Blogging is maturing into a communications tool for companies, you know when a solid company like General Electric start blogging it’s entering the mainstream.
Or is it?
| I was at a conference recently when a woman, who had mentioned the low-key, humble nature of her company’s business culture went on to lament that she couldn’t get her senior executives to blog. They were too worried that there might be a negative reaction. | Company Blogs Innocent Nuts about Southwest Fast Lane – General Motors Direct2Dell GE Reports |
The most successful individual bloggers have tons of personality, something to say, and chase controversy rather than fear it. Companies need to think the same way when setting up a blog.
Innocent and Southwest blogs both shine with personality, both are companies that have a certain amount of fun in their image and both have exploited that. Both use writers from around the company, rather than simply assigning a top exec. Both blogs are fun to read.
Dell sees blogging – including interacting with key blogs that follow the company – as an opportunity. They might have started a bit bumpily but their outreach to bloggers has earned them respect.
Fast Lane from General Motors shows great understanding of their target audience – they are talking to someone.
Of those listed above only GE Reports fails in my view. Lots of good video, but it reads as if it’s written by their corporate communications team, as an extension of their press function. But it’s early days yet, the blog is only two months old so perhaps it will develop.
If you want to start blogging at your company look for someone with personality, who has an interesting role, who has something to say.
This probably won’t be your executives whose days are filled with meetings, who may be bound by closeout regulations around the publications of figures, and whose most interesting tasks may be commercially sensitive.
Instead look into your sponsoring, marketing, product development or corporate responsibility teams.
POSTSCRIPT 20 September 2018
10 years later most of the blogs I used as examples are still running in some form, GE Reports has got a lot better, and GM Fastlane has died – but it existed from 2006 to 2015. I’m taking this as a sign that my analysis of which companies were blogging successfully was spot on.
images: keyboard and business man via pixabay
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