Your Corporate Blog (Probably) Sucks

Via the Wall Street Journal's Ben Worthen:

A new study by Forrester Research reviewed 90 blogs run by business-to-business companies in the Fortune 500, and surveyed about twice that many B2B marketers. Like most businesses, these companies want to use the Internet to reach their customers. ...

Forrester found that most B2B blogs are "dull, drab, and don't stimulate discussion." Seventy percent stuck to business or technical topics, 74% rarely get comments, and 56% simply regurgitated press releases or other already-public news.

Translation: Most B2B blogs merely are broadcasting corporate marketing propaganda. Hardly surprising, since most of the corporate blogs are launched and run by marketers.

But there are exceptions to the rule, and bITa Planet has an interesting article this week about a company that is doing blogging the right way -- baby-products manufacturer Graco, a division of Newell Rubbermaid. No, it's not a B2B blog, but the principles remain the same:

• Plan the blog and its features carefully (rather than slap one up and start posting press releases)

• Understand your audience's needs beyond whatever your product may offer them

• Encourage conversation and interaction

The bottom line is that the goal of corporate blogs should be to build a rapport with the target audience. Rapport leads to trust, which leads to a positive image,  which over time leads to more sales. It's not duplicitous, it's smart, and it's a recognition of the limits and possibilities of the medium.

Here's what I mean: Corporate blogs (to me, at least) are the online equivalent of the sponsored networking socials that we've all been to at business conferences. Which of these events are the most painful? The ones where a marketing VP collars you while you're trying to nurse a Heineken and starts hammering away with a sales pitch. That's what a bad corporate blog is like.

The enjoyable (or at least tolerable) networking events are the ones where the corporate people loosen up and act like human beings instead of heat-seeking revenue and publicity missiles. They might go on a little bit about their company, but they'll also ask questions about you and talk about their kids, the latest movies, the sad demise of booth babes, etc.

In other words, a quality corporate blog, like a good corporate networking event, should feature genuine conversation. And an open bar. Is that so hard to understand?