We’re firm believers in Content Marketing and Blogging, and discuss them often on this site.   So a recent eMarketer survey study doesn’t come as much of a surprise – that corporate blogging keeps growing and growing.

According to the study, released August 17th 43% of US companies will be blogging by 2012.

“Companies are finding that blogs fill a specific niche that other forms of social media do not,” said eMarketer senior analyst Paul Verna.

Because of the apparent staying power of blogs in corporate settings, eMarketer forecasts continued growth in company use of blogs for marketing purposes. This year, eMarketer estimates just over one in three companies have a public-facing blog used for marketing, a proportion that will rise to 43% by 2012.

And companies are really starting to recognize the value of blogging:

“Studies have shown that marketers perceive blogs to have the highest value of any social media in driving site traffic, brand awareness, lead generation and sales—as well as improving customer service,” said Verna.

“There is evidence that smaller companies are embracing blogging at greater rates than larger firms,” said Verna. “This might be because larger, public companies—particularly in industries such as pharma and financial services—have more legal, logistical and regulatory constraints than smaller firms.”

So if your company has taken a summer break on your blog (or longer) or you are debating whether or not to start a blog for the first time here’s one more reason not to get left behind, and to walk the walk (thanks again Kevin).

What do you think?  Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments area below.

I’ve always been very critical of people who justify their existence based on the number of time slots they fill in a given week with “meetings”. If you looked at my calendar this week, it would show no more than 5 official meetings.  I’m not busy, right?  Quite the opposite.  This week will probably be a 60 hour week when all is said and done.  It’s just that I’ve made a conscious decision – based on real “work” load – that at least 45 of those hours will be dedicated to delivery of services, and not meeting time.

Jason Fried, founder of 37 Signals, and author of Rework (which I need to read soon), sums up most of my feelings on the topic in the video below.  While I think he is further down the “no meetings” path than I am, he makes a lot of valid points.  In particular, the segment that resonates with me is the idea that our current workplaces are set up for interruptions, and those interruptions often completely destroy any momentum required to actually get “work” completed.

For the most part, our clients know that we don’t believe in face time for the sake of face time, but rather face time for the sake of getting something specific accomplished.  There is NO question that meetings, if planned and executed appropriately, can be far more effective than going back-and-forth via IM, email, or even phone calls.  In many cases though, meetings are often a selfish gesture on the part of the meeting organizer.

So put away your cell phone.   Shut down email.  Stop thinking about the next thing you need to do.  And by all means, pay attention to this video.

Great research falls flat without an action plan.

I’d love to chalk up our lack of blogging to beach vacations, lazy weekends at the pool, or even a desire to slow down during late summer.  In our case, none of that is true.  We happen to be engaged with a bunch of new clients, and some long-standing clients, who all decided to launch something, announce something, or ask for delivery of something during the month of August.

In all of these projects, we’re expected to either conceptualize, execute or review various forms of research and testing.  Some of it is what I’d call traditional market research, or an exploration of consumer attitudes towards a particular product.  Some of it is usability research, or a test of how a user navigates through a particular website.  Some of it is keyword research, used broadly to gauge demand or narrowly to forecast search engine marketing traffic and spending.

We see custom research that reaches into the six figures in cost.  We see simple user research that can be executed for as little a few hundred dollars.  We see some very well-planned research with clear objectives in mind, and we see some of the most misguided research that money can buy.

Whether the research is well-planned or not, one of the most consistent points of failure is the lack of specific plan of action arising from the research.

More often than not, the scenario looks like this.  Expensive research firm is asked to provide insight into topic X, based on research and testing on potential consumers.  Expensive research firm presents findings at the big annual meeting, and some of the data (in particular, the stuff that supports the CEO’s strategic direction) elicits the standard oohs and aahs as it appears magically on the PowerPoint.  Here’s what typically happens next:

• Research firm receives big check – job well done.
• CEO or the sponsoring exec reminds everyone that the team now has a lot of material to digest, and that everyone needs to take this new data seriously.
• There is an implied agreement that everyone is going to review the findings, and figure out how this data can be used to improve their function or department.

What actually happens?  Nothing.  Sure, an occasional email gets shot around – you know, the unproductive kind that involves 18 people – that cites stats from the research report as some type of justification for a new plan of attack.

But it typically ends at that.  Why?

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We live in a business world, and in particular a marketing world, that is dominated by what lots of people call “solutions”.  Software solutions.  Automation solutions.  Content management solutions.  Social media solutions.  You name it, and someone, somewhere is peddling the latest solution to fill the needs of the enterprise space, the small business space, the startup space, or perhaps the going out of business soon space.

Can you tell I am not a big fan of the word solutions?

Marketing has not become any easier over the last 15 years.  That’s right.  I’d argue that marketing has become far more complex and difficult to manage with the explosion of Internet usage and the growth of the small business sector.  We certainly have better tools and better tracking mechanisms, but we also have seen a massive increase in competition in just about every industry, a leveling of the playing field between small and large businesses, and an influx of marketing talent that, well, has minimal marketing experience.

That’s why your marketing leadership still represents the most important asset in your marketing department or organization.  We’re working with a few clients at the moment that don’t fit in any type of well-defined box.  “Solutions” cannot solve their problems or build plans around their opportunities, but the right people can.  With that in mind, here’s why you pay your marketing leadership – whether internal or outsourced – the big bucks:

1.  Identifying the Actual Opportunity and the Potential Obstacles

This is a multi-billion dollar market just waiting to be addressed!  If I had a nickel for every time I heard that one from a CEO or Founder…

Good marketing folks are able to take the pie in the sky predictions and bring them back down to earth (or sometimes even agree with them).   Great marketing folks do that, plus identify potential obstacles and ways around those obstacles.

2.  Creating the Plan and the Process to Implement the Plan

Anyone that reads this blog regularly knows that I harp on the lack of marketing planning that goes on in most organizations.  Some people get intimidated by a plan, fearful that it represents some lengthy, gut-wrenching and perhaps useless document that won’t get followed anyway.  If you’re one of those, get yourself a new marketing leader because you’re not seeing the right plans.

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As marketers, we all know it’s important to know your audience, and critically important to know as much as you can about your customers. That’s why it still surprises me when a company you feel you have a relationship with just completely misses it. Yesterday I received a clear example in an email from my local car dealer.

Here’s a small snippet of that message below with some information [substituted] to protect the guilty:

The [brand] Model Year-End Sales Event is happening now at [dealer] and because of your status as a preferred customer, you can now get $1,000** Bonus Savings plus 0%* APR financing and a Free Maintenance Plan.+

Visit the link below to receive your $1,000** Bonus Savings today!

Now, I probably have a deeper relationship with my car dealer than most people. Those of you who know me well enough are probably REALLY sick of me going on and on about how great my Prius is. I lease my vehicle for business, so they know I’m back there every 3 years. And, with a growing family each of those last two times we’ve also swapped our family vehicle for something that can fit the kids and their ever-expanding stuff.

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