News
Corporate Blogging Lives Up to the Hype
Backbone Media, an Internet marketing consulting firm, has released the results
of its 2005 corporate blogging survey (http://www.backbonemedia.com/blogsurvey/)
and a series of case studies. The blogging survey sought to understand what
results business bloggers have received from their blogs.
The company asked bloggers at hundreds of companies to participate in an online
survey and conducted in-depth interviews with six companies, including IBM,
Microsoft, Maytag and Macromedia. Specifically, the survey asked respondents
what sales, PR, search engine optimization and product development results bloggers
have seen from their blogging initiatives. Backbone has published the results
of its analysis in a 68-page white paper, Web site and blog that describes how
a company can build a successful blog.
"Looking at this from the perspective of an Internet marketer, there are
obvious benefits to publishing content that is search-engine friendly and getting
more back links,” says Stephen Turcotte, Backbone’s president. “However,
a successful blog can do so much more. It can build a better company."
Corporate blogs are living up to all the hype, according to the study. Corporate
blogs are giving established corporations and obscure brands the ability to
connect with their audiences on a personal level, build trust, collect valuable
feedback and foster strengthened relationships while benefiting in ways that
are tangible to the sales and marketing side of the business, the company says.
Adds John Cass, director of Internet marketing strategies, "Every company
is at a different stage in their blogging efforts, some are dipping their toe
into blogging and getting good results, in terms of higher search-engine rankings
and thought leadership, while others have changed their whole product development
process to make their company as open and transparent to customers as possible.
The benefits of blogging are many, but it seems that to build and achieve the
best results using blogs, a company must cross a cultural chasm that turns customers
into brand evangelists."