Reasons NOT to Blog - What's Your Stance?
To piggyback off of the great discussion about Corporate Blogging by Mike Whaling at our social media breakfast last week, what do you think of the most recent feature in AdAge on Reasons NOT to blog?
10 Reasons Your Company Shouldn't Blog
Posted by B.L. Ochman on 09.22.08 @ 12:01 PM (originally on AdAge.com)
With alarming regularity, most recently Wednesday, I get inquiries from companies who want me to create a blog for them -- usually for the CEO. And nine out of 10 times, I talk them out of it.
The top 10 reasons I tell companies not to blog are:
1. The blogs most companies want to create are guaranteed to join the 900,999 out of every million blogs with no readers. Why? They're boring.
2. A blog has to have a personal voice. If you sound like a corporate drone, nobody will read your blog.
3. You need original content. The blogosphere is too much of an echo chamber already. What can you add that/s original? Or significantly better than anything else in your niche?
4. Blogging takes time -- lots of it. Let's even say a CEO is a great writer, who enjoys researching and crafting posts. And let's say he or she will write about what people want to hear about and not just write about what the company wants to say. And they he/she is willing to update a few times a week. All of that takes anywhere from two to four hours a post.
5. You need to read constantly to be a good blogger. That includes blogs, but also media outside the blogosphere -- feeds, forums, mainstream media -- so you can keep your readers informed about your topics.
6. A blog is not a substitute for a marketing campaign. It is simply a potential part of corporate communications.
7. A blog is not a substitute for advertising -- if you need to fill a new hotel, or sell a product by a certain date, advertise.
8. A blog is not a quick fix -- the results come in the long term, the same way they do with PR.
9. Blogs are not cheap. A good one requires skilled programming to set it up, a professional graphic designer to make it part of your corporate identity, a talented and dedicated writer or editor, full-time.
10. You need to drive traffic to a blog. There are many ways to do that. All of them require time, effort and money. Ways to drive traffic to a corporate blog include:
* Advertising on blogs, where you can be incredibly niche specific and cost-effective; buying Google keywords; and including your URL in traditional and online advertising.
* Promotion -- you can drive traffic to a blog with skillful promotion though other blogs, by becoming a respected part of social networking communities frequented by your customers; with contests, viral marketing, and the use of a variety of Web 2.0 promotional methods discussed frequently here and in other blogs that cover social media marketing.
10 Reasons Your Company Shouldn't Blog
Posted by B.L. Ochman on 09.22.08 @ 12:01 PM (originally on AdAge.com)
With alarming regularity, most recently Wednesday, I get inquiries from companies who want me to create a blog for them -- usually for the CEO. And nine out of 10 times, I talk them out of it.
The top 10 reasons I tell companies not to blog are:
1. The blogs most companies want to create are guaranteed to join the 900,999 out of every million blogs with no readers. Why? They're boring.
2. A blog has to have a personal voice. If you sound like a corporate drone, nobody will read your blog.
3. You need original content. The blogosphere is too much of an echo chamber already. What can you add that/s original? Or significantly better than anything else in your niche?
4. Blogging takes time -- lots of it. Let's even say a CEO is a great writer, who enjoys researching and crafting posts. And let's say he or she will write about what people want to hear about and not just write about what the company wants to say. And they he/she is willing to update a few times a week. All of that takes anywhere from two to four hours a post.
5. You need to read constantly to be a good blogger. That includes blogs, but also media outside the blogosphere -- feeds, forums, mainstream media -- so you can keep your readers informed about your topics.
6. A blog is not a substitute for a marketing campaign. It is simply a potential part of corporate communications.
7. A blog is not a substitute for advertising -- if you need to fill a new hotel, or sell a product by a certain date, advertise.
8. A blog is not a quick fix -- the results come in the long term, the same way they do with PR.
9. Blogs are not cheap. A good one requires skilled programming to set it up, a professional graphic designer to make it part of your corporate identity, a talented and dedicated writer or editor, full-time.
10. You need to drive traffic to a blog. There are many ways to do that. All of them require time, effort and money. Ways to drive traffic to a corporate blog include:
* Advertising on blogs, where you can be incredibly niche specific and cost-effective; buying Google keywords; and including your URL in traditional and online advertising.
* Promotion -- you can drive traffic to a blog with skillful promotion though other blogs, by becoming a respected part of social networking communities frequented by your customers; with contests, viral marketing, and the use of a variety of Web 2.0 promotional methods discussed frequently here and in other blogs that cover social media marketing.
Tags: blog, blogadvertising, corporateblog
Views: 0
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jim Hathaway on -
Your B.L. Ochman list hits most of the nerves I think, and I'm glad to hear that she talks most of them out of it, for the right reasons. For blogging, and its natural extension to social media, there are way too many consultants/agencies trying to talk clients into strategies that they don't have the resources, depth of understanding or collective will to support.
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Permalink Reply by Dan Kinchen on
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11. You say you will post but 2 months from now you will put it at the bottom of your to do list and then you will have out dated blog!
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Permalink Reply by Mike Whaling on -
I'm really torn by this... On one hand, I'm with Jim -- I agree with most of the points made, and that not every company should use blogs, podcasts, video or any other marketing/PR tactic, just for the sake of that particular technology.
On the other hand, there is a growing trend that consumers want to see companies have some type of presence on social media. (Boston Globe ... Not quite sure I buy the numbers, but it makes my point.) Just like traditional marketing and advertising, some will get it and some won't... I don't think that in itself is a reason to steer the majority of businesses away from the idea.
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