Corporate Blogs Still Suck
September 1st, 2006 by Adam
I came across this shirt the other day proclaiming that “Corporate Blogs Still Suck.” It made me laugh, but then it made me think… Do they?
In the 50 or so blogs that I read on a daily basis, there are very few “corporate” blogs though there are quite a few blogs of interesting people who have started small software companies. Probably the most corporate blog I follow is the Direct 2 Dell Blog.
I think most of the time, the Dell blog doesn’t suck. I’m wouldn’t consider myself a Dell fan, but I’m not a hater either. I admire their mastery of the supply chain process and have bought a few Dells over the years. It is amazing how quickly and inexpensively they can put together and deliver a completely custom machine. I have also had good experiences with their customer support the few times that I have needed to call.
I’ll admit that part of the reason the Dell blog is fun to watch is that they got completely slammed by negative comments in the first few posts. Turns out that there is a lot of pent up frustration aimed at Dell, and some of the early posts seemed canned and readers let out their steam in the comment section.
I admire the folks running the Dell blog though because they have stuck it out and have been evolving the blog into more of a conversation and less of a brochure blog. Not that it is perfect yet, but you can tell that they are really trying to get it right.
I’m wondering what your favorite corporate blogs are and whether you think that corporate blogs, in general, still suck. If you think they do, what needs to change so that they don’t? Please comment!
Posted in All, Blogging | 5 Comments » | Other posts by Adam
September 1st, 2006 at 2:33 pm
A lot of corporate blogs suck. But a lot don’t. The problem I see is that so few people bother to study business blogs to see whether they suck or not. I’m glad to see that you’re one of those few.
Dell’s blog is doing much better now than it was, but it still has a ways to go. But it doesn’t suck. I applaud them for their efforts. It’s a terrible uphill battle when you have to get a blog going for a company that size and with so many blog-savvy Dell-haters out there.
What sucks most to me about corporate blogs in general is that they fail to engage visitors in meaningful conversation. They’re too stiff, formal, one-sided and boring. And lame. Now, some are really cool though.
I’d tell you some of my favorites, but I’m planning a series at my blog that will go into that topic a bit more and I want to keep ’em secret for now :).
Thanks for going into this subject some more.
September 1st, 2006 at 3:03 pm
Easton,
I invite you to use trackback or leave a comment with the URL of your blog series when you post it. I look forward to reading your analysis!
September 2nd, 2006 at 4:24 pm
Thanks for taking an even-handed view of Direct2Dell. As someone with an inside seat, it has been fascinating to watch Dell’s blog take its first tentative steps and then quickly begin to get its “blogosphere legs.”
We know the blog is anything but perfect, but it is indeed getting better. I believe the journey has the makings for a great business case study one day.
More importantly, it’s turning out to be as we had hoped — a new channel to communicate quickly and openly with our custoimers.
September 5th, 2006 at 10:06 am
One of the cool things Dell is doing is quickly responding to other bloggers who are discussing their company. Thank you for your comment JohnP.
September 7th, 2006 at 10:31 am
Dell’s problem is that they under-estimated the power of blogging last year when Jeff Jarvis started to paste them day after day on his Buzzmachine Blog and generated enormous anti Dell publicity in the blogosphere. If they had just sent him a new machine, in working order, the problem would have been shut down. But Jeff’s regular updates on Dell Hell with their customer service were hillarious, and soon got into the mainstream media.
It’s now very hard to recover from that. Almost every blogger is inclined to judge Dell harshly now. But as Adam notes, they have learned that lesson and are clearly following what the blogs are saying and responding quickly.