84% of Corporate Blogs Lack Soul. And Suck

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Ernst-Jan Pfauth

Ernst-Jan Pfauth is the former Editor in Chief of Internet at NRC Handelsblad, as well as an acclaimed technology author and columnist. He a (show all) Ernst-Jan Pfauth is the former Editor in Chief of Internet at NRC Handelsblad, as well as an acclaimed technology author and columnist. He also served as The Next Web’s blog’s first blogger and Editor in Chief, back in 2008. At De Correspondent, Ernst-Jan serves as publisher, fostering the expansion of the platform.

The Influential Marketing Blog wants us to consider a piece of data that leads a new Forrester Research report (register to download): only one in six consumers (just 16%) trust company blogs. In other words, 84% of corporate blogs today probably suck.

I’m not surprised, most corporate blog I stumble upon are blogs without a soul, but with press releases. Moreover, the pieces of personal PR are often isolated, living a life within the .com domain of the company. No outgoing trackbacks, social media presence, or articles about phenomena outside the safe haven of the offices.

Therefore, Forrester Research argues that a blog has to be part of a larger social media strategy. Teach a PR person the fine art of community management 2.0. Give him a free pass for Twittering, Digging, Stumbling, and blogging all the day. Read Naked Conversations, for crying out loud.

Oh, and don’t forget to have a look at some fine examples. Quintura from Russia (read the story behind it here) and Digital Nomads by Dell (another story here).