human, authentic voice, which can be a powerful way to engage a customer.
Sources:
“Holes in the Blogosphere?” by Thomas Mucha, May 19, 2005, Business 2.0
“Blogging: Bubble or Big Deal?” by Charlene Li, November 5, 2004, Forrester Research
|
|
