Last Night’s Social Media Club Event
November 15, 2007
If you're new here, and interested in the latest news and insights on social media marketing, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting Ignite Social Media.
Just wanted to thank everyone for coming out to last night’s social media club event on corporate blogging . There was a great mix of expertise (rookies, apprentices, and gurus) in the room and it made for a great discussion and networking.
For those who made it, please let me know the following:
· Was this useful?
· How often do you want to do this?
· Topic suggestions?
· What would you change?
· Questions?
For those who could not make it, I’ve drafted highlights of our discussion:
What is the difference between message board and blogging?
- Message boards can be an extension beyond the blog
- Cultural differences (message boards were developed before blogs for a different purpose; blogs are chronological)
- Blogs tend to be topic centric, message boards tend to be people centric
Legal aspects of blogging:
- For some larger/public companies, blogs require extra legal steps.
- Like press releases, the client has to be educated and understand the legal rules and corporate background before distributing.
- It’s a matter of finding your niche, finding your audience, and learning what to post.
What about frequency of blogs? Is there a standard amount of time that should pass between posts?
- While there are no hard and fast rules – the general consensus was more frequent the better, simply because the more content you have, the more often it will come up in search results. Also shorter posts are generally more efficient, yet an occasional, useful long post will also get a lot of hits.
- Corporate bloggers have to commit a lot of time – have to constantly look for topics (it takes discipline, it takes energy, but they’re easy to maintain and results are pretty quick)
Should CEOs blog?
- If they can write, they should go for it, this can be a branding opportunity and a way to differentiate from competitors.
What should corporate blogs be about?
- There can and should be corporate information included, but every once and a while something funny, entertaining, or outside of the company is good as this builds trust in the reader.
- Should include other elements such as micro blogging, video blogging, podcasting.
What is the return on blogging?
The overall consensus of the group was that the return is difficult to calculate at this point, but that it is a return that is more than just sales. The following are the returns that were noted:
- Search engine optimization (through content creation).
- Preference for your brand and your site – a return that is probably better than that of a tradeshow.
- The creation of a community and brand advocates.
- Reputation Management
- Positioning the company as the “expert” or leader in a subject area.
Are traditional websites going away? Will blogs then become the primary tool to connect w/ companies?
- Overall, the line is blurring of the difference between a blog and a website, as websites are progressing to have blogging components built into them and blogging platforms can be built to have static pages.
- Blogs are great to incorporate into a website because they allow updated information, are flexible to a company’s needs, and can be very user-friendly.
- Industries should be sensitive to their audience’s capabilities (are they technological saavy?….blogs, Twitter, social media, etc. are not the only answer
Comments
4 Responses to “Last Night’s Social Media Club Event”
Got something to say?
[…] and part of a new trend in information sharing. This past Wednesday, I attended the inaugural “Triangle Social Media Club” event where we got confirmation that we are not alone in what we are doing. I also learned a few things, […]
Lisa/Jim, Would you mind if I use your Social Media Club graphic in a post I’m writing?
Bobby: Feel free. We borrowed it from the club ourselves. I’m sure they like it to be used (properly of course).
[…] you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to the Ignite RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!We held the initial meeting of the Social Media Club of the Triangle in our offices back on November 14. Of course, it took me […]