Blog Council Blog
Do we need to shift the ROI Conversation?
Posted by Blog Council Staff on November 19, 2008
The ROI question is the number one issue when it comes to corporate social media. How do you define it? How do you prove there is business value there?
Ben Grossman recently spoke at the Social Media Jungle about ROI. He proposed what could turn out to be a radical shift in thinking on the subject. Instead of focusing on traditional ROI measures, Ben proposes opening it up to include ROBI (Return on Brand Investment) and ROCI (Return on Customer Investment).
Ben explains this in this 20 minute video. It’s highly recommended.
Tip of the hat to Todd Defren and Justin Levy. Thanks for the heads-up, guys.
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Alltop now features top corporate blogs
Posted by Blog Council Staff on November 17, 2008
Alltop has created and launched a new page of the top corporate blogs — a list the Blog Council staff helped compile. From AccuQuote to Zappos, the new master list highlights each blog’s last five posts as well a direct link to the Blog Council’s Alltop page.
For an overview of how Alltop works, click the “Watch the Video” button in the upper right-hand corner of Alltop pages.
Kudos to Alltop co-founder Guy Kawasaki for creating what are quickly becoming invaluable resources.
Bookmark these links:
Corporate Blogs on Alltop
Blog Council on Alltop
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Corporate Blogs Talk about the Future
Posted by Blog Council Staff on November 14, 2008
It can be fascinating to read about the future on a corporate blog. Many who work in large organizations can use blogs to write about long-term issues that aren’t often reported in traditional media.
For example, Susan Promislo recently wrote a post on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s blog about a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) hosted by the Institute for the Future. The game uses social media to allow experts and other participants to imagine what life might be like in the year 2019. Since RWJF is a health organization, Susan calls out her obvious interest in the health scenario that posits a world overcome by a respiratory infectious disease.
Read Susan’s post at the RWJF Pioneering Ideas blog…
Disclosure: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is a member of the Blog Council, but we would have linked to them anyway because we think they’re great. Read our disclosure policy.
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The C-Suite “Gets” Social Media
Posted by Blog Council Staff on November 13, 2008
85% of C-suite executives believe social media provides an opportunity to increase revenue and/or margins. Those are among the key results from a 2007 Economist Intelligence Unit report on Corporate Web 2.0. Other key findings include:
- 68% believe that Web 2.0 methods and tools are the single biggest factor changing the ways their company interacts with customers
- 49% believe that Web 2.0 methods and tools have the largest effect on how employees interact with each other and their company
- 60% of the surveyed companies reported they are inviting customers to contribute content or plan to do so by the end of 2009
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The Blogosphere is Dead, Long Live the Blogosphere
Posted by Blog Council Staff on November 13, 2008
Nick Carr is a smart guy. I’ve been a long-time reader of his blog Rough Type, and I admire his writing style and technique. Recently, Nick wrote a post that raised the collective ire of the bloggerati: “Who Killed the Blogosphere?“ The finer points are up for debate, but it’s clear that a lot of the people getting worked up over it didn’t fully read the post. His point was very clear and doesn’t blame anyone: “Who killed the blogosphere? No one did. Its death was natural, and foretold.”
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Hilary Weber: Blogging is No Place for Marketingspeak
Posted by Blog Council Staff on November 12, 2008
Kaiser Permanente is one of the founding members of the Blog Council, and their representative on the Council is Director of Internet Marketing Services Hilary Weber.
Hilary recently started blogging for iMedia Connection, and she raises a very good point about corporate blogs as it relates to branding: “We had a general consensus that brand messaging generally isn’t appropriate for a corporate blog, because readers will be turned off if it’s just another vehicle for one-way “marketingspeak”, as I like to call it. If that’s what your corporate blog content is based on, you may be in for a backfire situation.”
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Why Companies Join the Blog Council
Posted by Blog Council Staff on November 12, 2008
Have you ever wondered why people and companies join the Blog Council?
“We decided to join because we wanted to connect with companies that have the same kind of concerns, and see how we can share best practices, benchmark against each other, and learn from that.”
- Lee Aase, Mayo Clinic
“I found that being with my peers, the Blog Council has helped validate ideas and generate new ones. The Blog Council is a valuable resource helping people at companies learn to become part of the conversation.”
- Rob DeRobertis, Analog Devices
“Social media is all about conversations, and this group is all about a larger conversation among companies who face similar challenges.”
- Molly Schonthal, Nokia
“The Blog Council provides a valuable forum for innovative companies to validate and intellectually stress-test their social media strategies and tactics. Regardless of industry, the level of member interaction and responsiveness of the Blog Council staff has been a huge asset in successfully navigating the highly dynamic social space.”
- Matt Lehman, Progressive
“The Blog Council is above all a unique opportunity to meet with our peers from other large companies who have embarked on social media projects. We all have - more or less - the same questions and we are also trying to solve the same issues. The council is the right place for us to pick each other’s brains and hear the answers to our questions straight from the horse’s mouth. The issues that large companies are facing are umpteen times more complex and deserve a special forum. This forum in my eyes is what the Blog Council is all about.”
