There have been many conversations out there about the validity of a PR agency’s blog. Would anybody trust us, knowing that our clients pay for our services, and we can’t really say anything negative in a blog? So, should we or should we not blog? If we do, should we blog about our clients? Is the PR agency meant to be only an invisible force? (Oh, I just love the word “force” in this context. I had to use it.)
My opinion is that, as any other blogger, we should blog if we have something to say, if we know how to say it, and we understand the commitment we need to make when writing a blog. The blogosphere doesn’t need another blog if it is just a shameless marketing tool, and it is not able to give something back to its readers. Having said that, we will definitely talk about our customers if we think that the information is useful for our target audience; otherwise, we will certainly not discuss it here.
(408) 435-1500
Only Two Fortune 100 CEOs Have Twitter Accounts
While some execs are open to using the latest social media tools, even though they are still trying to figure them out, testing them, and looking for the best ways to measure ROI, other execs are not embracing them yet. Research results released only a few days ago by the website UBERCEO reveal that the top 100 CEOs in the country are not too active in the social media community. The report looks at how and if they are using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Wikipedia, and if they have a blog. It turns out that only two CEOs have Twitter accounts. On LinkedIn, only 13 CEOs have profiles, but out of those, only three have more than 10 connections. Numbers are disappointing on Facebook as well, because 81 percent of CEOs do not have a personal Facebook page. While three quarters of the CEOs have some kind of Wikipedia entry, nearly a third of those have limited or outdated information. On top of that, not even one Fortune 100 CEO has a blog. The sites suspects that the top three reasons CEOs (and probably some consumers and enterprises) aren’t using social media is because of fear (of unknown), lack of (social media) knowledge, and time constraints.
We work directly with CEOs of various startups, and I would say that #1 reason for them would be time constraints. At a startup, you wear many hats and CEOs are no exception. While most of them are looking into starting a blog, I always advise them to keep posts consistent and interesting, rather than start in full force with many posts in the first month and then slow down or even stop posting, as the novelty wears off and they have to focus on other tasks. Another option would be to share the blog with other members of the executive team such as one of the founders, the CTO or other VPs. This way, different people will cover different topics, with unique insights, increasing the quality of the blog and making sure there isn’t a big gap between postings.
The quality of blog posts attracts visitors, who may turn into loyal readers. By providing them with interesting, consistent posts, you know they will read every post, comment on it, tweet it, or simply talk about it with others. If you have something to say in more than 140 Twitter characters, a blog is the perfect place to do it. Even if others have already covered a topic, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t write about it anymore. Sharing your opinion with the world can only make it better.