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Best Practices

Tangible Effects of Corporate Blogging

Media relations or any public relations efforts by corporations play an important marketing aspect in most any business. Whether the business is a a brick-and-mortar business, or whether it’s a home-based business, corporations want to make as significant an impact as possible with potential customers. They want to establish a long-term business relationship with customers and create a working relationship that will last for quite a while. Establishing this long-term working relationship does not have to be lengthy or complicated to be successful. The tenets of blogging will do just fine – – with the basic elements of journalistic style and quality in every post.

Although there are many, many avenues with which to market a business, blogging by far has grown to be one of the most popular and most widely used way to gain and retain customers. Corporate blogs have shown that not only are they widely read, but the information given in the blog is highly beneficial to business owners.

Blogopreneur made a post on their website about some of the benefits of corporate blogging and the multi-level benefits of blogging. While the list itself is not all encompassing, it does give great information on how corporate blogs can thrive on the internet. Very often, the main complaint from blog producers is that they cannot “see” the blogging benefits. However, blogging is not an instant gratification sport. It must be properly cultivated, strategically marketed and the content continually refreshed in order for it to be successful.

What Does Blogging Do For Your Business?

Aside from the immediate and instant exposure that blogging provides, corporations stand to gain an immense amount of media relations from their corporate blogs. For instance, in the case of GoDaddy.com, founder Bob Parsons has found success and a little fame even. Many readers, including myself, follow his blog and glean business and site development tips from his journal. His business has become of the elite few blogs that has garnered success as an information-presenting blog. Why is his blog so well-read? Mainly, I think, is because he provides timely, technology-relevant, up-to-date information from a CEO’s voice. Just how many corporate blogs do you know of where the CEO addresses the reading audience on a regular basis?

The kind of exposure that a well-written blog produces is invaluable. However, with good, solid and timely information, a corporate blog that is well-presented makes it even more valuable to its readers and to the corporation. This can create links from other websites and blogs and mentions of your blog on other blogs and websites. This can also create an internet buzz about your product or company.

Is Sales Tied to Your Blogging Efforts?

There was a very interesting post by Pilsa on their blog about blogging and the relationship that it has to sales. This question certainly asks whether or not there is a tangible factor in blogging, and the short answer is “yes.” Successful blogging is directly related to profitable sales. If your corporation is blogging and strategizing their media relations efforts towards being information producers, it would be almost inevitable that they would success in their profits as well.

Sales is the final result that is desired after a marketing campaign to get the customer to buy. In blogging, making succinct and crafty blog posts is akin to the “marketing” aspect of the business. The courting period between a potential customer and the company is the time where they get to know each other. The customer gets to see how the corporation views certain issues, how they are involved in their community and how serious they are about doing business with them. Blogging is that platform where this happens. Blogging doesn’t necessarily ask for the sale nor does it even hint towards one. But what blogging does do is provide enough information and slight motivation to make considerations towards a sale.

What strategies does your company utilize to campaign? How do they ‘ask for the sale?’

Financial Crisis and Leadership or Lack Of

In my book, written after the “Enron Era”, I wrote about a Business School-Media-Corporate complex —

This Business School-Media-Corporate complex seems to have engaged in a group think of enormous proportions—professors, consultants, journalists, students and executives all feeding on their own diets of best practices, theories and what defines leadership.

  • Business schools taught Ethics as a sideline.
  • Many companies have lofty Mission Statements and Operating Practices statements that address ethics, but do little to enforce them.
  • Journalists give interviews to glitzy executives who brag about what they are doing to improve profits.
  •  Executives courted Wall Street analysts who might improve their stock ratings.

Business is at a crossroads. Capitalism is facing a crisis. All of us who believe in business—from CEOs to business-school professors—must recognize that we have contributed to this crisis. 

“Memo to: CEOs,” FastCompany, June, 2002″

Once again we have a flood of articles about a Leadership Crisis. There’s Fortune Magazine’s “How the fallout from the financial crisis could breed a new type of corporate leader”. Then there’s BusinessWeek’s “Leadership and the Financial Crisis”. And again there’s the debate about the role of Business Schools.

