Companies Must Blog
02/01/2005
Must read for all marketers - ClickZ's article by Mark Kingdom, "Embrace the Blogosphere."
The danger is clear. If businesses don't create their own conversation forum, their brands, products, services, and reputations might be co-opted by others. By telling their side of the story, business can proactively shape preferences and preserve customer loyalty.
Do you still think that blogs are a fad? Think again. With blogs launching from GM, Boeing the American Marketing Association (to name only a few) blogging has been lifted from the depth of teen diaries to become a credible business/marketing strategy. Oh yes, AMA is also offering a workshop on the marketing application of blogs.
While this diva believes that traditional marketing strategies are still important, you know the drill: public relations, advertising, trade shows, direct marketing, traditional research..., blogs personalize and tell the story faster than any other media we've seen to date.
Just Three Reasons Companies Must Blog
1. Blogs are written by real people who help humanize the brand/company and offer accessibility that can not be found anywhere else. When was the last time you had access to the Vice Chairman of GM?
2. Blog publishing tools are easy to use. No need for an HTML Book For Dummies. Even non geeks (like moi) can publish as fast as news breaks.
3. Blogs take viral (word of mouth) marketing to a new level. We can paste a ulr or a blurb from a blog into an email and send it off to friends and relatives. Remember blogs are websites that other blogs/websites can link to (never know who will be reading those). Since blogs are websites, they also make it into the search engines and with pretty high rankings. See Alex Brown's Wharton story.
So smart diva marketers who would you like to tell your brand's story to the world? Some one who is into the gossip or someone who is honest, credible and accessible? If you're new to marketing /brand blogging and want resource information or have any questions let me know. I'm happy to help.
