Can Company Blogs be Successful?

In short, um, maybe. It depends on how you measure success.

Companies rarely speak with a single voice. From a blog content standpoint, you would think this is a positive thing. But it also represents many challenges and hurdles for companies considering a company blog.

As a general rule, I believe for a company's blog to be successful it should represent the views of everyone in the company and address the needs of all stakeholders. That means getting contribution from all areas of the company on a regular basis. It should not be just another marketing medium, falling the way of the obligatory monthly eNewsletter.

Another important factor to keep in mind is a communications 101 rule: know your audience. The first target audience most companies look to aim their blog at is consumers or sales prospect. This is a big reason why marketing typically owns blog content contribution. But this is short sighted. For sure, potential customers are part of a blog strategy, but lead generation should not be the focus of a company's blog.

Ask yourself, who in the organization is best suited to address the needs and concerns of these groups:

1. Prospects
2. New clients/users
3. Established clients/users
4. Partners/vendors
5. Resellers/agents
6. Investors
7. Press/media

All companies have assigned resources in these areas, and that's for a reason. They're the best equipped to provide that stakeholder with the best experience and ensure long-term value. These same people are the ones that should be engaging blog readers on these topics.

Blogging technology and platforms are nothing magical. Empowering for the masses, yes. Revolutionary, arguable. It's technology. An advancement in communications. And like any advancement it's sometimes hard to measure, quantify and categorize. How technology is applied determines its impact.

If your goal is to create more meaningful and longer-lasting relationships with your company's stakeholders, a blog will likely help you be more effective in that area. However, if your goals are bound by increased sales, pure lead generation, or creating another channel to push marketing rhetoric, a blog will most certainly not live up to your measurement of success.

It's hard to fake engagement. People can tell when you're talking "at" them, not "with" them. From a brand equity standpoint, you need to do a gut-check on the sincerity of your company's commitment to real and true stakeholder engagement. If it's not there or it's weak, I'd stay away from doing a blog. Your blog and its content will only expose your lack of customer understanding and potentially hurt your brand.

Keep it real and you'll be successful in blogging.