The big hubbub on the web today on the web is Josh Bernoff's research paper from Forrester, People Don't Trust Corporate Blogs! That title is what we in the Internet business call 'link bait', a captivating title that really doesn't mean what it says.
The big audacious bullet point of Josh's research is that only 16% of people trust corporate blogs, less than other mediums. Josh leaves the meat of the analysis out of his blog post and in the download - a real disappointment. To give him credit, Josh does tell people that they really need to download the full analysis and give it thought.
The walk away from the analysis is this:
Josh provides some feedback on when and how a business should blog but he totally left out Search Engine Marketing, an absolute disappointment. In other words, Forrester has perpetuated the myth of corporate blogging as only a tool to build relationships and fuzzy little Web 2.0 terms like engagement.
Corporate blogging is becoming a key strategy in conversions and acquisition in a search engine strategy. I can't believe that Forrester left out the search component associated with the benefits of corporate blogging!
Most consumers start their activity on the web from a web search... that means that your company's placement in those results should be key to your online marketing strategy.
The big audacious bullet point of Josh's research is that only 16% of people trust corporate blogs, less than other mediums. Josh leaves the meat of the analysis out of his blog post and in the download - a real disappointment. To give him credit, Josh does tell people that they really need to download the full analysis and give it thought.The walk away from the analysis is this:
- People don't trust companies.
- Since they do not trust companies, they're definitely not going to trust some new technology that a company adopts that might be used to try to manipulate them.
- The majority of corporate blogs suck.
- Compendium believes that the majority of corporate blogs are not necessarily untrustworthy, but most do suck.
- We're tired of all the experts providing terrible corporate blogging advice that is prevalent on the web right now. These voices have clogged the Internet and left unrealistic expectations of companies on how blogging will help them and how they should leverage blogging to drive sales and build relationships with their customers.
- Corporate blogging should be leveraged to build online search authority, ranking, and acquisition - not simply a tool for building trust.
- Corporate blogs should provide relevant content that answers the questions that the reader is looking for. That means speaking to the customer, about the customer, and how you can help that reader.
Like any other marketing channel, blogging can work. But it’s not about you; it’s about your customer. Our rule of thumb is that if the person reading the blog says, “Sure I don’t trust corporate blogs, but I don’t think of your blog that way,” then you’re on the right track.Where Forrester totally missed the mark:
Josh provides some feedback on when and how a business should blog but he totally left out Search Engine Marketing, an absolute disappointment. In other words, Forrester has perpetuated the myth of corporate blogging as only a tool to build relationships and fuzzy little Web 2.0 terms like engagement.
Corporate blogging is becoming a key strategy in conversions and acquisition in a search engine strategy. I can't believe that Forrester left out the search component associated with the benefits of corporate blogging!
Most consumers start their activity on the web from a web search... that means that your company's placement in those results should be key to your online marketing strategy.
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