Okay, I'm back to my comments about the Forrester report saying that B2B blogging is on the decline. In my last post, I tackled one of my primary concerns about the report: The audience surveyed.
Now let's get to the heart of the matter: The message.
As a person with a marketing background, let me say that I think Forrester is a great resource and historically has turned out some pretty great whitepapers, studies, and analysis. But boy, I think they really missed the mark on this one.
My biggest problem with this whitepaper is the core message, which is that marketers should view business blogging as a way to build a community. Whether you are currently thinking about corporate blogging or have already started down the path, just promise me that you will not make this same mistake.
Why do I think that it's a mistake to consider the major goal of blogging to be community? Because it's impossible, intangible, and quite frankly, it's not going to generate business for your organization.
What markets have to understand is that the goals of a blogging program are really no different than the goals of every other marketing effort that we put money into: generate new business opportunities, and make money.
I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to quote Jerry Maguire here: "Show me the money."
Back tomorrow with more thoughts.
