Why You Should Have A Blog In Business Today
A business might wonder if blogs are of use to them now, especially with the new popularity of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. Yet blogs still have a valuable place. After all, many companies realized a few years ago that customers were turned off by fact-heavy websites that looked like pages from an Annual Report. Once they made their web sites more interactive, often by means of blogs, the whole company-customer dynamic transformed and became more positive and interactive.
It’s well known in the business blogosphere that Dell Computers led the way, being one of the first companies to make such a change. Even though Dell had become a very successful organization, a barrier still remained between the company and its customers, many of whom had frustrating complaints that weren’t being resolved. When the company set up to receive blog entries, the turnaround in its relationship with customers was remarkable. General Motors, too, had a similar experience.
Blogs can even work in tandem with email newsletters. Many customers of a business will check the website regularly for the latest business info, and appreciate not having their inbox clogged with email. Others might still prefer the emails, so the company will need to use all the different ways of reaching out that are available. But the specifics on a blog will be less ephemeral than short Twitter updates that quickly vanish from a webpage. And customer replies will remain equally visible.
Businesses do need to be careful about raising clients’ expectations, however. While an almost one-on-one relationship might be feasible between a small business and its clients, much larger companies may not be able to respond to all inquiries or complaints, and this could hurt its good reputation if the company is not careful.
An additional use for a blog, and one that businesses might not even consider at first, is for internal communication. Despite the fact that employees can keep in touch by means of email, meetings or conference calls, an internal blog can focus on one department or a single project, supplying a central place for a group to receive daily updates or make an informal report of their progress. This will keep these employees up to date without their own email inbox piling up to an unmanageable level.
Even though blogs are now in many ways less active, they still have a purpose in giving up-to-date business information and news to customers and obtaining feedback from them. Coming from the more tried and true internet establishment, they provide information in a more permanent form than other media, yet allow a business to remain in fruitful, friendly contact with its customers.
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