Enron Era Redux? No, this crisis is much worse. The impact of the Enron era was primarily limited to employees and investors. The current crisis has brought us to the brink of an international economic collapse.

In some of my posts, I have singled out some companies such as Nexen and Rio Tinto as models of ethical practices. Unfortunately for many of us, their model was not replicated in the companies that caused the current crisis.

Perhaps Warren Buffett has the key —

Executive compensation is the acid test of corporate governance. Financial incentives determine what objectives an organization pursues, and they drive the way managers conduct a business.

Boards should add an ethics component to senior management’s compensation package.  Components of typical executive compensation include —

  • a cash base salary;
  • annual (short-term) incentives;
  • long-term incentives;
  • supplemental retirement; and
  • other executive benefit.

Adding an ethics component should not be difficult and would contribute to improved ethical behavior. This will be covered in a future post.

A final insight on effective leadership is offered by Carly Fiorina, former CEO of HP. In a Wall Street Journal Opinion piece she said —

There is no doubt that government will now play a greater role in key industries. While this expanded role is perhaps vital for a time, our Founding Fathers knew that government’s power should be limited. If we are to emerge stronger from our current crises, businesses must restore their credibility and regain the American people’s trust by embracing accountability and transparency.

At no time in human history have we been so unconstrained by our array of capabilities or so challenged by our worst excesses. Never have common sense, good judgment and ethics mattered more.

Indeed.

Should Corporate Sites Air Their Business? American International Group (AIG) did, and it Worked!

Are the websites the appropriate place to be casual or direct with customers? Or, should that be done in a direct letter to the customer?

Just how much information should corporations release about their financial dealings (and otherwise) to customers?

The Function of Corporate Communications

A corporate web presence is usually created to keep a line of communication open between the company’s customers or investors and the company’s executives. This can be as lengthy as several paragraphs or as short as one-liners (as in Tweets) or emails. In many cases, a company’s blog or website is the first place people will turn to in order to get a better idea about the company and their practices. Corporations can also use blogs to really gain strength in the marketplace and develop a strong presence in the minds of consumers.

Corporate blogs also serve to keep the public informed and abreast of what’s going on in a particular area of the company, or, about news developments and/or discoveries. Although blogs are generally positive in nature, there are instances where the blog may discuss issues that are uneasy or embarrassing to deal with. When, and if this happens, there must be some type of mechanism in place to deal with the situation and create the best possible outcome for the company, no matter what.

That Will Be $1 Please

American International Group (AIG) has been under heavy, heavy fire in recent months about their financial activity and their dire need to be bailed out of a particularly unpleasant and unpopular financial crisis. The mega-large U.S.-based insurance brokerage group was bailed out by the government to the tune of $150 billion not too terribly long ago. They have also been under heavy scrutiny for their various financial actions and activities and have tried to offer explanations for their activities via their website. Taking a look at the press release where AIG discuss the company’s finances, I noticed that AIG seems to try to answer the accusations and scrutiny by explaining (in detail) why they’ve decided to take action and what they expect to have happen as a result. This is ultimate corporate responsibility and excellent media relations because it shows that the company is not ignoring the pink elephant in the room, nor are they offering a myriad of excuses. They have responsibly faced what has happened and have addressed it directly. Whether using the website to discuss certain issues was a (opinion) mistake or not, AIG did quite well in facing the issues and answering to the public about their actions. 

The news press release that announced that Mr. Liddy and other executives of AIG will not receive a salary (or a significantly reduced one) for the years of 2008 and 2009 shows not only an immense understanding of the company’s financial obligation, but also shows that the executive team understand and are sensitive to the company’s needs and the public’s perception of them as leaders. Did it work? Was that a good idea? Will it be effective and profitable for the company? No one has any way of really knowing how the entire situation will turn out. But, because the company’s top executive has decided to receive only a $1 salary for 2008 and 2009, and the company’s top managing executives are going to forego their annual bonuses, they are showing that the bailout will not be for naught. Discussing it affirms their intentions and shows everyone they’re serious.

