What is a low-cost, high-return marketing tool? June 21, 2009
Posted by jbentle3 in Uncategorized.trackback
Blogging is.
A 2007 article in the New York Times states that bogging can do these three things:
1) Handles marketing and public relations
2) Raises the profile of the company
3) Builds the brand
NY Times cited a survey that found only 5 percent of companies with less then 100 employees had a blog. Why is this? One of the main reasons is probably the lack of time available that small business owners would be able to contribute to blogging. Small business leaders are solely focused on operating the business, not blogging. Another reason that was stated is lack of written communication skills that may hinder some business leaders. The final reason is whether or not blogging fits with blogging. i would have to disagree with the comment in the NY Times article stating that restaurants and clothes manufacturers may be less likely to consider using a blog because sometimes a blog may increase customers eating at your restaurant or finding and buying your clothes in the store.
Blogging has to be made part of the marketing plan. A blog can serve as the central place for tracking the activities of a company and gives the business owner a platform for explaining why decisions were made. A blog can help the business relate to its customers and stakeholders. Some industry’s, like technology, almost require a blog because of the innovative (ness) of the field and the ability to quickly update with news.
If you were (or are) a small business owner, would you use a blog to enhance your brand? Does the benefits of building and maintaining customer-relations outweigh the cost of spending time to do the blog? All small business owners should at least consider using a blog and if they do use a blog, they must update frequently and offer beneficial information.
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/business/smallbusiness/27sbiz.html"
Jbentle3's Blog 
“Over the past few years, “blogs” have taken over where personal Web sites left off. Once the domain of journalists, commentators, politicians, and savvy University students, blogs are now used by people from all walks of life and of all ages. It has been said that there are now millions of blogs on the Web. Bloggings rise in popularity has been nothing short of phenomenal. Blogs are used as online diaries, soapboxes, political commentaries, to report breaking news, to share the latest family events with those we love, or just to talk to the world at large.” (Hardmeier, February 24, 2006)
Nowadays, everybody uses blogs to communicate a plethora of information with friends, family, and customers. Companies have even used blogs as a way to share information about new products and services. Companies utilize blogs as a marketing tool to gain a better understanding of how consumers view their products and services.
“Comments are one of the things that make blogs unique and special. Anybody who reads a blog may, if the blog owner allows it, publish comments under a blog entry to agree, to disagree, to sympathize, or to share their own thoughts. This interaction is different than more traditional feedback utilities such as Guestbooks. Guestbooks are generic—entries are not tied to one particular page, or commentary. Blog comments, on the other hand, are tied directly to a particular entry.” (Hardmeier, February 24, 2006)
Blogs have become one of the best feedback tools that any company can use to find out exactly what their customers are thinking.
Reference:
Hardmeier, S. (February 24, 2006). Blogging 101. Retrieved, June 27, 2009, from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/community/columns/blogging.mspx
Shel Holtz wrote a case study in 2006 concerning GM responding to a story in the New York Times. “The tale begins with Thomas Friedman, author of the current bestselling book, The World is Flat, who wrote a Times article that was deeply critical of GM. Friedman compared the company to a crack cocaine dealer for offering US$1.99-per-gallon gasoline for a year to customers who buy GM trucks and SUVs. ”
GM immediately penned a 450 word response which the New York Times turned down saying they would only publish 200 words. While GM in fact, submitted the letter, they published their full response plus the correspondence with the New York Times in their corporate blog, FYI.
“To date, that post has generated nearly 150 comments. Among them were messages from readers who took the trouble to find instances in The New York Times’ op-ed pages in which the word “rubbish” had been used. Others found additional factual errors in Friedman’s report. Further, the post and comments attracted the interest of other journalists, including those writing for The Washington Post. In the end, GM’s handling of the issue looked savvy, while the Times wound up looking petty and unfair.”
GM used their blog to manage their corporate reputation with measurable results. Shel wraps up the article by saying, “There are, of course, many other, and more important, reasons to consider a business blog. But GM’s use of a blog to stand up against the one of the largest, most reputable newspapers in the U.S. should lead reluctant leaders to give business blogs another look.” Blogs are an excellent tool for crisis communication as well; if companies don’t have a blog, they should at least have a plan on the drawing board.
Links:
FYI Blog, http://fyi.gmblogs.com/
http://www.iabc.com/cwb/archive/2006/0706/holtz.htm
Perhaps another reason why blogging isn’t a prevalent tool in marketing today is that it is about as reliable of a source of information as Wikipedia. When people think blogs they think a young guy sitting in his mom’s basement banging away on a keyboard, hammering out opinions that are portrayed as facts.
While this steriotypical view of blogers is changing dramatically fast, the vast majority of people do not blog and an even greater amount do not read blogs. According to Big Research (http://www.bigresearch.com), 75% of Americans do not blog and, as stated, even less Americans read blogs with 77% stating they regularly or occassionally read blogs.
Besides the lack of readership with bloggers outweighing those that are actually reading them, things like Twitter and Facebook are quickly becoming the chief source of information on individuals. As Sharon Machlis from Computer World inquires “Is Blogging Becoming Passe?” (http://blogs.computerworld.com/is_blogging_passe). She goes on to write “Blogging doesn’t necessarily feel over the hill to me, but it’s certainly not cutting edge or real-time anymore. It does feel slow compared to the more instant give and take of Twitter. I’m enjoying Twitter a lot more than I thought I would. It’s surprisingly satisfying to be able to share thoughts and ideas so quickly (although shaving them down to 140 characters can take a bit of work). And I find scanning the tweets of those I follow a time-efficient way to see what’s going on beyond my own universe.”
You should check out Long, Galarneau, Carlson, and Bryan’s chapter “The Untamed Blog: Public Relations Asset or Liability?” in Sandra Duhe’s book entitled “New Media and Public Relations” from Peter Lang.