To blog or not to blog? As they ponder this question, increasingly B2B companies are opting to pass on the opportunity to join the blogosphere. A recent Forrester report, How to Derive Value from B2B Blogging, reveals that the number of B2B companies to begin blogging last year plummeted compared with 2006 as corporate bloggers ran into roadblocks stemming from a misalignment between invested effort and expected returns.
Forrester surveyed 189 B2B marketing professionals in firms with annual revenues ranging from less than $20 million to more than $5 billion. It also reviewed blogs from 90 Fortune 500 and high technology companies, including Autodesk, Adobe, Avaya, BMC Software, Cisco Systems, Fair Isaac, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, RSA Security, Socialtext, StackSafe, TIBCO Software, and Unica.
The survey revealed that while some best-in-class leaders like IBM and Accenture are successfully utilizing the blog platform, many B2B marketers and companies are still finding their way.
Specific findings of the study include:
- The number of B2B firms launching blogs dropped from 36 in 2006 to 19 in 2007
- With only three new blogs identified in the first quarter of 2008, it’s estimated that only a dozen B2B firms will launch new blogs this year
- More than 70% of the corporate blogs reviewed focus strictly on business or technical topics without providing much personal insight or experience
- Team blogging proves impersonal and ineffective as bloggers often switch topics or move on to other pursuits
- A full 74% of B2B blogs garner minimal comments or trackbacks as readers fail to engage with blog posts
- Similar to last year, 56% of blogs examined simply repurpose company news or executive views rather than offering thought leadership by enlisting internal experts who can provide specific knowledge of a particular topic.
Laura Ramos, Forrester analyst and chief author of the report, maintains B2B marketers should embrace strategies used by mainstream bloggers to attract readers, build conversations, and engage community members in sharing their experiences with their online peers.
"The gap between blog hype and reality widened in 2007," Ramos said. Bloggers are struggling to sustain a conversation, while many B2B marketers are failing to realize that good blogging style should resemble a conversation, not a whitepaper.
Successful blogging, Forrester insists, is not a one-way street, but most corporate bloggers yak away about their companies and products, seemingly oblivious to whether their audience is listening or not.
Forrester suggests B2B marketers should take advantage of four key blog strategies to produce community marketing value: be a conversation starter, not a spoiler; make blog content entertaining, easy to digest and use; connect the dots between events and community involvement; and invite thought leaders, but coach them on community etiquette.