Comments on: Wait a minute. It’s not about engagement after all!

By: links for 2011-03-17 « Ondas, cables, luces, cacharritos y cachivaches

links for 2011-03-17 « Ondas, cables, luces, cacharritos y cachivaches — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 10:50:21 +0000

[...] Wait a minute. It’s not about engagement after all! Opinion discutible, pero interesante, sobre 'engagement' en blogs corporativos. (tags: b2b blogging) Dejar un comentario LikeBe the first to like this post.Dejar un comentario » [...]

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By: Mark W. Schaefer

Mark W. Schaefer — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 14:36:00 +0000

Well, my point is that engagement might not be the best measure at all. It is very difficult for people to engage with a company. To the extent that you 1) humanize it 2) persoanlize it and 3) involve your customers, you may have success. But in general, this is difficult for many companies to achieve! Thanks for your comment Adriana!

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By: Mark W. Schaefer

Mark W. Schaefer — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 14:33:00 +0000

Thanks. Excellent insight.

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By: TILEMARKETING

TILEMARKETING — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:10:00 +0000

Mark, this seems to fit my experience as well. I have frequently used a fast reading of a corporate blog, not so much to become part of a community, but simply as a way to ‘check them out and spend a minute inside their brain’.

It could be part of due diligence or maybe I want to use their service or product. My reading may not be worth a comment, but if I like what I read, I frequently decide to spend thousands of dollars on them.

The blog was part of the decision making process.

When I engage, it’s more likely a forum around an entire topic I’m passionate about. Most corporations can’t sponsor that entire forum because their connection to that passionate cause is limited (in their own minds) to one tiny solution: theirs. “Buy XYZ brand pills for itchy skin” is as far as they want to go. But an entire community based on better skin might actually work, as evidenced by health forums such as MDJunction and Medhelp.

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By: Adriana @ Cheap Marquee

Adriana @ Cheap Marquee — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 03:40:00 +0000

“Except in very few cases, engagement as measured by subscriptions, return visitors and comments may not be a realistic or desirable goal for your company blog.” How would you measure engagement? (appart from responds. Is there any other way?

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By: Paul Flanigan

Paul Flanigan — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 14:09:00 +0000

Mark,

Great insight. I have some perspective to add. I was working on a blog post about e-mail, when I got a Forrester study titled “Time to Rethink Corporate Blogging Ideas” (Dec 2008) that showed that corporate blogging ranked dead last out of 18 different information sources in terms of trust.

At two years old, I’m guessing the data has changed, but I wonder how much? It seems to me that, as we all have come to know, trust is key, and that many people look at corporate blogs as nothing more than marketing pitches. Hence that most traffic is first time surfing and not regular, loyal readers, it may be worth the effort of corporate blogs to be marketing pitches.

I totally agree with your notion of engagement and personality, and it’s clear to me that this approach would make corporate blogging much better for everyone involved.

Food for thought…

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By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 13:57:00 +0000

This is a terrific post, Mark, and a valuable insight.

I work with large corporations and a handful of small companies. I think the difference in how people engage boils to this simple fact: in a large company, even the top executives work for the company, but in a small company, the executives ARE the company. Customers understand this instinctively. They don’t want or need to interact with large companies. They want information, entertainment, and help.

But when we’re talking small companies or individuals, people understand that the business and person are uniquely tied together. The story is more personal and we often want more of that in what we see. It prompts us to ask questions and offer or own stories and support.

Keep up the good work – this is excellent and helpful.

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By: Simple Social Strategy – W5H | Suddenly Marketing

Simple Social Strategy – W5H | Suddenly Marketing — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 19:47:05 +0000

[...] as important, you need to figure out the social persona for your brand. Will your brand persona be one person, or a team of people? Will the tone of conversations be completely professional, or a mix of professional and personal? [...]

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By: Practical B2B Blog Strategy | B2Bbloggers.com - B2B Social Media and Content Marketing

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:07:24 +0000

[...] be doing the rounds at the moment might be a bit misleading from a B2B perspective. Especially when studies suggest that the overwhelming majority of visitors to a B2B blog are first [...]

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By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 20 May 2010 04:09:24 +0000

@Whimsical — This is an OUTSTANDING comment and contribution to the discussion! Right on. Thanks!

@Sally — You are truly a gifted writer and thinker! Fantastic comment.

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