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Welcome to 5.1% by Vol., McBru’s monthly newsletter on best practices in marketing for deep-technology companies. Blogging: A Success Story in the Deep-Tech Industry What do you think of blogging? A. Overly hyped twist on a diary for people who should be working more—not relaying each and every thought they have. If you’ve blogged before or if your company has been blogged about, maybe you're like me and settle somewhere near option C—the middle ground on the “phenomenon.” You know that a blog, short for Web log, is basically an online journal that is enhanced through several capabilities such as easily hyperlinking with other blogs and sites, comments and trackbacks, and syndication through Real Simple Syndication (RSS). And you've read countless articles and heard endless testimonials about why companies should be blogging and engaging bloggers. As put better here, here and here, you realize that blogs can build community with various audiences that are important to your business, showcase expertise and wisdom throughout your company, and even draw traffic back to your corporate site through association. Yet, just as hundreds of articles appear nearly every day expounding the benefits of blogging for business, there are few pieces such as this one that lay out some serious caveats. In talks with several tech companies about blogging, I’ve found that many people might reside intellectually somewhere in the middle on the subject, but they lean more to the skeptical—unlike many of the blogging “experts”—when it comes to practice. Maybe their company tried to blog and nobody came. Or their company runs so lean—what deep-tech company doesn’t these days?—that everyone seems too busy to blog regularly. Perhaps they had a blog that management deemed “too popular,” as scores of critics and competitors were unfairly ripping their company to shreds in the comments section. What’s for sure is that few think blogging is like the Field of Dreams: Build a blog, they will come and everyone will live happily ever after. Despite the challenges to blogging effectively, we at McBru still maintain that clients should explore incorporating blogging into their online communications mix. Many companies we talk to assume that their CEO or C-level executive should serve as the primary blogger. However, there’s a good chance that the C-level executives are too overwhelmed with other company duties to blog regularly. Generally, companies should dip their toes in the water by supporting their subject-matter experts in blogging—and do so with fair expectations. The blogs written by your employees may incite a few riots in the comments sections here and there or have a rough week or two of low traffic, but there will be some wins, some journalists linking to their blogs, some former detractors recognizing how sharp your employees are, some prospects learning more about your company than they could from a sanitized corporate Web site. In fact, we've recently had the pleasure of working with a deep-tech client, data-center software company PolyServe (now owned by HP), on a blogging effort that has done pretty well. Our role on the project was to develop the overarching strategy, provide counsel on blog platforms, and provide ongoing advice and tips designed to ensure the blog's ongoing success. Within about a month after launch, PolyServe's sole blog, written by Oracle expert Kevin Closson and focused on Oracle clustering, reached several key objectives:
So, why was this blog such a success? We've listed below seven theories as to why we think PolyServe's blog helped propel its business forward, while others have disappointed their writers’ employers. 1. The technology PolyServe's blog focuses on, Oracle, is a mature one with many thousands of users looking to learn more about what complementary products and technical approaches work well with it… and don't. You have to ask yourself: Is there a ready audience out there feeling pain that could benefit from my expertise conveyed in a blog format? 2. PolyServe's sole blog is a subject-matter blog that establishes thought leadership for an expert who is well-respected in a particular field: Oracle. Your subject-matter blogger doesn't have to be a known expert—in fact, blogs can help expose talents—but you should help the blogger focus on their strengths, not the company's entire business. And if you're really after creating a "corporate blog" that seeks to establish thought leadership for a company's entire business, a person who is the expert in only one area of your business should probably not serve as your main corporate blogger. For an “umbrella” corporate blog, you should generally turn to someone such as a CEO whose expertise spans the entire company's business. However, as we pointed out before, these C-level executives are generally too consumed with other business matters to blog as regularly as a subject-matter expert. Focus on subject-matter blogs, and your company will benefit from the halo effect. For example, we recently met with a semiconductor company who was considering asking their CTO to blog about where the market is going. The CTO perceptively brought up an objection: What he mainly deals with each day has little to do with pondering such a heady and broad topic. Your blogger has to be passionate about their subject and blogging. 3. PolyServe's blogger isn’t afraid to challenge conventional thought, companies in the space and other experts. And he allows detractors to challenge him back by permitting even the most abrasive of comments. What's more, he is reluctant to be too employer-promotional, instead allowing the halo effect of the blog's success to spread to PolyServe. Is your company ready to be so open, honest, humble and potentially provocative in its blog? 4. PolyServe's blogger doesn’t manicure his blog to the point of resembling a corporate Web site. He created it with own hands—just like the content. Does your company follow strict rules about look-and-feel across all Web properties? Or can an employee’s blog reflect somewhat the tastes of its writer? 5. Again, PolyServe's blogger writes all of his blog posts. This is completely key. We know of corporate blogs that are written by marketing staff but, judging by recent exposes, there's a good chance the covers will eventually be pulled off such a stunt. Do your experts have time—and support of management—to prepare, write and even comment on others' blogs? 6. The PolyServe blog is “networked.” Unless you're absolutely brilliant or wildly entertaining, it's difficult to blog only in essay format and not “link out.” In other words, you need to spend time like Closson does and research what other bloggers and journalists are saying, link to it and comment on it. And, if you want people to comment on your blog, it's only human nature that they'll want you to comment on theirs. Do your experts have the time—not to mention interest—to not only blog, but also “join the conversation” and read/comment on other blogs? 7. Last, but not least: The PolyServe blog is not overly optimized for search engines, aka SEO, to the point of appearing rigid or losing meaning. Sure, the PolyServe blog makes good use of target keywords in the blog's title tag and header, but I doubt the writer ever consciously populates each post with the keywords. Sometimes, he might even blog off-topic about a personal passion. Are you prepared to push back on your SEO experts who sometimes favor their rules over your blogger's desire to be authentic? If you're still hesitant to try out blogging for the first time—or perhaps again—I hope there's something above that you can take away: inspiration, blogging tips or even a positive example to show decision makers in your company. And if you're one of the few who picked option B, write me and tell me what I was missing! Until next time, Jeff Hardison |
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