- Yann Gourvennec, Orange Business Services
“As a member of Blog Council, you’re able to share, connect, and learn best practices with the top people in the industry. As leaders in the social landscape, we are frequently siloed in our own corporations, and don’t take the time to learn from others. With the Blog Council, I have the ability to build relationships with my peers who face the same opportunities and challenges I’m presented with on a daily basis.”
- Ali McCourt, Intuit
Read more testimonials like these.
This post was inspired by Jeff Sexon, who writes for our friend Bryan Eisenberg’s blog GrokDotCom.
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Does a Corporate Blog Need Huge Traffic?
Posted by Blog Council Staff on November 12, 2008
Andy Angelos of WOM agency Zocalo Group posted an excellent question recently relating to ROI and corporate blogs. Specifically, he asks if the quantity of traffic using traditional Nielsen/comScore metrics like unique visitors, page views, etc. matter as much as the quality of traffic.
Here’s an excerpt from part of his excellent analysis: “Blogging for business (corporate blogging), however, removes advertising revenue and editorial competition from the equation, shifting the focus to quality over quantity. In terms of blogging for business, a quality viewer is an individual likely to disseminate niche information to a larger, more diverse audience.”
Disclaimer: I was one of the initial employees hired at Zocalo Group.
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Pitney Bowes CEO Answers “Why I Blog”
Posted by Blog Council Staff on November 11, 2008
Pitney Bowes CEO Mike Critelli authors a blog called “Open Mike.” Besides featuring his personal views on a variety of topics — some of which are not about the company’s business — Mike has a very prominent link on the sidebar called “Why I Blog.” The post functions as both a very forthright “about me” statement and disclosure policy in one fell swoop.
Read Mike’s “Why I Blog” statement…
Disclosure: Pitney Bowes is a member of the Blog Council, but we would have linked to them anyway because we think they’re great. Read our disclosure policy.
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Lose the “Social Media” Label and Change the Conversation
Posted by Blog Council Staff on November 10, 2008
(Members of the Blog Council lead corporate blogging and social media at large corporations. We are delighted to share their thoughts on blogging from the corporate perspective. This post is the guest author’s personal opinion.)
Today’s Guest Post comes from Debbie Curtis-Magley of UPS.
Social media is one of those terms that just sounds cool. Images of black turtlenecks and a hip office come to mind when someone says they work in social media. But this persona can have a chilling effect in companies that are weary of the complications they perceive social media will create.
Concerns commonly raised include:
Reduced Employee Productivity
“If employees get access to Facebook, they’ll spend more time on the site and less time working.”
Increased Customer Dissatisfaction
“If we start a blog, the only comments it will attract are customer complaints.”
Decreased Employee Morale
“If we offer an internal discussion board, employees will use it to complain about pay and management.”
Fortunately, there are a growing number of companies who’ve proven these concerns wrong and have shown that social media tools can strengthen customer satisfaction, create new streams of revenue, reduce operating costs, and improve employee productivity and morale. But many of us work with colleagues who remain uncertain.
To overcome these concerns, we need to change the conversation about social media.
1. Lose the “Social Media” Label
The term “social media” serves as a useful handle to talk about the collective technologies that enable people to create, share and connect online. But the term can play on the doubts that business people have about the value of these tools. Often times, people relate social media to their teenagers spending hours on Facebook or watching videos on YouTube. It becomes a hurdle to having a productive conversation.
We need to shift the conversation from the label “social media” and instead talk about the business solutions these applications support. Companies can improve customer support by inviting customers to share solutions with each other. Management can quickly capture cost-savings ideas from thousands of employees. And employees can improve productivity and reduce mistakes by easily connecting with internal experts.
Sean O’Driscoll with CGT Consulting summed it up at a recent Blog Council meeting when he realized his job was about improving customer experience and product quality, and not about social media.
2. Use the Language of Business
As communicators, we need to adopt the language of our audience and identify analogies that help build understanding. The value of viral communications is similar to the value of compound interest. With compound interest small investments grow over time because the interest continues to multiply. You can achieve the same result through online communications. A useful answer to a customer problem or an entertaining product demonstration will get passed along as people share the information with their friends, who in turn share it with their friends. Suddenly, a communication directed to a handful of people will be viewed by thousands … at no additional cost.
3. Demonstrate Success through Case Studies
Sometimes, nothing speaks louder than the success of others. Every company wants to be seen as smart, progressive and practical. Showing examples of other companies’ achievements can help business people visualize how those achievements can be duplicated within their own organizations. The influence of your competitors cannot be overlooked. No company wants to be perceived as falling behind their peers. When organizations like Walmart, IBM and the Department of Defense are using social media technologies to solve business issues, it helps legitimize the value of these tools.
At UPS, MySpace and YouTube were used to complement our traditional communications efforts for the launch of UPS Delivery Intercept. During the first 12 months that the service was offered, UPS received well over 1 million requests for this fee-based service — exceeding its revenue plan. In a company that is highly focused on numbers, customer usage continues to run significantly above plan. With Rate My Space, HGTV found a clever way to gain additional revenue while satisfying viewers’ interest in sharing decorating ideas. The site created a new online property for HGTV to sell advertising.
By shifting the conversation away from the “social media” label and focusing on the business solutions these technologies enable, we can build better understanding and recognition for what can be achieved.
Debbie Curtis-Magley is the Manager of Corporate Public Relations at UPS
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