Corporate blogs serve several key purposes: 1) They allow executives and employees to directly communicate with customers to build personal connections. 2) They demonstrate a company's openness and responsiveness by discussing its products, services, and values transparently. 3) They help control a company's reputation by addressing problems proactively and responding to negative publicity.

1. What is the Purpose of Corporate Blogs?

2. To Communicate with Customers and the Public Removes Barriers Executives and employees directly communicate with readers of blog Creates a Personal Message Blog’s atmosphere is much more relaxed than normal company communication Displays Openness and Responsiveness Customers appreciate the transparency of a company created by its blog; nothing to hide

3. Advertising of Corporate Responsibility How Company is Giving Back Today’s consumers want companies to do more than just provide a quality product Improving Value of Products Showing how products and services are being improved to give more value to consumers

4. Reputation Control Problem Prevention Companies can address problems before public finds out from another source Response to Negative Publicity Companies can respond to false or negative allegations

5. Product/Service Promotion Indirectly Promote Sales Explain often unknown features or uses of a product Offer a sidebar to the company website Introduce a New Product/Service Describe a new product or service with a personal touch, possibly from an executive or employee who had a hand in its creation

6. Open Communication Reader and Writer Interaction The personal communication creates a comfort level and trust Even those who do not post and only read feel they can trust an individuals writing because its not the “company” talking Create Company Personality The style and attitude of a company’s blog writing says a lot to the consumer about that company’s “personality”

7. Potential Issues of Corporate Blogs

8. Negative Comments The whole point of Corporate Blogs is to help the company’s reputation. Possibility for negative comments about the company to appear. Administrators should review comments before they appear in the blog.

9. Open Communication Needs to find a balance between freedom to post and policing of the blog. Too heavily policed: People may lose interest in being involved. People may feel that the Blog is merely propaganda. Too free: Negative comments may ruin the company’s reputation.

10. Consistent Posting Company should ensure that the blog has frequent posting. If visitors see that the blog has been inactive for a long period of time, they may feel that this mode of communication is not important to the company. Before creating the blog, company should evaluate how often users may post.

11. Usefulness of Posts Company should make sure that the blog provides some use for readers. Blogs should have a use for the company as well. Create a balance. Blog needs a clear focus. Not just a place to post press releases.

12. Who will manage the Blog? Need someone of trust to write and manage the blog. To a reader, the blog expresses exact view points of the company. Wal-Mart

13. Trends of Corporate Blogs

14. Simple Layout Since most of viewers on corporate blogs are older, companies want to make the site as easy to use as possible The purpose of the blog is not directly promotional, but to convey to readers that the company is of moral standards With the emphasis on the blog being text driven, the company wants the potential customer to easily see the message

15. Blogging On almost every corporate blog there is a small logo and slogan about the company Despite the emphasis on the text, companies want every opportunity to put their name out to the public This is usually the only form of direct advertising to potential customers found on the blog

16. Advertisements There are usually no advertisements found on corporate blogs, which is one of the main differences from regular blogs Many of the big advertisements on the Internet today are of questionable character This would be counterproductive to the purpose of the blog, which is to promote corporate responsibility and to put the company in a better light

17. Multiple Authors Since there are many different types of customers, companies will assign multiple employees to post comments on the blog With pictures and captions of each author, readers will feel more connected to both the blog and the company Companies often sort the blog by topic, which gives customers the opportunity to easily read the articles, or authors, they are interested in

18. Multiple Authors Multiple authors helps to ensure that the blog comes out with new articles frequently This gives the impression to readers that the company is taking the blog seriously, not just to keep up with its competitors With many writers, there is a greater chance of innovation within the blog

19. Trends Despite the purpose of not being directly promotional, the corporate blog can be very influential on the bottom line of a company’s balance sheet Giving the company a successful image in the minds of customers often times is the deciding factor when customers choose between two completive companies

20. Discussion Questions 1. How important are corporate blogs to a company? Do you think they are a necessity to every company? 2. Have you ever read a corporate blog? If so, what was your impression of it? 3. How much freedom of speech should a corporate blog allow? What balance do you think is necessary? 4. How influential do you think corporate blogs are in persuading customers to chose their company over competitors?