Turning News Into Knowledge

The other day a discussion arose here at MediaMiser about the usefulness of corporate blogging. Our director of finance raised the issue that for many organizations blogging could be perceived as a non-revenue generating activity.

For our company, maintaining a blog is a no-brainer. Not only do we analyze traditional media, such as print and broadcast, we also analyze new media content such as blogs. So it’s important that we understand the medium (blogosphere) intimately. One of the many ways to do that is to maintain our own blog.

So again, for us it was easy to justify. But what about other corporations? What’s in it for them?

Almost all mature or reasonably sized corporations should have a corporate blog if they care about branding. Yes, blogging can be time-consuming and can even seem like a chore at times. But if your organization is active in branding itself, a blog can be an important tool.

When discussing this concept the other day, I recalled an English history course that I took at university. 

One day our professor asked the class why the British Navy ruled the waves the way it did, which, ultimately helped make Britain the world power at the time.

The answer was not because it had the best ships or the smartest people. It was because its ships were always kept at sea, while other countries kept their ships in the safe harbors of their ports when not needed.

Because of this, the British Navy was always ‘ready, aye, ready,’ while other navies needed time to find their sea legs.

The corporate world, and life in general, is no different.  To be good at something, you must constantly be doing it. This is where blogs come in.

At some point in an organization’s life-cycle, it will require evangelists to promote the general concept of the organization or its products and services. Generally, at most companies it’s the founders that evolve into this position, while other people grow into management positions.

At this point the evangelists become one with the brand and they must have the credibility and ability to properly articulate the essence of the company.

In this way, blogs provide the sea legs for the evangelists, while at the same time building their credibility and, by extension, the credibility of the company.

Blogs force the evangelists to be constantly communicating and organizing their thoughts. The more they blog and are forced to think, the better they become at articulating the brand. Plus, if the blog is being properly promoted, the evangelists’ credibility grows. And as many companies will tell you, their strength is their people. 

As for blogs becoming a time-consuming chore, the more you blog, the faster you get.  And if your blog is set up properly with the right processes in place, it shouldn’t take up much of your organization’s time. I think our finance director was convinced. We might even see him start posting here in the future!