Sunday, July 6, 2008

Corporate blogging: A new marketing communication tool for companies

A corporate blog is published and used by an organization to reach its organizational goals,and it also used for internal and external communication.

For internal communication, They promote the sharing of information of work-related matters. Since blogs can be easily updated, they are used as a part of newsletters or company Intranets. This helps employees to keep themselves informed on all the current happenings in the organization. Blogs also allow employees to display their expertise on a particular topic, thereby becoming a recognized industry or subject "expert".

For external communication, company employees, teams, or spokespersons allow to share their views. It is often used to announce new products and services (or the end of old products), to explain and clarify policies, or to react on public criticism on certain issues. It also allows a window to the company culture and is often treated more informally than traditional press releases, though a corporate blog often tries to accomplish similar goals as press releases do.

Pros of corporate blog :
  • Leaders can communicate directly with customers, suppliers and investors, as well as employees, helping disseminate and explain strategy.
  • Blogs give the writer an opportunity to answer critics in a controlled forum.
  • Compared with conference or printed memos to all staff, blogs are highly cost effective.
  • A well written blog can give a human face to an otherwise anonymous corporation.

Cons of coporate blog :

  • The best non-corporate blogs are spontaneous and genuine. Poorly written corporate blogs can look fake -- or perhaps worse, they reveal incompetence on he part of the writer
  • It is difficult for executives to write freely, particularly at listed companies where they are legally required to publish significant information to all investors at the same time.
  • There is a risk that an ill-judged comment could be seized upon by the media or disgruntled investors.
  • The writing can be difficult unless the CEO loves to write (in which case this becomes a positive)

No comments: