When it gets official

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

Related Articles

Indian CIOs more progressive than global peers: IB...Nokia unveils N97 miniIBM partners with NGOs for its CSC programHP acquires IBRIX

: blogging requires. There should be someone who monitors the blog daily, monitors other mentions of it in the blogosphere, and has full permission to respond to people on the fly, including commenting on others' blogs and really playing a role in the community. That kind of approach will create a groundswell of respect for that company." Engaging with the audience and monitoring feedback from them are some key recommendations for corporate blogs.

In spite of the reluctance and mistakes, the good news is that corporate blogging has made steady progress. Quite a few IT and tech companies, and many startups, have successful corporate blogs. Examples of successful corporate blogs include Dell, Sun Microsystems, Microsoft and HP among others. Companies like IBM and others have outlined clear blogging guidelines (http://www.ibm. com/blogs /zz/en/ guidelines.html) to help foster the blogging culture. Some companies like Google (http://googleblog. blogspot.com/) have dozens of blogs. Rubel says, "Virtually every product team (in Google) has one. They have multiple contributors and they are used to disseminate news. More importantly they provide helpful tips and they occasionally respond to the community." Rubel also draws attention to a new and growing trend where companies that don't have their own blogs have their PR agencies or specific individuals working with bloggers. This trend clearly underscores the fact that many businesses have recognised the huge benefit of harnessing the power of blogging, which in many ways is yet another avatar of word-of-mouth marketing.

Besides IT and tech companies, there are retail giants like Wal-mart that have developed a successful blog in spite of some initial hiccups. Recently Wal-mart introduced a new corporate blog called Check Out (checkoutblog.com) that appears to have struck a chord with its customers. According to The New York Times, Wal-mart's new corporate blog has turned the traditional model on its head by allowing little-known buyers to write without editing. Wal-mart's strategy of not having polished pieces is somewhat similar to the various Google blogs where real people tend to share and write in their own voice and that maybe the key to success for corporate bloggers. Companies need to realise that at the end of the day they are doing business with their customers, and anything they can do to reach and stay engaged with their user-base is to their advantage.