Why Should Companies Blog?

There are LOTS of good reasons for one or more members of company leadership to blog. These include:

• Humanizing the company

• Enhancing visibility

• Building credibility and trust

• Establishing industry expertise

• Promoting products and policies

• Addressing important issues

• Generating leads … and business

• Defending the company against its critics

Who blogs? In all likelihood, your customers and competitors.

According to a recent survey by HubSpot.com, a marketing software company, businesses are now in the minority if they don’t blog. From 2009 to 2011 the percentage of businesses with a blog grew from 48% to 65%.

Increasingly, companies are recognizing the value of their blogs. Eighty-five percent of businesses rated their company blogs as “useful,” “important” or “critical.” A very significant 27% rated their company blog as “critical” to their business.

Therefore, it is not surprising that companies are allocating more resources to their social media initiatives. The average budget spent on company blogs and social media increased from 9% in 2009 to 17% in 2011.