An interactive Web log can help a company reach out to customers or employees, test new ideas and counter criticisms, a survey finds. But, experts say, proper planning is needed to make a blog work.

01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, June 24, 2006

BY PAUL GRIMALDI
Journal Staff Writer

A study of blogging released last week by the University of Massachusetts suggests that businesses must adopt the online tools as part of their corporate strategies.

"Blogs must be viewed as part of the overall package and voice of the organization," according to "Behind the Scenes in the Blogosphere: Advice from Established Bloggers," the report from a survey of 74 bloggers conducted by Nora Ganim Barnes, director of the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.

A "blog" is a shortened name for a Web log: a Web site that features the unedited remarks of an individual or a small group, typically on a specialized subject. Blogs are frequently updated and encourage readers to add comments.

"Blogopshere" is the collective term encompassing all Web logs.

Barnes' report is blunt in its premise: "Blogs will make or break your business," reads the report's first sentence.

Though companies large and small have started them, or added them to their corporate Web sites in the last couple of years, not all are clear about strategy.

"Most of the business blogs in my study are very successful and tend to have clear objectives stated on the main pages in their blogs," Barnes said. "They all agree that it is absolutely necessary.

"Many do talk about trying to stay closer to their objectives and not jumping off the mark."

Among the participants were bloggers at Electronic Data Systems Corp.; marketing-commentary site Adrants; Blog Business Summit; and software maker Marqui Inc.

"We counsel folks all the time: 'Do not start, if you do not know what you want of this thing,' " said Janet Johnson, communications vice president at Marqui, in Portland, Ore.

As in other business endeavors, a plan is needed to ensure success, the survey respondents said.

"Without a plan, the blog is going to fail within three months. Period," another study respondent said.

The survey found a blog plan should include:

Answers to these questions: What's the goal? What's the focus? Who is the audience? How do you measure success? Will it lead to income?

A public policy regulating discussions -- including how to deal with negative comments -- because a blog is a conversation, an invitation to discuss issues.

A commitment to fresh, frequent posts -- and a recognition of the time commitment that requires. Nearly a third of the survey participants spend one to three hours a day on their blog.

For corporations, a commitment from legal teams and communications teams to work with the blog to reduce approval times for posts.

Income is only one of the possible benefits of blogging. "They all measure success differently," Johnson said.

Some bloggers measure success in ways that don't translate directly to sales. Success for them is links to other blogs, self-satisfaction or human connections.

The audience for blogs isn't always people outside of a company, the report notes. Blogs can be useful internal communication tools, as well.

When the audience is outside the company, public relations -- a not-always-easily-measured endeavor -- is one purpose of the blog.

"It's a bit of a softer sell, less quantifiable," than a standard marketing campaign, Johnson said.

With negative publicity about it pinging around the blogosphere, computer-systems giant Hewlett-Packard Co. set up its own blog.

"They said, 'OK, talk to us now,' " Barnes said, "and the complaints moved to their site," where the Palo Alto, Calif., company could address them.

Answering complaints, incorporating suggestions and simply explaining decisions, as Hewlett-Packard did, can bring companies closer to their customers and draw in new customers, said the survey respondents.

"The blogs give the corporation a human face," Barnes states in her report.

They also serve as barrier-breakers, allowing companies to test concepts before plowing too much time and money into them.

A significant number of visitors to the Web site where Marqui generates sales arrive via the company's blog, Marqui's World, Johnson said.

The blog has helped establish the company as a "thought leader" on software development. Because of it, "The product sale is just that much easier," she said.

Even businesses that don't set up their own blogs should at least pay attention to those that touch on their business, Barnes said.

"Every retailer should be at least monitoring blogs," Barnes said. "People are getting bashed and getting accolades. You at least need to listen."

For those businesses that don't participate in the blogosphere, the barriers to success are going to be harder to surmount.

"Those businesses that choose to remain outside this online conversation will be sidelined," the report concludes. "Eventually, they will become extinct."

pgrimald@projo.com / (401)-277-7356