by Karen Rynes, Director of Marketing

I read a couple of great posts yesterday by Mack Collier at The Viral Garden and Marketing Profs DailyFix that address the power of the blog and social media to impact your company's image -- and, in particular, customer service.

The gist is this: when it comes to serving your customer, you'd better make a genuine effort to listen to your customer to ensure they are happy, otherwise it could cost you MUCH more in the long run.  In other words, don't just provide lip service (or a coupon) -- do what is best for the customer (if at all possible) instead of simply what is easier or cheaper for the company.

Collier hits it on the nose in a response to a comment made to his post, saying "I think the problem is, too many retailers focus more on teaching the associates how to take the customer's money back to management, and not their feedback."

In the not-so-distant past, one unhappy customer would tell 5 friends about their experience, and those 5 people would each tell another 5, and so on...until as a result, you had MANY people who chose not to patronize your business based on the experience of one person who they probably didn't even know personally!  Now take that phenomenon and multiply it by infinity, and you realize the power that a single negative blog post could have instantaneously!  It could cost you tens, hundreds, thousands or more in potential sales because of the power of the Internet.

This subject also ties back in with 2 of my previous posts (The Art of Listening and Blogging is a 2-way Street) as Collier says, "The smart companies are the ones that will take an active role in listening, and even participating in the existing conversations within their community."

I'm not living in a dream world.  I realize that it is virtually impossible for every single customer to walk away a happy one (some people simply cannot be satisfied, no matter what you do)...but we need to avoid enabling the snowball rolling downhill that could result when your effort is not your best effort.  Think about it.

If you'd like to read more about blogging for your company and to view all segments in my ongoing Social Media Series, click here.

By Karen Rynes, Director of Marketing

As we have already learned here at Jaduka, blogging is a great medium with which to communicate with our employees and customers.  As easy as blogging may seem, however, starting a corporate blog is something that requires a substantial amount of forethought, time, commitment & due diligence.

While you can certainly promote your company's products, a corporate blog needs to be more than simply an online brochure.  You need to provide content & information that visitors will find useful & interesting.  You need to give them a reason to come back and spend more time reading (& hopefully, commenting on) your blog.

Northeastern University and Backbone Media Inc. released a study this month titled "What Makes a Successful Corporate Blog."  Here are the 5 factors that they found that consistently contributed to the success or failure of a blog:

1.  Culture: If a company has particular cultural traits worth revealing or a bad reputation it wants to repudiate, blogging can be an attractive option.

2.  Transparency: This is critical to establishing credibility and trust with an audience. People want to see an honest portrayal of a company and know that there are not ulterior motives behind the blog. Blog audiences respect a willingness to disclose all points of view on a subject.

3.  Time: It takes a lot of time to set up, research and write a quality blog. Companies need to identify a person who has the time or whose schedule is freed up to make the time, or need to engage a group of people to share the responsibility.

4.  Dialogue: A company's ability and willingness to engage in a dialogue with its customers about topics they are interested in is critical to its blogging success.

5.  Entertaining writing style and personalization: The bloggers' writing style and how much they are willing to reveal about their lives, experience and opinions brings human interest to blogs, helps build a personal connection with readers and will keep people reading.

You'll notice that this week's "top tip" may seem like deja vu.  There's the honesty component of blogging that is rearing it's not-so-ugly head again!  (see my post from 11-11-06)

As a strategic marketing tool, blogging allows us to promote both our company & products, increase company awareness by communicating with other bloggers within our industry and ultimately, improve our bottom line profitability.  Today, I came across another great article at Bulldog Reporter's Daily Dog.  Here, Richard Nacht, president of Blogging Systems lists his Top 10 strategic benefits of blogging.

The bottom line here is, before you embark on a corporate blog, you need to evalute your reasons for doing it and do your research in order to provide compelling content.

For even more tips on starting a company blog, check out this article by Mack Collier at MarketingProfs. (Note - this article is "premium", i.e. paid, content, so you'll need to have that subscription level at MarketingProfs to access - but it's worth it!)

Thanks for reading!  In case you missed it, here's last week's post on participating in the blog community.  And as always, your comments & tips are welcome!

By Karen Rynes, Director of Marketing

Blogging is about people and relationships.  The biggest thing to remember about the blogosphere is that many conversations are happening among many people.  Writing on your own blog lets you voice a view.  And, if you allow comments on your blog, you can get a two-way conversation going there.  But that is not enough.

The key to successful blogging is to join in the conversation by not only posting to your own blog but posting comments at and participating in other blogs.  You'll evolve from being a blogger who posts to being a blogger who participates in bringing both sides together...and become an active member of the community.

Doesn't this sound like relationships in real life?  That's why I said that blogs are about people!

As Liz "ME" Strauss at Successful (& Outstanding) Blog(gers) puts it, "Visiting a blog is much like stopping by a neighbor's house.  It's a cordial way to let the owner know that you stopped by.  If you've stayed long enough to read something, leaving a comment is a nice gesture and a relationship-building act.  It's like leaving your calling card on a business call or leaving a note at the house of a friend."

Reading and commenting on other blogs provides many benefits.  You can:

• Get to know new colleagues
• Stay relevant on industry news
• Learn new tips
• Increase traffic at your blog
• Enlist new customers
• Find content to post on your blog
• And much more!

Additionally, you also need to respond to comments that appear on your own blog even if it is a simple "thanks for the comment."  This will show your readers that you are listening and value their comments, which will make them come back again...and again.  And with that, you have started a relationship!

This week, I encourage you to take the time to visit, read & comment on at least 3 new blogs.  You'll get the satisfaction of sharing a few of your own opinions and you'll also probably gain a few new readers!

Thanks again for tuning in to this ongoing series on Social Media that I post every Monday.  In case you missed it, here's last week's post on honesty & full disclosure.

P.S.

• For more about commenting on blogs, check out what else Liz "ME" Strauss has to say about Comments & Comment Policies.
• Back in October, Mack Collier of The Viral Garden decided to "walk the walk" and lead by example to fellow bloggers by posting "100 Comments" in under a week!  He runs a very popular marketing blog centered on the community...and commenting is definitely a community-building tactic.  Here's the post.