Is it the end of blogging for business as we know it? Should we shut down our blog campaigns and hop on Twitter instead? According to new numbers from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth report, corporate blogging is on the decline. Of the businesses surveyed, only 37 percent were still keeping the blog dream alive in 2011 — down from 50 percent in 2010. Media outlets like USA Today were quick to point the finger at Facebook and Twitter being the reason why companies have turned their backs on blogging. Yet before we ditch it altogether, let’s look at the truth about corporate blogging.
While the numbers do tell us that many companies have stopped blogging, there’s plenty they don’t tell us. Primarily, that most of the world’s most recognizable brands don’t just do Facebook or only have a Twitter account. When it comes to online branding, most of the big guns do it all, including blogging. Look at Southwest Airlines. Or Food Network. Or Disney. Or Diesel. Successful companies know that in order for new media marketing to work, they have to stick their fingers in all kinds of pies. And blogging is content that sticks, unlike Facebook posts that get lost in the shuffle. Also, these numbers surely don’t reflect the small spitfire companies who’ve had their brands put on the map thanks to blogging. Lastly, the big thing we always miss when we talk about how Facebook or Twitter is ruining blogging is how much those platforms actually help blogs. Blog marketing wouldn’t even exist without social media. Show me a cupcake shop owner, celebrity writer or fashion stylist who isn’t also tweeting links to their blogs and I’ll show a person doing it wrong.
But that’s what we think. How about you? Is corporate blogging over or has it only just begun? Sound off below!
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