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July 21, 2005What do you have to gain from using a blog?
What do you have to gain from using a blog?
I was reading an article in the Journal of Marketing today while traveling into Boston, I was inspired by one of the articles to ask this question, "what do you have to gain from using a blog?"
That depends on your audience and customers. Over the last ten years, the web has given Internet users the opportunities to search the web and research companies and products they wish to purchase. Most customers want to make sure they are going to make the right decision before making a purchase. The best way customers can rely upon prior purchase vendor information is to ask for referrals from family, friends, colleagues and fellow customers. Why? Well customers trust their relationship and the source of information; your family or friends are trusted more than a company. Though people probably put different levels of weight depending on the referral they are requesting. Other customers typically give good and bad references for company products, by reviewing a number of different customer responses customer achieve some form of a balanced view to make a decision. Customers are using self-publishing tools on the web to communicate within their customer communities; Amazon.com’s book review function is a great example of how customers can gain a mixture of viewpoints from fellow customers on the web. Though sometimes the anonymous postings on forums and review sites may be biased. A blog can afford some form of additional credibility than an anonymous posting on a forum, if someone goes to the trouble of creating a blog, makes both negative and positive comments about their community and products, and builds relationships within their community over time.
As a corporate blogger if you can join the online conversation within your customer communities, you have a chance to use the same tools your customers are using to analyze your products and your competitors. You can respond to questions, and ask for feedback. Though the process of conversation if you demonstrate you respect the community and are willing to listen to customer ideas, and even incorporate customer ideas you can influence customers within the community to look upon your company favorably.
Posted by johncass at July 21, 2005 11:41 PM
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