But, On the Website?

Was AIG’s website the proper place to make such an announcement about the company’s decisions? Why wouldn’t it be? Actually, the site was the perfect place to make that type of announcement. Corporate media relations announcements are not meant only for journaling the company’s highs, profits, sales or growth. Well-presented corporate media relations announcements can help a company excel in the marketplace, whether things are favorable…or not. It is not the job, function or duty of a blog to only paint rosy pictures of the company. To do that could possibly backfire and cause other potential problems. And, in order to avoid said problems, companies should allow their communications to be transparent. However tact should be used in choosing the right words and tone for the media.

After reading about the salary decrease, you may perhaps find yourself thinking about just how serious a move that was for AIG and how serious they must be in getting the company back on track. So really, the website is the best place to make such an announcement. It is the best place to air the company’s “not-so-good” news. It is the best place to reach out to customers, outside media, investors and other interested parties. Hence, for AIG, discussing it on their website, in the open  and upfront is going to be the best place to get their message out and convey their seriousness in the process.

Connect with Your Customers Using the Ozzy Osborne Method

When you are trying to reach your customers through media relations efforts, it is a good idea to be as creative, as out-of-the-box thinking as possible. You want to make a significant enough impact with your customer base so that your business image is not easily forgotten by those who partake of your business. You definitely want to be unforgettable.

Media relations creativity can run the gamut of hokey, wild media stunts to well-thought out, strategic marketing tactics that gets your company noticed, which is, your ultimate goal. Customers react to different marketing strategies.

Samsung performed a classic and highly popular commercial showing the rocker trying to communicate with a fast-food worker, a taxicab driver and a psychologist. He was somewhat unsuccessful, that is, until he started texting his requests to the service people. The commercial is a very good example of just how effective media can be if placed in the right hands of the right people.

The Samsung commercial with Ozzy Osborne is also a classic example of how creative and effective companies can be with their marketing message. Customer relations is marketing relations and marketing relations is media relations. In other words, the media venue is a significant player in how corporations reach customers and maximizing the exposure of their offerings.

Media Creativity

What can you do with your business to spark creativity and make a splash? Here are some suggestions that you can incorporate into your own business to enjoy the Ozzy effect.

1. Be Innovative and Creative in Your Strategy. If you can’t find a celebrity to endorse your product, consider using local celebrities. Community business people, politicians and CEO’s are all good ideas for getting someone who can call attention to your site.

2. Maximize Your Products. Use what products you already market to re-position yourself and your business. Many times, consumers may not “get it” at first, but if you present your product in a different media setting, they may look at your company and your product in a different way as well.

3. Give the Customers What They Want. There’s nothing like having a whole lot of somethings that you can’t sell. Make sure that your media product is more about something that consumers want and less of what you think is cute. In business, the sale of products and services are generally moved by how the customer feels at the time of the transaction.

What can you or your corporation do to get the Ozzy effect in your business? What wild and creative things do you think would work? Does it depend on the industry, the marketing department or the individual?

Is Your Corporate Blog of Value?

Today, I’m going to let you all in on a little secret that many of you may already know, and some of you may find surprising. This is for all of those corporate blog writers and content providers who maintain your company’s website:

No one is reading your blog!

You’re likely shocked, I’m sure, but that is just the plain truth. No one is interested in reading your blog and you may even find that it’s hard to drive traffic to your site. Why am I making this unveiling? You see, when readers scan, peruse, search and Google sites for information, they’re looking for relevant, concise and timely content. They’re looking for information that they can use to apply in their own businesses, practices that have been used over and over, and even case studies that have been shown to provide value. In other words, if your blog doesn’t provide anything of essence or value to your reader, they won’t be back and they will likely click away faster than the time it takes for your web page to load in their browser. Fast.

