Very interesting article in Wired this week that asks the question, are blogs dead?
This topic is sure to have a variety of answers and may depend on your intentions. Given that more and more corporations are looking at blogs as a way to get their voice heard without the typical red tape and time, I don’t see blogs going away but maybe it is time to evolve. The blogosphere is flooded with new blogs popping up every day.
While this post may have attracted the attention from a very large audience, the blog is not going anywhere for the time being. If anything, this economy will push companies to think differently, to market in new ways and to understand what the customer really care about. Most everyone has either heard about or seen Sequoia's doom presentation about the recession and what it means for businesses. But the one thing is clear, the time is now for nailing your marketing so that it is customer driven and has high impact. Forget the competition for the time being and ramp up communications aggressively. Measure what works and cut what doesn’t.
Social tools like blogs can have an important role in the way that we communicate and allow you to make an impact with little to no investment. Linking to others, commenting on other blogs, watching page views and analytics and understanding that the blog page of your website has the most SEO potential should all be considered for a truly effective blog.
The idea that Twitter and other microblogging tools will replace long form writing is naïve. Twitter definitely has its purpose but getting your message out in 140 characters is not always going to work unless your name is Calacanis. The key to any method is making sure you are reaching your intended audience. If you are on Twitter, who is listening to you and is it the right group? Sure Twitter can be searched but are you “search worthy” and are you talking about topics that would find their way into a search string? This isn’t to say there isn’t a great opportunity to leverage Twitter but it is all in the execution and looking at a variety of tools without relying on just one.
Similar to Paul’s claim that blogs are dead, we have heard for years that the press release is dead and as much as I would like that to be true, the press release still has its place. What is happening is more options are being made available for getting the word out. The good news is that these methods don’t require additional investment on the company’s part, just creativity.
Imagine how a launch could be presented using a variety of tools:
• Twitter: post a teaser that invites beta users to take a test drive
• Video: capture reactions to a new offering and include analysts, customers, staff
• Audio: record a conference call between the company and a partner on the impact
• Press Release: details, specifications, links to product and site
• Facebook: hosted poll
Of course there are so many ways to use these tools and to hone your marketing efforts during this time. These are simply a few things to consider.
