An international survey has discovered that PR pros in the U.S. and U.K. recognise the importance of blogs, but very few are actually blogging, or even monitoring them.
The survey was carried out among more than 1,100 public relations executives from agencies and corporations in the U.S. and U.K by Peppercom Strategic Communications and the Daily ‘Dog, an online PR review.
The results were very surprising; I had considered the US to be way ahead of the UK in this field, but that does not seem to be the case, their companies are equally cautious. This is what Steve Cody of Peppercom said:
“Originally, the purpose of this survey was to compare and contrast blogging communication practices in the U.S. and the U.K. and identify best practices. Surprisingly, what was revealed was a level playing field across both countries where a select few are diving into social media, but most are hesitant to start the process.”
“Among the significant findings is that while an overwhelming majority of respondents (85 percent) believe blogs are an important digital communication—the top two responses given being the ability to share information quickly and broadly (U.S.: 84 percent; U.K.: 74 percent), and the opportunity to influence public opinion and decision making (U.S.: 74 percent; U.K.: 65 percent)—most respondents admit that they (or their clients) do not have an official company blogging policy (U.S.: 87 percent, U.K.: 82 percent). And although a majority of respondents felt blogs were important, only 37 percent in the United States and 36 percent in the United Kingdom are actually blogging on behalf of their company or client.
“The data suggests that the lack of blogging policies speaks to the fact that social media is not being taken seriously at a strategic level by corporate executives.”
Well I know Dell monitors blogsphere successfully, they collected and repaired my faulty laptop as a result of a post I wrote. And look how successful Thresher was at getting word out about its 40% discount coupon – all as a result of blogging.
Blogging has had its impact in the political sphere, with Conservatives taking the lead here and constantly challenging leading politicians about their actions.
Vichy is one company blogging successfully in France, albeit after a shaky start which it overcame by adopting a more transparent approach. This is what Vichy says about its blogging experience:
“Everyone at Vichy has learned from the blog. It has helped us to clarify our product position. And better answer customer questions that we had not previously thought about, such as what products should be used at the same time. The interaction with customers on the blog has impacted our PR and sales efforts.”
With podcasting and YouTube as well, there are endless opportunities to be creative and visual and connect with the consumer interactively. Heather Yaxley points out that a fabulous PR stunt with a VW car pulling a Boeing 747 should have immediately been posted on YouTube. It was posted a week later and had 5,000 views in 5 days, this figure could have been hundreds more if it had been posted earlier, it failed to maximise its potential here. Hopefully, other PR pros will take heed of this and start to think more visually and interactively with the social media and realise the unique opportunies it offers.
For those who want to get up to speed on business and blogging, I highly recommend the Blogging4Business conference which I went to earlier this year, and will be attending again next April. Lots of comments were made from PR pros who felt their companies could not handle criticism and negative feedback on blogs. I would argue that companies need to know what their consumers feel and they should be able to respond professionally – and transparently. They may even get positive feedback too!
I would like to know if you think more businesses should be blogging, if you would prefer to read product reviews on blogsites rather than newspaper reports. Would you like to be able to give companies feedback on products interactively? Do you feel blogging would be more beneficial for them in the long run?
I’d caution against all organisations blogging unless they are prepared to be genuinely open especially when they have issues to address. Also, it need not be the CEO at the keyboard (and PR should never fake this), for example, blogging is powerful with select audiences such as corporate clients with the engineering/design team or for customer relations to help build loyalty and address potential post-purchase issues. I’d like to see PRs blogging with the media too. In fact, blogging should be for a useful purpose than seen as a marketing device for publicity purposes.
Employee blogging policies are important, but these shouldn’t just be “thou shalt not” since voices inside good organisations are more likely to be champions than moaners. Starting with internal blogs might be a good strategy.
There are lots of opportunities with new media, but it needs commitment and an understanding that power and control have shifted away from organisations, whether they join the conversations or not.
Heather, I agree with your points, blogging does not suit all people or businesses unless they endorse an open and transparent culture. I can understand the fear about lack of control, but there are benefits too if it is done with commitment – and even passion.
Ellee,
Thanks for the pointer to this post. I’ve been laxed in my reading of late.
I disagree with one point in the Peppercom quote, about “lack of blogging policies speaks to the fact that social media is not being taken seriously at a strategic level by corporate executives.”
