An estimate given by J. Bernoff of Forrester Inc.a year ago indicated that only 16% of online consumers who read corporate blogs actually trust them. I believe that this is absolutely true because corporate blogs that talk about their products are not worth the time required to visit them and read their content. Blogs and especially corporate blogs make sense if they are “usable” and exercise “thought leadership”.

Here are some universal blogging thruths:

• Corporate blogging is not about companies and their products or services it’s about the customers.
.
• If we are to rise above the crowd our corporate blog should be about the customer’s problems.

• If we can bring value to our present and potential customers by talking to them about their problems and needs, then they’ll become loyal visitors to our blog.

• If our offering is known and liked, then we can mobilize those loyal customers with our blog. As a result:
our customers are gradually organized into an interest group with common agendas, then we can encourage them to connect, through our blog , with one another and create a “snowball effect” in our favour.

• If the corporate blog is B2B, it should not be written by a communication expert. The only way to do it is to involve the marketing and sales staff who are in a position to understand the customers’ needs. Only then will our customers participate in the dialogue and trust the content of the blog.

In conclusion:
Standing out from the crowd becomes a very difficult job and those companies that shamelessly blog about their products and services are just adding water to the mill of those who argue that corporate blogs cannot be trusted.

On the other hand, honest and transparent blogs that address the customers needs will definitely attract appreciation and awareness.

To illustrate what we mean by the above statement, imagine your marketing staff has just completed the plan to build your brand equity over the next three years. They have agreed to next year’s advertising and promotion activities and budgets and are ready to celebrate a job well done. They are absolutely certain that next year the plan will win the customers and increase sales and market share.
The only problem is that they have only done half the job required in building a strong brand and achieve their goals because a brand is much more than visual image, advertising and promotion. Actually your brand is your business strategy. It has to prove your uniqueness and real competitive advantage
A critical element of the business strategy is that it must be differentiated, and authentically delivered by the behaviours of your employees when they are in contact with your customers. Your brand is your ‘trust mark’. It is your reputation.
Whatever the promise, it’s the experience of the customer that counts. And a key part of the experience is what your people deliver – either personally through direct customer contact and service, or indirectly by creating and maintaining a fulfillment process.
Interactions between customers and representatives of the brand – the employees – can either reinforce or sabotage the brand.

“ At the end of the day, as Federick W. Smith founder of FedEx said, FedEx is not the logo or its advertising or its sales force. To the customer, FedEx is the person who comes to your door and doesn’t let you down.”
This post draws on the philosophy and experience of TMI and its partners around the world. http://tmiworld.com

What we are experiencing today will continue, with people connecting to each other –rather than institutions. Consumers adopt social media at an increasing pace, brands are jumping on the bandwagon even in the middle of a recession so we should expect to see lots of changes in the web trying to accomodate this trend.
According to Forrester “social experience is disjointed because consumers have separate identities in each social network they visit. A simple set of technologies that enable a portable identity will soon empower consumers to bring their identities with them — transforming marketing, eCommerce, CRM, and advertising.”
Portable identities are marking the beginning of this transformation, in which the Web will evolve step by step from separate social sites into a shared social experience. Consumers will rely on their friends as they make online decisions, whether or not brands choose to participate. Eventually this will result in more empowered communities who in turn will create the next generation of products.

FuturePerspective: Burson-Marsteller’s new quarterly newsletter is featuring insights about future trends and how these will affect Communications & PR. A very interesting reading.

READ THE REPORT

Twitter, facebook and other social media were adobted early by teenagers and youth but today are dominated by adult users. We should begin to pay greater attention to them. A study by New York Times outlines the issue.

I believe it will be of interest and use to all twitters to look into the document TWITTERMANIA produced by TMI US. It is a usefull dictionary of terms for twitters.  Link to www.tmius.com/Twittermania.pdf

cheers to all twitters!