• Avatars
• Online Communities
• Podcasting
• Viral Marketing
• Wikis

Description

A blog (short for Web log) is a website where communities of users create the content by sharing information with each other. A corporate blog is managed by company employees to post information about the company and its products for public consumption. There are two common types: external and internal blogs. External blogs can strengthen relationships with targeted customer groups and position CEOs and other employees as industry experts. Internal blogs promote collaboration, foster discussions among employees at all levels of the organization, and enable the quick exchange of knowledge and information. Blogs often are more practical than e-mail for sharing information. They also are more inclusive. Blogs are open to the entire community, and anyone can participate by adding comments or suggestions.

Methodology

Corporate blogs are transforming the way corporations communicate, both internally and externally, by reducing the reliance on internal e-mail and the traditional public relations-oriented corporate website. A successful corporate blog should:

• Establish the blog's focus and mission;
• Develop a simple-to-use site and update it frequently;
• Create links with key audiences;
• Ensure consistency with corporate image and product branding;
• Employ RSS (Really Simple Syndication) technology: RSS encourages readership by displaying recent posts without the need for readers to log onto the blog website;
• Consider the option of wikis (named for the Hawaiian word for "quick")?a variation on corporate blogs that promote collaborative brainstorming, in which visitors can easily add, remove or alter the content itself by using links at the bottom of a page;
• Establish clear blogging guidelines for the corporation and educate employees about potential legal repercussions. Postings become part of a permanent public record.

• Improved branding. Blogs can create product communities that increase customer loyalty;
• Gathering market research. Feedback from customers about new products and services can help companies develop a rapid response to problems;
• Stronger market segmentation. Blogs can build brand awareness in market niches;
• Broadening the CEO's reach. CEO bloggers reinforce the company's image and message, establish the CEO as an expert, and provide customers with direct access to top management. A growing number of Fortune 500 CEOs are tapping into the power of blogs, including the heads of McDonald's, IBM, GM and Sun Microsystems.

• Sharing and distributing information. Employees who've been outside the decision-making or brainstorming process are encouraged to participate;
• Round-the-clock employee forum. Blogs can become a virtual meeting place for a global corporate community working in different time zones.