My answer is that it depends on what you want.

Some companies use blogs to promote build a reputation of thought leadership. In these cases the contributors most often post about topics directly related to the industry, current issues, and the company’s products/mission.

Some companies use the blog as a way to stay in contact with their community, inviting customers, employees, and guests to write posts and/or comment on ideas and products.

Other companies use their corporate blog as a way to announce new products, ideas, welcome clients, etc. Like a personal, but public, bulletin board.

And, of course, a blog can be used as a recruiting tool. Whether positioning your company as a thought leader, talking about cool new products, and/or posting job openings. All these ideas help expand not only your company brand, but reach out to potential hires. Think of that talented, passive candidate who may be attracted by a post to learn more about your company.

I read an excellent description of corporate blogging via the Liz Ryan Digest from Graco’s lead blogger. (posted here with the author’s permission)

I am actually the lead corporate blogger for Graco Children’s Products and we’ve had a lot of success with it so far. How you define success truly depends on what you are trying to accomplish. At the heart of corporate blogging, it’s really about the conversation you want to engage in with your audience. Blogs aren’t publishing mediums and they also aren’t the only/most important part of a social media strategy. For us, it’s about having a relationship with our target audience (parents) who are actively participating in the online space- we are just a part of that now. It’s about going to your audience where they already are instead of expecting them to come to you. Engage and participate – authentically, and your success will come from that. I recently spoke at the BlogHer Business conference in NYC presenting the Graco case study on successful blogger outreach. You can check out the panel here http://blip.tv/file/813495/ and here http://blip.tv/file/813680/. Social media has been the most fun I’ve had since starting my marketing career over 8 years ago. Good luck and
have fun with it!

Lindsay Lebresco

http://blog.gracobaby.com
Public Relations and Social Media Manager, Graco Children’s Products-a Newell Rubbermaid company

There are various considerations prior to setting up a company blog. From purpose/intent, to guidelines (including legal protections), to deciding who writes, and more.

For other articles, information and guidelines on Corporate Blogging, feel free to visit the links below:

• Corporate Blogging- How the Pros Do It
• How To Create the Perfect Company Blog
• Should You Start a Business Blog?
• The Process of Starting a Corporate Blog