Comments on: Are spokespeople going the way of the dodo? http://www.batemanbanter.com/2009/10/are-spokespeople-going-the-way-of-the-dodo/ The Bateman Group on PR and social media marketing Sat, 14 Jan 2012 13:27:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: laurent http://www.batemanbanter.com/2009/10/are-spokespeople-going-the-way-of-the-dodo/comment-page-1/#comment-139 laurent Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:37:37 +0000 http://www.bateman-group.com/blog/?p=328#comment-139 I forgot to say that the gogrid blog is #39 and the Amazon's one is #434 in this community of ~550 bloggers we mapped. I forgot to say that the gogrid blog is #39 and the Amazon’s one is #434 in this community of ~550 bloggers we mapped.

]]> By: laurent http://www.batemanbanter.com/2009/10/are-spokespeople-going-the-way-of-the-dodo/comment-page-1/#comment-138 laurent Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:36:23 +0000 http://www.bateman-group.com/blog/?p=328#comment-138 I agree (sparks dialog and interaction). And that translate in 'blog influence'. At eCairn, we measure blog influence within niche communities (think "computer security" , "beauty" , "personal finance"....). As an example, in the cloud computing community, a small startup called gogrid is doing better than the 880 lbs gorilla Amason, according to our ranking. http://blog.gogrid.com/ vs http://aws.typepad.com/aws/ Clearly one blog talks about Cloud Computing in general vs the other one is very focus on the company's offering. It's not bad but it draws less interest (backlinks, comments) that way. Thus less influence. L I agree (sparks dialog and interaction).
And that translate in ‘blog influence’.
At eCairn, we measure blog influence within niche communities (think “computer security” , “beauty” , “personal finance”….).
As an example, in the cloud computing community, a small startup called gogrid is doing better than the 880 lbs gorilla Amason, according to our ranking.
http://blog.gogrid.com/
vs
http://aws.typepad.com/aws/
Clearly one blog talks about Cloud Computing in general vs the other one is very focus on the company’s offering. It’s not bad but it draws less interest (backlinks, comments) that way. Thus less influence.

L

]]> By: Tyler Perry http://www.batemanbanter.com/2009/10/are-spokespeople-going-the-way-of-the-dodo/comment-page-1/#comment-137 Tyler Perry Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:56:08 +0000 http://www.bateman-group.com/blog/?p=328#comment-137 Hi Laurent, Definitely agree with your point- we try and steer our clients away from using the blog as another forum to promote the company or its products. Bottom line is that is just not interesting for an outside party to read. A truly successful corporate blog sparks dialog and interaction, which usually means that the content needs to be provoking, interesting and not self-serving. Appreciate the comments; look forward to hearing from you more! Tyler Hi Laurent,

Definitely agree with your point- we try and steer our clients away from using the blog as another forum to promote the company or its products. Bottom line is that is just not interesting for an outside party to read. A truly successful corporate blog sparks dialog and interaction, which usually means that the content needs to be provoking, interesting and not self-serving.

Appreciate the comments; look forward to hearing from you more!

Tyler

]]> By: laurent http://www.batemanbanter.com/2009/10/are-spokespeople-going-the-way-of-the-dodo/comment-page-1/#comment-135 laurent Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:13:46 +0000 http://www.bateman-group.com/blog/?p=328#comment-135 Hi While the benefit you described are valid, they're very "company" centered, looking at blogs as spokesmen is wrong. A ~year old study from forrester showed that people don't trust much corpo blog (29% if my memory is correct) and the reason is that they talk mostly about the company/the products etc...(what a spokesmen does). It's old marketing with an appearance of new. Instead companies can leverage blogs to: 1) show they understand their market and are commitment to contribute to solve issues and help move it forward 2) networked with like-minded individuals outside the company and build valuable relationships 3) create an outside-in communication channel It can be done if they have a "them" mindset prior to an "us" midset. Hi
While the benefit you described are valid, they’re very “company” centered, looking at blogs as spokesmen is wrong.
A ~year old study from forrester showed that people don’t trust much corpo blog (29% if my memory is correct) and the reason is that they talk mostly about the company/the products etc…(what a spokesmen does). It’s old marketing with an appearance of new.
Instead companies can leverage blogs to:

1) show they understand their market and are commitment to contribute to solve issues and help move it forward
2) networked with like-minded individuals outside the company and build valuable relationships
3) create an outside-in communication channel

It can be done if they have a “them” mindset prior to an “us” midset.

]]> By: Bill http://www.batemanbanter.com/2009/10/are-spokespeople-going-the-way-of-the-dodo/comment-page-1/#comment-134 Bill Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:03:07 +0000 http://www.bateman-group.com/blog/?p=328#comment-134 Great post, Tyler. I think another main reason why corporate blogs will never altogether displace (executive-level) spokespeople is that many execs, while great spokespeople, are simply not good writers. If a reporter wants authentic commentary (i.e. not ghost written by an exec's PR rep), the old fashion interview is often the best source :) Great post, Tyler.

I think another main reason why corporate blogs will never altogether displace (executive-level) spokespeople is that many execs, while great spokespeople, are simply not good writers.

If a reporter wants authentic commentary (i.e. not ghost written by an exec’s PR rep), the old fashion interview is often the best source :)

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