The case for the corporate blog

The “light bulb” first went on for me in the relative darkness of the State Theater during Blog Potomac.  I was listening to Shel Holtz, Scott Monty of Ford, and others talk about the importance of the “corporate” blog. 

Until this point, I hadn’t been sure that all organizations, corporate or not, should have a blog be it from a C-level type or corporate blogger.  But after hearing the stories and then having subsequent conversations with clients and others, I am convinced more than ever.  Here are the reasons:

• You are in control:  If I had a dime for every time I heard a client say “I really wish that we can write the story,” or “can’t we just give the story to the paper?”  With a blog, in essence, you can.  You control the content, the message.  It is not someone else’s version of what you said, it is yours.
• It is nimble:  How long does it take for you to change something on your website. Next to forever, right?  A blog post in most cases takes as long as it takes for someone to write it and post it (assuming they don’t need internal approvals).
• It is a place for an ongoing dialogue with fans:  With ever-changing content fans are encouraged to come back regularly to read and (OMG) participate in a two-way conversation.  For those afraid of encouraging negative commentary, most will tell you the truth is that negative commentary is happening whether you blog otr not.  On the blog you can engage naysayers, have a conversation with them, and perhaps change their point of view.
• It is a place to manage your reputation in a timely manner:  Let’s say a reporter writes or reports something negative or incorrect.  Without a blog you have write a response and wait for the media outlet to report it.  With the blog, you can quickly post your own response in a more timely fashion.  This is critical during a crisis when minutes and seconds are the difference in protecting an organization’s reputation.
• You can communicate with employees:  External communications also helps an organization internally.  Here by celebrating success or even hard times you are keeping employees in the loop.
• You can extend your brand:  Other platforms like Facebook and Twitter are great for this as well but they have their limitations.  A blog can tell the story of your company or organization, its values, successes and failures, its personality.

Organizational leaders are quick to tell you why a blog won’t work (too much time, no one to write it, the lawyers would never permit it, etc.)   But the more we learn about social media and how people consume it, the more I think the blog is the first thing, and dare I say, the only thing organizations should do if they can only do one thing.

Would love to hear some thoughts.