If you’re familiar with digital marketing, you probably know about the value of a corporate blog. In 2016, 80 percent of B2B respondents to the Content Marketing Institute’s annual survey said their company uses a blog and 52 percent said that blogs are the most critical content marketing tool to their company’s success. But how did we get here?
In the Beginning
In the mid to late 1990s, with the rise of other types of websites, weblogs or blogs, started to come about. The first is commonly attributed to Justin Hall, a student at Swarthmore University. These early blogs mimicked personal journals or diaries and chronicled topics of interest to the author.
Blogging gave everyone the power to be a journalist, and before long, the business of blogging exploded. By the turn of the century, employees began to write about topics for work. One of the earliest company blogs was a volunteer-run site by employees at Microsoft. The company would go on to establish an official blog, Channel 9 by 2004.
Content is King
During the first decade of the 2000s, content marketing exploded across digital channels. Social media sites, websites, email, and other electronic media made generating unique content easy and cost effective. Although the practices of content marketing had been around for years, by 2010 it had a name and identity.
Owned Content
Blogs are often the cornerstone of content marketing strategies for a number of reasons. First is they usually live on the brand’s own website, so they are considered owned content. Blogs are very easy to manage in-house with the right editorial team. They are also flexible. Blogs can announce new products, introduce key executives, explain trending topics, and more. Lou Hoffman of the Hoffman Agency also explains that “corporate blogging puts a face on a company.” It helps develop the brand’s voice.
So what’s next for corporate blogs?
The Future
As content marketing grows in sophistication, we can only expect blogging to evolve as well. Perhaps blogs will replace some forms of outbound communication like press releases or company memos. Perhaps niche corporate blogs will foster the creation of subcultures like Tumblr. Many blogs work hand-in-hand with social media platforms to offer two-way communication between brands and their consumers.
How do you see blogging evolving in the future?
Social Chrysalis 
October 22, 2016 at 11:07 pm
Company blogs are really interesting. Just look at what the Coca-Cola Company has done with their corporate blog. They have all types of communications available via their blog; it really does let them play reporter for their own content (see it here: http://www.coca-colacompany.com/coca-cola-unbottled). Like you indicated, maybe business blogs are trending more toward becoming ‘media rooms’ for their own, self-generated content.
I see the future of blogging similarly to what you described. I think that other types of social media will continue to interlink with blogs. This would really create a synced up strategy that gives customers the whole experience, no matter what site they’re visiting.
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October 24, 2016 at 2:06 pm
Amanda,
Thanks for telling this story! The evolution of corporate blogging is fascinating. As you discussed, there are a number of reasons that corporate blogging has taken off and is so widely used now. I think that one of the most important reasons that blogging is so critical today is because the content is so “raw” and natural when compared to some of the traditional outbound media types. I work in a fairly technical industry and blogs tend to have the “sales pitch gloss” stripped out of the content and the conversation often exists from “techie” to “techie.” In my job, we often talk about joinining the “right conversations” and more and more frequently, the “right conversations” exist on corporate blogs that have a presence and following by the thought leaders within the industry.
I also agree with you that we will continue to see a convergence of media around corporate blogs in the future where they will become the “go to” place for understanding corporate offerings, products, and services.
Brian
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October 25, 2016 at 3:52 am
I appreciate your insights and history about corporate blogs, Amanda. Quite fascinating and so much so that it inspires me to review a few of the corporate blogs I’ve visited over time. A bit of nostalgic, ya know?
Once I did, I spent a few minutes checking out what the “experts” thing too and found a couple of my favorites on the list professional blogger Mark Schaefer, in this humbly titled “The 10 best big company blogs in the world” (http://www.businessesgrow.com/2015/01/12/best-company-blogs/) .
Our common ground corporate blogs included Disney, Home Depot, and though I’ve spent less time there, General Electric. (They frequently showcase the most inspiring graphic images!)
Who would have guessed we share those in common?
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January 2, 2017 at 7:10 am
Good read Amanda 🙂 We share same interest- Content Marketing. Have a look at my blog and may be share some suggestions to improvise. Have a great year ahead. 🙂
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