Corporations Catch On: A Blog is Not a Social Media Strategy

Of the things that have been emphasized (and re-emphasized) to me during my "marketing years," these are among the more prominent:

• Editors--and by extension, marketers--love surveys
• This love is even greater when the results include easily digestible statistics

For these reasons, Study Finds Huge Drop in Corporate Blogging along with the stat that only 37% of surveyed companies maintained a corporate blog in 2011 (down from the previous two years) made the article an instant winner for this week's blog topic.

The article suggests that some of the drop can be attributed to the increased branded/corporate presence companies can have on widely used social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, etc.). This is consistent with what we've discussed in class, in terms of the importance of marketing to where your audiences are. Companies have figured out that they have a much better chance of engaging with customers and prospects on multipurpose social networks than over a company website. By forging conversations away from companies' "home turf," there are opportunities for a broader and less biased dialogue, which consumers are likely more interested in.

I think another reason why the study shows a downturn in corporate blogging can be attributed to the typical hype cycle. Circa 2007-8, companies were rushing to create corporate blogs because it was the thing to do. No one wanted to be left behind. Companies' web pages were quickly expanded to include blogging capabilities, often without clear objectives in mind for why (or in some cases, even who would provide the content).

These days, more businesses seem to understand that the medium is secondary to the conversation. A blog is not actual communication by itself. In "old media," companies could control the market discussion with strategically placed messaging, ads, and other tools. Now, people are perpetually connected to each other in a constantly evolving dialogue--users are always talking, sharing, comparing, complaining, or doing whatever else they feel like doing online (and often broadcasting the results). Since most people would rather have their conversations away from corporate web properties, it makes sense that there would be less of an emphasis on corporate blogging. So while the article's headline might be a surprise to some, I'm sure many others are wondering what took them so long...