BLOGGING FROM THE INSIDE OUT: The Rise and Effective Management of Employee Bloggers

BLOGGING FROM THE INSIDE OUT: The Rise and Effective Management of Employee Bloggers Second in a series on new communications and word-of-mouth marketing By Edelman and Intelliseek • Fall 2005 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 3 WHY BLOG? 4 EMPLOYEE BLOGS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON CONSUMERS 6 CHARACTERIZING THE NATURE OF EMPLOYEE BLOGS 7 USE OF EMPLOYEE BLOGGERS TO REGAIN LOST CREDIBILITY 8 EMPLOYEE BLOGS AS INTERNAL KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT TOOLS 9 CEO BLOGS 10 CREATING THE BUSINESS CASE FOR EMPLOYEE BLOGGING 11 THE IMPORTANCE OF BLOGGING GUIDELINES 12 LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR SUCCESSFUL EMPLOYEE BLOGGING GUIDELINES 14 CLOSING THOUGHTS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR COMMUNICATORS 15 “GET SMART” VOCABULARY GUIDE 17 APPENDIX A: EXAMPLES OF EMPLOYEE BLOGGING GUIDELINES 18 EDELMAN AND INTELLISEEK CONTACT INFORMATION 20 The Rise and Effective Management of Employee Bloggers 2 INTRODUCTION Employee blogs have helped enhance the reputation of their employers (as in the The rise of the blogosphere has the potential cases of Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and to empower employees in ways not unlike Stonyfield Farms). Conversely, companies the rise of labor unions in the late 19th and have seen their reputations damaged by early 20th centuries. Although more subtle high-profile firings of employee bloggers (as than those fundamental shifts in the in the cases of Google, Delta Air Lines, labor-management dynamic, employee Waterstone’s and Friendster). CEO blogs bloggers, in many cases, have tipped the are growing in frequency 2 as a credible balance of influence in their favor to establish way to reach both internal and external levels of credibility that many CEOs can audiences. Blogs are establishing in the only dream of. online world much of the value that public relations has brought traditionally. When trying to understand why bloggers have taken the communications reins and As the potential assets of employee bloggers seem to be here to stay, one should consider become apparent, so do the corresponding the results of Edelman’s 2005 Trust Survey. liabilities. Blogs can influence news, analysts Edelman found that by a 3-to-1 margin, and regulators. Blog information also people are far more likely to trust “average rises with alarming speed to the top of search people like me” than to trust authority engine placements due to sites’ frequent figures such as CEOs. Employees at all updates and concentration of similar levels have suddenly found themselves in keywords. Organizations need to have a powerful positions to advocate either for or well-formed point of view on how employee against their companies’ products, policies blogging and CEO blogging fit into and stances – and have found that people their communications mix, and need to put are listening to what they have to say. policies or guidelines in place to enable blogging to happen in a more controlled – Indeed, a 2003 study by McKinsey & Co. and ultimately productive – way. found that 67 percent of consumer goods sales are based on word-of-mouth, This white paper seeks to explore the highlighting the role that a company’s phenomenon of employee blogging, how employees can play to promote sales or companies are coping with this new form discourage them through online comments. of internal and external communication, and And a 2004 Intelliseek/Forrester study how organizations can harness the power revealed that consumers trust word-of- of employee blogging to their benefit. mouth recommendations far more than they We’ll also review blogs that communicators trust traditional marketing/advertising. should be interacting with regularly, Word-of-mouth recommendations represent commonly used terms of the blogosphere the most trusted form of advertising with and resources for instituting blogging the highest impact,1 suggesting that people policies, guidelines and platforms. would rather hear about real experiences and perspectives than marketing speak. 1 Forrester Research, Inc. and Intelliseek 2 Edelman 2005 New Frontiers in Employee Communications Survey The Rise and Effective Management of Employee Bloggers 3 WHY BLOG? • Personalize Customer Relationships In a forum where the main objective is An estimated 34 million blogs will exist by not to sell, they’ll have a more personal the end of 20053, many of them in relationship with their customers. Blogs developed countries where the number of are a fast way to join the customers’ blogs is doubling nearly each year. The discussions, provide tips and insights or Japanese government estimates 3.35 receive feedback. million blogs currently exist in Japan and • Provide Trusted Context When There that the number will double by 2007. is News — Good or Bad France is estimated to have somewhere By having public-facing blogs, a company between 3 to 4 million blogs and Germany develops a trusting relationship with its has an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 customers. When the company has good and is growing quickly. This phenomenon news, customers will turn to the bloggers is clearly no longer limited to the United they already trust for interpretation. When States, which was long the leader in blog there is bad news, nothing can better aid innovation and growth. crisis management than already having trusting relationships with customers. As one might expect, the millions of blogs around the world cover every topic • Improve Media Relations imaginable (and even some unimaginable!).