As graduation is creeping up faster than ever, I am frantically trying to find open positions to apply too. I have found myself looking up many company blogs and twitter pages to find out inside information about the company. However, if I start reading a company blog and find it just another marketing scheme I become so irritated.
When I think of a company blog, I hope to find a personalized tone that really makes a connection between me as a reader and the company. I do find that many companies misuse the purpose of a blog.
With social media mania, it seems natural that every company should have a facebook page, twitter, and a blog. Of the three, the blog should be the most personal. People read blogs for a quick/relaxed read--usually to either agree or disagree with what the blog is saying--or atleast I do. I read blogs for other peoples opinion and find myself either agreeing or disagreeing on non-academic topics.
When blogs are a regurgitation of press releases and paragraphs off of the companies website it says a lot about the company. Especially if you are a company of consumer products--lots of times fans of your products come to read more about the company and get reviews from other users. If your consumers can take the time to be interested in your products then you should be interested enough to use your blog as another outlet to reach out to your consumers.
Like the article--blogs really don't get traffic just because they are a blog--I am sure lot's of bloggers have failed miserably. Personally, I enjoy blogs that push the envelope a little bit. With almost everyone having a personal computer at work and at home, having access to reading your blog is very easy so why not take advantage of it.
I would love to find a job after bschool to be responsible for a companies blog--I have recently become more and more addicted to social media and hope more jobs pop up in the social media field. Maybe they are not putting the right people in charge of blogs--I mean no offense, but when people say market research I like cringe...Im like, market research--you mean facebook? Isn't that all the market research you need these days--If you arent being followed on twitter you are doing something wrong because people will tell you what product they like and what they don't. Old school market research is for the birds ;-) move out with the surveys and move in with the blogs--just let new business school graduates be in charge of the job :-)
i've also been trolling the corporate blogs of potential future employers and find myself turned off by so many! i almost think the best ones are those that are not the responsibility of one person but that have lots of employees contributing. good luck in your search!
ReplyDeleteIts obivous with Paul's article on 10 Harsh truths that corporate bloggers have no clue on how to reach people but aren't the market researchers suppose to go out there and find out what's working vs not working, who's paying attention and how to reach people?!?
ReplyDeleteYou could definitely be that person in charge of a company's blog! They would be lucky to have you. You should post comments on some blogs and let them know that a soon-to-be MBA grad can help their failing social networking attempts.
ReplyDeleteEven if you don't get the job as the company's blogger. Become friends with who is in charge of that position and leverage yourself in there. If I could mange a company's twitter feed all day I would. Fun.
ReplyDelete