Corporate Blogging Best Practice

Slide 1: Corporate Blogging Best Practice Hayden Sutherland Ideal Interface © 2008 Ideal Interface

Slide 2: What’s the Business Reason? • Join the conversation – Find out what is being said • Provide an opinion – Tell your story, Tackle an issue, Feed a Frenzy • Promote (sell) product • ‘Return of Investment’ is hard to prove – Especially in the short-term • Its not just a ‘Me Too’ © 2008 Ideal Interface

Slide 3: It benefits…. • Branding • SEO • Marketing • Recruitment • Market research • Innovation • Community building • Access to customers © 2008 Ideal Interface

Slide 4: The 4 C’s of Blogging 1. Content 2. Community 3. Consistency 4. Clarity Source: http://www.slideshare.net/darmano/conversation-by-design © 2008 Ideal Interface

Slide 5: The 4 C’s - Content • Create a service to your readers • Be an original source of information – News is not called news because it is old • Share your knowledge • Speak from experience • Provide opinion – Don’t be afraid of a little passion • Add value © 2008 Ideal Interface

Slide 6: The 4 C’s - Community • Understand your different audiences – Customer Relations – Media Relations • Get involved • Listen • Cultivate by asking – Seek opinions, don’t just give them • Invest time to learn what works © 2008 Ideal Interface

Slide 7: The 4 C’s - Consistency • Post regularly – One/two/seven/twenty postings a week? – Stick to it (your audience will expect it) • Be true - others care • Find your correct voice(s) “A blog is easy to start, but it’s hard to maintain” © 2008 Ideal Interface

Slide 8: The 4 C’s - Clarity • Communicate it clearly • Make postings simple & compelling – One topic, one posting • Explain difficult / niche terms – Industry, trends, slang - can alienate some – Link to definitions if you have them • Relate different topics to each other • Multiple posters - is it clear who it is? © 2008 Ideal Interface

Slide 9: It needs…. • Transparency • Authenticity • Original content • Commitment (from Senior-level down) • Patience • Humility & humanity • Thick skin © 2008 Ideal Interface

Slide 10: Transparency isn’t always cultural Source: http://www.blaugh.com © 2008 Ideal Interface

Slide 11: It may mean… • Losing control – Did you really have it before? – Your market has changed, you should too! • Receiving negative comments – Are they truthful though? – But: be prepared to stop comments that breach your policies on decency, libel, etc. • Continuing a conversation until it finishes © 2008 Ideal Interface

Slide 12: Understand • Identify & know your target audience • Align subject with company aims & targets • Position blog to focus on key aspects • Agree content do’s and don’t • Agree if comments are allowed (why not?) • Have pre-prepared statements / responses to potential issue areas • Agree who will blog (and who won’t) © 2008 Ideal Interface

Slide 13: Your Liability • Confidentiality - Don’t say too much – Coordinate all announcements centrally – Competitors will read your postings – Misinformation is worse than none • Be aware of – Defamation (but fair comparison is fine) – Plagiarism & Intellectual Property Theft • Maintain a blogging policy – Peer checking can eliminate most issues – Companies are responsible for the statements made by their employees © 2008 Ideal Interface

Slide 14: Implementation • Define blog style – approach, attitude, voice • Agree posting schedule (and stick to it) • Allow enough time to respond to comments - if you allow them • Measure, measure & measure – Monitor links to your blog from Technorati © 2008 Ideal Interface

Slide 15: … and have fun! © 2008 Ideal Interface

Slide 16: Hayden Sutherland hayden@idealinterface.co.uk find me at: http://press20.blogspot.com © 2008 Ideal Interface