{grow} » New report suggests corporate blogging may be at saturation point

Mar 01 2010

New report suggests corporate blogging may be at saturation point

A new study of the world’s 500 largest public corporations by the University of Massachusetts Center for Marketing Research indicates that the level of corporate blogging may have flat-lined while the adoption of of other social media platforms, especially Twitter, continues to escalate rapidly.

Corporate blogging

Of the Fortune 500 companies, 22%, have a public-facing blog with a post in the past 12 months, including three of the top five companies (Wal-Mart, Chevron and General Electric). That’s up just 6% from a 2008 study.

Rank on the Fortune 500 list seemed to influence the adoption of blogging by the F500. The top 100 companies (or to 20%) on the list represent 39% of the 108 blogs.

All 108 blogs were examined to determine the level of interactivity the blog allowed — 90% percent of the Fortune 500 blogs take comments, have RSS feeds and take subscriptions.

Twitter

Of the 108 blogs located, 93 (86%) are linked directly to a corporate Twitter account, a more than 300% increase over the 2008 study.

173 (35%) of the primary corporations listed on the 2009 Fortune 500 have a Twitter account with a post within the past 30 days. Of these companies, four of the top five corporations (Wal-Mart, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and General Electric) consistently post on their Twitter accounts. For more on GE’s social media efforts: click here.

Podcasting and video

The 2009 Fortune 500 were also examined to determine usage of additional social media tools. 19% of the 2009 Fortune 500 use podcasting (up from 16%) and 31% are using video on their blog sites (up from 21%).

Implications

While blogging has more or less flat-lined for the mega-companies, a recent article I posted on the fast-growing Inc. 500 corporations showed a much higher rate of adoption. In fact, nearly half of the Inc. 500 had corporate blogs compared to 22% for the Fortune 500. What could this mean? I guess you would expect smaller companies to be fleeter in adopting new ideas, but blogging isn’t that new. Besides, the incredible adoption of Twitter demonstrates that the Fortune 500’s do have at least some understanding of the social web.

I have experienced first-hand how difficult it is to manage a meaningful blog in a public company straddled with so many laws and regulations. It’s hard to be responsive and authentic when you have to get everything reviewed by the legal department. I’m guessing that many companies are experiencing the same angst – What is the role of a blog in the corporate communications structure? What are the benefits versus the cost of approvals and the time needed from executives to sponsor the work? And just how many blogs does the world need any way? Does the heightened use of video and podcasting indicate companies are turning to new means of expression?

What do you think? Has corporate blogging reached its saturation point?

{grow} community alert: Jon Buscall has written a wonderful companion piece that actually answers the questions I pose here!

Many thanks to Nora Barnes and Eric Mattson for their detailed and important research.

Illustration: Web Tycoon

Share and Enjoy:

Filed in B2B and social media, blogging, corporate communications, research | Mark

13 Comments

By Neicole Crepeau, March 1, 2010 @ 1:06 am

Funny you should mention that. Someone I am working with was mentioning that at MVP meetings a year ago, everyone was blogging. Even during the meeting. This year, there was far less interest or discussion in it.

I wonder if blogging has been plagued by similar ROI issues to those around social media. Were people measuring the benefits of blogs? Did they fail to see benefits that made it worth the investment? Blogging is certainly time intensive and, as you point out, can be challenging in a corporate environment. Social media faces the same issues. Might it face the demise?
By Mark, March 1, 2010 @ 7:44 am

@Neicole — One of the philosophies behind this blog is that the winners and losers on the social web will be driven by economic realities, not any altruistic motive to “build community.” I think we are seeing here a reflection that 80% of blue-chip corporate America don’t see a value in blogging. And if you take the high-tech companies out of the mix, it’s more like 90%.
By Jody Pirrello, March 1, 2010 @ 8:07 am

The disparity between cost of entry for a blog versus cost of maintaining a blog has created this chasm right now. Fold into that legal and regulatory and it’s a recipe for anxiety and frustration.

Companies are sizing up various channels and giving them a test drive to see what works for them. I do think there’s not enough understanding of the effort and long-term commitment that blogging requires – research, writing, building readership, interacting with readers and commenters – and part of the fall off with blogs is companies realizing it’s just not for them.

I don’t think it’s a saturation point as much as it is a channel adjustment – blogging just isn’t for everyone.
By Mark, March 1, 2010 @ 8:42 am

@Jody — Good additions to the thought-stream. Thanks!
By Jon Buscall, March 1, 2010 @ 9:54 am

@Jody – Great point. It IS a channel adjustment, I’m sure. To get a blog to standout and be continually read you need great content providers. Companies don’t have resources to hire everyone they need, especially in a downturn.

@Mark – microblogging is definitely hitting this because community engagement is easier via Twitter. Particularly in the area of customer service. But where companies need to demonstrate their thought leadership and skills, blogs will be there.
By Jody Pirrello, March 1, 2010 @ 10:02 am

@Jon – I was hoping you’d comment! Your post yesterday about the value of business blogs is so relevant to this convo. But you’re right, resources are very tight right now. It’s hard to sit on the sidelines though when you see clients missing AWESOME opportunities, right? I’d love to hear any success stories on getting clients to adopt and commit to their blogs.

I still think the post Mark did back in January (I think?) where we all talked about team blogging in the comments has real merit.
By Mark, March 1, 2010 @ 11:54 am

@Jon I was also hoping you would weigh in : )

Resources, especially in a downturn certainly an issue, but at the same time, these companies are unimaginably large with a lot of depth. If this was seen as a smart thing to do, my guess is that they would be all over it.
By Jody Pirrello, March 1, 2010 @ 2:41 pm

@Mark – I’m probably jaded right now as I’m struggling with this very issue with a client. I think the bigger organizations, while they *do* have the resource numbers to get things done, tend to lose their motivation to make things happen among all the bureaucracy. If this were a Venn diagram it would be a very small intersection between people who work at big organizations and people who break through barriers to get stuff done.

The people who break through barriers tend to burn out at the big companies and find work independently or at smaller companies or agencies. Or maybe I’m projecting.

If there was a way to merge big company resources and small company creativity we’d have the perfect storm!

OK, I take that back. I *am* jaded right now!
By Neicole Crepeau, March 1, 2010 @ 4:27 pm

Sigh. I used to work at a company like that, Jody: Microsoft, back in the day. I always said I loved my job, because I was able to actually make things happen as an independent contributor. Our team was like its own little company, except with great facilities and services, and plenty of funding! Sadly, those days are over at Microsoft. But it was indeed the perfect storm, and the stock price reflected it!
By Mark, March 1, 2010 @ 4:36 pm

I’m jaded too. I worked with some of the biggest brands on the planet and you would think theses marketing giants would be fast on their feet but just the opposite was true. The scale is so huge that even a ripple in their system would build momentum until you had a tsunami-sized change. Not what the public sees/believes at all :) A small example. I was involved in a project examining a change to McDonald’s packaging. They sell so many burgers that one small change would have meant that three new packaging plants would have to be built, taking several years to accomplish. Just wasn’t going to happen so in many ways these guys are locked in the status quo.

OK, we’re off topic … I think … but it’s an interesting discussion : )