The short answer is a definite maybe. It’s all about the strategy and who is doing the blogging, followed by the choice in tone and manner, and the desire to engage. These are the key elements to developing a more “human” corporate blog. The challenge facing most organizations is that they recognize Social Media and it’s potential impact, but don’t necessarily comprehend and understand it. This is the crucial different to overall success with a corporate blog.

In our experience working with organizations developing corporate blog strategies, the initial focus is all about the message, staying on a set corporate message, followed by legal review. For a large organization and even mid-size, the issues are around the key messages for various audiences. Managing the message specific to the audience is still critical, but can be a challenge. Anyone can read, watch or listen to social media generated by the consumer. Including potential employees and investors.

Most companies therefore put a pin-stripe suit on the blog and are very cautious, often overly so, in their blog strategies and writing. This leads to writing in more formal business language. This is precisely the tone and manner that leads to a collapse in an effective blog. A number of clients remark “we don’t get any traffic on our blog and no one leaves comments”. This is usually because the tone and manner of the blog is not conversational in nature. It is one-way and directed towards a business audience in press release style.

This is not to say that legal considerations and strategic messaging should be ignored. They shouldn’t. But the tone and manner should be inviting and looking for feedback. The whole idea around social media is conversations. When developing a corporate blog strategy, after considering legal ramifications and messaging, make sure your chosen authors work in a conversational approach. Tone and manner can kill an otherwise excellent blog strategy.