Why blog? Well, I do work at a digital agency, after all.
November 14, 2007 – 1:34 pmAs a contributor to The Age of Conversation book, I met several people that are very active in marketing and blogging, including David Armano.
A good follow-up post by David today about the question he asked to his audience: Should digital agencies be blogging?
Blogging with a purpose is a key thread, but, as ask anyone that maintains a blog will tell you, it takes a fair amount of work, so if an agency commits to a blog they better have the resource to keep it moving. I think that is probably where agencies tend to fall short.
One of the comments that hit home for me was from Uwe:
“If you’re a digital agency claiming to participate in social media and conversational marketing, you should have a blog before you have a site. How can you claim to be a marathon runner if you never ran in your life?”
~Uwe.
I’ve got this blog, a personal blog, participate in our internal company blog and in the planning stages for another blog in the near future (stay tuned!).
As important as it is for agencies to be blogging, I think it is more important for agency employees to be blogging themselves. How can you speak about something you have no experience with?
At Barkley, we put together a training program to help all employees get a blog started. This is part of a larger initiative that includes other topics such as mobile, virtual worlds and other hot topics. Will all employees be blog experts? No, but that’s not the point. The point is to expose employees to some areas that may be new to them to help provide context and I think the plan is working.
Technorati Tags: Armano, blogging, trends, advertising, agency, web20
4 Responses to “Why blog? Well, I do work at a digital agency, after all.”
I agree with the majority of people that voted in that blogging is essential for interactive agencies. How in the world do agencies claim to be “experts” in this arena when they don’t participate themselves.
By John Herrington on Nov 14, 2007
I work as marketing director for a web design and development company that works with advertising agencies.
I’ve been wondering about some things relative to ad agency perception of blogs and other forms of social media, and am hoping you (or your readers) might be willing to address my concerns.
Are agencies blogging or participating in socnets to any great degree? Is the industry shifting in that direction?
If so, where are industry participants hanging out? Are there A-list blogs they’re reading or online communities in which they’re participating?
My own perception of ad agencies is that they are a bit frightened by all this online stuff, especially new media as it flies in the face of the one-way messaging advertising is used to by offering a conversational, two-way alternative.
By Paul Chaney on Nov 20, 2007
@ Paul:
I think a select group of agencies are actively participating in social networks. The employees are, with or without the direction of the organization, active. Some agencies are encouraging it, while others are purely allowing it.
Many organizations are starting to implement blogging policies (what you can talk about, comment on, etc). I think it is a good idea to lay some ground work to provide some general bounds, as long as it doesn’t restrict the author’s creative freedom.
At Barkley, we have our own corporate blogging policy, which is pretty straight forward, and in summary, is basically use common sense, don’t talk about confidential matters and clearly identify who you are.
Are agencies frightened? Of course! Because, brands (i.e. our clients) and agencies can not control the conversations. Social networks and word of mouth have an impact on buying decisions, so word of mouth is amplified. If someone has a bad experience with a brand, they will shout as loud as they can. And if you upset an A-list blogger you will find out pretty quickly.
I have my own list of sites I follow, but the AdAge 150 is a good start.
In addition to following the general marketing and advertising sites, I also track sites that are relevant to our clients.
By Dustin Jacobsen on Nov 20, 2007
Thanks, Dustin. Well put. I appreciate your insights.
By Paul Chaney on Nov 20, 2007