Robert Scoble argues over at The Red Couch that you never should let your ad agency write your blog. I agreee – their expertise has nothing to do with blogs. In fact, advertising is in many ways something opposite to blogs.
No problem, then? They do ads, we do blogs?
Not really – and I think we here have a point that needs much more attention. The thing is, you could have a brilliant blog but if you’re painting a picture of your company that doesn’t match the other messages your customers get, you’re in trouble.
It’s the basics of integrated communications. What someone learns about you through one channel should be confirmed through other channels. If not, you simply are not credible.
This means that even if ad agencies shouldn’t write corporate blogs, their work has an impact on what people think of a corporate blog(ger). And what you write in a blog affects the way ads and other forms of marketing are understood in the minds of our – often – common target groups.
I think we need a more qualified discussion about this. It’s not productive to shout “hands off” to the ad agencies. We should say “welcome” instead and figure out how to mix blogs and other channels effectively – without losing the authenticity, honesty and personality of the blog.
It can be done. But it’s a major challenge and it will require strategic communicative skills. Do bloggers and other key players have these skills? Does your Communications Director understand conversational tools enough to see their role in relation to other tools?
Fredrik Wacka is the author and founder of the popular CorporateBlogging.Info blog which is a guide to business and corporate blogging.
Visit Fredrik Wacka’s blog: CorporateBlogging.Info.