The Reader Doesn’t Know

What is it that your corporation does or what product do they specialize in? How does your corporate service or product affect the community? How can it make a difference in the life of the reader who’s scanning your post(s) right now? The whole reason that a reader would visit your blog would be to:

1.) find out new information

2.) confirm information they already knew

That’s it. Those are the only two reasons that a reader bothers to read the first few lines in your blog entry. They are skimming for value and want to see if you can enhance their knowledge base in any way. If you do manage to keep their attention, great. If not, well, clicking they will be. It’s unwise to confuse the reader with irrelevant or inapplicable material. While you may think that the television commercial that your corporation made was fantastic (and it may well be), you can enhance the spotlight on this by creating something of value to your reader and share your good news at the same time.

Create Value?

Yes, you can and should create intrinsic value in your blog or website that will make your company a potential household name. For instance, consider maximizing the coverage of that television commercial your company made by offering a free signed copy of the CEO’s book to the first 50 commenters on a blog post. Or, how about establishing a (small) grant as an incentive to a young, budding entrepreneur with an untapped idea. His motivation? Write an essay on how he thinks your company can help make him successful. Post this social activity on your blog or website and let the communities work their magic. Once the Tweets begin and your article appears on Digg or StumbleUpon, you’ll wonder why it has taken you so long to catch on to this idea! It is so advantageous to use the power of media to bring attention to a business.

Jeremy Woolf of the Public Relationships blog wrote this amazing post on how effective (and ineffective) the power of blogging can be if it is not properly strategized. He shed some valuable insight as to why blogs fail. The one that caught my eye almost immediately was because blogs aren’t being read. Bingo.

Per Jeremy:

It appears that in many cases, we’ve simply brought with us the tactics that failed to win the hearts and minds of “old” media to the blogging “new” media. We’re not reading their posts. We’re failing to develop relationships. We’re spamming them with marketing gobbledegook. We’re also assuming they work the same way as journalists.

Good call Jeremy. We’re so busy trying to sell our product, we’re not focusing on relationship building and nurturing. How true is that! So essentially, you get a mix of people, all trying to move their product and not listening to the pitch of the other. They are so consumed with meeting quotas and making sales, they’ve lost the art of good old-fashioned networking. Corporations are especially prone to this type of environment because of the very nature of the way they deal with individuals – usually at arm’s length. Corporate environments have to work even harder to build and gain relationships and often have to go to greater extents to nurture them. Although a challenge it may be, it can be done.

Is your corporate blog connected or in just in existence? What do you do to bring your reader in, share solid, relevant information, provide a foundation to encite learning and community?

Or do you exist just to exist?

__________

What Good Are Those IR Awards?

If you’ve ever found yourself off the IR awards list (or the short list, for that matter) your reaction was probably something along the lines of, “Well, they’re just beauty contests anyway and they really don’t signify much”.  I know, I felt pretty much that way when I practiced investor relations on the corporate side.  It seems there just were not enough trophies to hand out to all of the campers.  

Unfortunately, I’m here to tell you that there is actually academic research that shows that being nominated for investor relations awards can help your stock price.

In a March, 2008 working paper, Professor Richard J. Taffler of The Management School, University of Edinburgh, together with Vineet Agerwal, Angel Liao and Elly A. Nash authored a study entitled “The Impact of Effective Investor Relations on Market Value”. In their study they use nomination for IR Magazine’s “Best Overall Investor Relations” awards over a three-year period as an indicator of quality investor relations. Their study shows that firms that are seen as having effective investor relations, as indicated by being nominated for the awards, earn superior abnormal market returns both in the year of nomination and the year following the awards.

The part of the study that is of the most interest to me is the quantification the authors put on the abnormal risk adjusted stock returns earned by firms in the year following their nomination for an award. The results show that all nominated companies earned 80 basis points per month superior market returns. When you compound 80 basis points per month over a full year, the result is an excess return of 10%.

So while the awards may be a beauty contest, they appear to be one where there is genuine prize money at the end.