Only 3% of SMEs are planning to start a corporate blog, according to a survey by hosting provider Fasthosts.
The firm, which questioned 2,000 small businesses, found nearly half would use a blog to drive traffic and interact with their customers, but far fewer were actually preparing to launch one.
It said the findings suggest that SMEs understand the potential business benefits of running a blog, but are failing to put this awareness into action.
"The corporate blogs of large companies are bound by corporate guidelines and gate keepers, so for small businesses there is far greater opportunity for interesting comment and genuine dialogue with customers," said Andrew Michael, CEO of Fasthosts.
Learn more...
For background on online PR and social media more generally, It's worth reading our (free to registered users) Social Media Trends Briefing (June 2009). Econsultancy has also published Social Media and Online PR Template Files, which you can adapt and use for your own projects. For innovation in this space, download our Innovation Report.
Posted 03 October 2006 09:44am by Richard Maven with 3 comments
Tags: Research, Blogs and Blogging
Topics: Business to Business, Online Customer Service, Social Networks & Online Communities, Strategy & Planning
Digg this
Stumble It!
Bookmark on Delicious
Websites vs Facebook Pages: which URL should you promote? 
10 heinous usability crimes committed by Playmobil
Google
Graham Charlton
Strategy & Planning
Managing Director at True Clarity
10:53AM on 3rd October 2006
I'd totally agree that SMEs could do more to promote themselves with blogs, but where do they find the time to keep a blog current?
9:36AM on 22nd April 2008
Well SME could do lot more than just promote themselves through blogs...
they could actually engage their customers(both internal and external) through blogs and other mediums of internet...
4:31AM on 24th May 2008
I have seen corporations take part in social media such as Twitter and blogs. Zappos and Southwest Air to name a couple. I find them infinitely more appealing for having done so.