That’s not true. How many companies have an internal and/or external communication policy in place? Not many, I bet, but they still take communication seriously.
Blogging is still new. It’s just a baby. So, it’ll be slow and gradual to become widespread.
One thing that Todd Defren/PR-Squared noted are the early misteps in social media by some. (See http://www.pr-squared.com/2006/12/its_simply_my_nature_part_1.html .)
If you mistep in the blogosphere, it seems as if the entire world is bashing you.
It’s good to read that Vichy did not abandon blogs after a rough early going. I think most companies will stumble. But, if the rest of us can see honest mistakes from blatant “fakery,” more companies will blogs.
Mike
Mike, Thanks for your comment and the interesting link with some case studies which are worth checking out. As you say, blogging is still in its infancy, mistakes will be made.
I speak as a complete amateur in this whole field so am prepared to get shouted down but I suppose it depends what kind of business you are. For instance I’ve often wondered about Odeon say setting up a blog which would review the films that they put out in their cinemas or Microsoft reviewing games you can play on their PCs.
I think though many blogs are conversations within communities between interested people. Latest developments in plumbing isn’t a blog I’d ever read though it might be that the creation fo that blog if I had a friend interested in plumbing might lead me to a plumber.
The problem is that so much of most company PR is devoid of interest- I think its that that companies need to deal with- saying something as well as selling something.
Sorry off the cuff thoughts-
Business blogging is a little known market that resourceful businesses can gain a lot. Many probably just see them as geeky diarists.
I agree with Gracchi and Heather makes a good point about who in a company would have charge of the blog. Anything can be made interesting if someone writes well. I’m sure blogging is going to take off in all kinds of directions that we can’t even imagine yet. With regard to political blogs, I read mostly Tory ones because they are just better written!
Got mixed feelings about this. My starting point is that these things are tools of free expression (within limits) and that, therefore, anything pushing a company point of view is to be distrusted. However, some of the journo blogs I read are good – Ben Fenton, Christopher Howse, Colin Randall etc.
I think that the idea of companies blogging is a good one. I would however be wary of believing company reviews on thier own products.
After all, Microsoft have been saying for years that Windows is a stable and reliable platform.
Buster, The idea of the product reviews via blogging is to get members of the public sampling products and writing about them objectively, such as Vichy sending out face creams, and other bloggers writing about new cars, cakes or Christmas trees.
Ellee
I stand corrected. It would be a brave company that launched a product this way. It would however probably mean more reliable products and services if they were to be reviewed by the customer first.
Buster, This is what is already happening. Isn’t “word of mouth” the best form of advertising? Well, as we have seen from Thresher’s experience, word can get around very quickly in blogsphere.
This is precisely what Apple are about to do over here and I saw a mock up of the possible site. So perhaps businesses are tentatively dipping the toes in the water. However, certain well known figures are only blogging because they feel they have to and don’t regularly update.
“I would argue that companies need to know what their consumers feel and they should be able to respond professionally – and transparently.”
You’ve hit the nail on the head, Ellee. Far from low levels of business blogging being down to lack of Exec buy-in I think the real problem is that most companies aren’t prepared to go for full transparency.
If you look at the companies whose blogs really work (Innocent smoothies, Dell (now!), Microsoft) they are prepared to engage and be up-front about products and service.
That requires a major step change in businesses’ attitudes, but one that I reckon most will have to make in the future.
UK …
A report comparing the levels of business blogging in the US and UK concludes an interesting conversation I was having earlier this week with Maggie Fox over at Social Media Group. Via email Maggie suggested that the UK was far…
I agree with Simon (Heather made some excellent points as well). Companies have to be prepared for a certain degree of transparency in order to blog well – otherwise it’s just a press release; at best you’ll be ignored, at worst you’ll be vilified.
Part of my task is educating companies about the power of blogging – and what I get mostly is fear. Fear of opening the floodgates, fear of time and resources required to manage social media (1% of 200,000 is still a lot!). However, by explaining the numbers and the changes that are taking place online, I generally find that sensible firms (those who should be blogging, and that’s not everyone) realise they can’t ignore Web 2.0 any more – and that they can enter the space kicking and screaming, or in a planned way on their own terms. Smart companies choose the latter.
Maggie, I’m in total agreement, and blogging certainly doesn’t suit everyone, either personally or professionally.