Top Mistakes to avoid in an External Corporate Blog
- A corporate blog should have some clear business objectives, even "soft" ones like connecting with customers and getting feedback. (See the Top Reasons to start an external corporate blog for more details.) You should not use the corporate blog simply as a means of self-expression, or to describe the awesome dinner you had last night - unless you're writing as a food critic!
- This is one of the minefields of corporate blogging, and needs to be managed very carefully. It is not possible to give the author of a corporate blog the same complete freedom as that enjoyed by the author of a personal blog, since a corporate blog must reflect the values and mission of the business; at the same time, exerting too much control can stifle the personal note required by a blog. A good solution is to use a blogging buddy to review posts before they are published.
- You need to be careful that the blog doesn't give out too much information, especially if the blogger is a high-level insider - especially, avoid referring to company confidential information.
- The blog is part of the corporate umbrella, so beware of lawsuits and avoid inappropriate content.
- This is only one channel for corporate communications; likewise this is only one segment of your user population, although it is likely to be an unusually vocal and responsive segment. So it's important not to give too much weight to this channel over all the others.
1. Lack of focus
2. Control
3. Confidential information
4. Inappropriate content
5. Over-reliance
