The corporate world saw the potential of blogging early on and soon found that the corporate blog, if used properly could be a very effective management tool, both inside and outside the organization. Corporate blogs are of two distinct varieties – the external blog and the internal one. Years ago companies had to issue regular circulars to inform employees about company news and developments but now in can be done through an internal corporate blog which communicates with employs in near real time and which provides them with a ready way of giving their feedback.
In the case of the external corporate blog, blogging is done to communicate with all external stakeholders, including customers, and through the act of keeping them informed of new developments and inviting their feed back, making them feel a part of the organizations – a loyalty that can translate into additional profits.
Unfortunately, there are many companies who have started corporate blogs with no clear understanding of what they are and how they should be used – companies who started down this path just to give the appearance of being modern. These companies usually produce corporate blogs with no defined purpose and when this happens, the results may not just be absent, the blogs may even have a negative effect.
A blog that has no discernable purpose will create the impression among the readers that those who publish it – the company's management – also have of clear purpose. And since a blog is an interactive medium – readers should be able to post their comments on what they have read so that readers can share their opinions and experiences – not providing material that stimulates the interaction will leave the corporate blog limp and lifeless.
A internal corporate blog done in the right way, on the other hand, can be a huge morale booster by allowing employees to express their thoughts and opinions and thus giving them a feeling of being actively involved in the running of their company. Giving employees current up to date information in the corporate blog will allow the management to collect valuable employees feedback on various issues in an informal manner and modify their policies accordingly, it needed.
External corporate blogs are an opportunity for the company to tell all those outside it about the new happenings and products that are making news and once again, since reader feedback is a part of these blogs, valuable information in the form of market opinion to new policies and products can be obtained for next to nothing. And as in the case of the internal corporate blog, the external one will give the reader a chance to feel more connected to the company since he will be communicating with it by sending in his comments and this communication will foster a strong connection that will result in profits.
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