- No amount of statistical work will overcome the various inadequacies in the quality of data collected and how inappropriate these might be for measuring success with Twitter, blogging, Facebook or having a series of podcasts.
For a CEO blogger it is important to find out which mistakes he or she might better avoid to save time and reduce the opportunity costs that must be absorbed while blogging.
- Find out – read on we tell you the story.
If you cannot understand it, don’t do it is a good motto being a corporate blogger. An interesting comment I got about c-level blogger via Twitter is from Katherine Galdo:
kaitgaldo @ComMetrics it’s great that firms are open to c-suite bloggers- but this makes them brand reps, so who & how they present themsevles is key
So how they present themselves whilst writing on the corporate blog is a pretty important issue – what you think – please leave a comment below.
Besides this branding issue as Katherine Goldo points out in her tweet to me regarding your CEO blogger, I have outlined some of the mistakes a blogging CEO should definitely avoid to protect her personal brand and your corporate one as well, namely:
- Mistake 1 – expecting users to install program to get full enjoyment
Mistake 2 – expecting to have control over social media:
Mistake 3 – having no clear focus, thereby getting your target audience confused
we explained this here: social media – ropes to skip – c-level blogs – FAQ #1
I also outlined why some CEO bloggers might not be as successful as they want to be or as things look to the less informed outsider, such as investor:
- Mistake 4 – being authentic while forgetting the target audience
Mistake 5 – believing that if the CEO blogs the company is listening and engaging
we explained this here: Warren Buffet – social media – ropes to skip – c-level blogs – FAQ #2
As well, I discussed why measuring and definining success for a CEO blog is not an easy matter and more often than not we seem to be doing it wrong:
- Mistake 6 – measuring success of a CEO blog is easy
Mistake 7 – metrics can be meaningless when it comes to the bottom line
we explained this here: social media – ropes to skip – c-level blogs – FAQ #3
Below I try ot outline two more mistakes we should avoid making when installing a c-level blog or being a c-level blogger ourselves.
h) up-to-date information on the company
In general the above claim is true, except that it depends in the eyes of your readers. So what might be up-to-date information for your investors might not be that interesting to your customers.
Whatever your reasons are to blog, as a CEO blogger the target audience identified should be in alignment with the objectives you have set for yourself. And no, a CEO blogger may not just have goals related to marketing but other areas as well.
Mistake 8 – providing up-to date information that is not relevant to the target audience: A c-level blog or even a corporate blog cannot serve the needs of all possible groups that might read a blog (e.g., tree huggers, activists, financial analysts, retail clients and journalists). Narrow down your focus and do not try to be relevant to all people that might read your blog once in a while. Instead, focus on what you identified as target audience. For us it is current and potential clients of our services and software
So we try to satisfy their needs and it looks like we are not doing too badly 
i) podcasts are worth the effort
I have pointed out before about the mania regarding c-suite types getting excited by having a corporate video on YouTube:
CEO webcasts on YouTube – will it turn them into megalomaniacs?
Besides the YouTube fad, podcasts seem to become another rage for executives. Your CEO might have gotten convinced by the PR folks that a podcast is what is needed. Nevertheless, is your podcast good enough to make it worth my time for downloading and listening to it?
Take an example from Jennifer, who appears to be doing it right in my opinion. In fact, her podcast series about marketing issues is very interesting for experts as well as others like myself. Quite an achievement but a tough act to follow.
jenniferjones New episode for marketing voices, my weekly podcast on the impact of social media on marketing podcast
Mistake 9 – producing a podcast and believing everybody will want to listen to it each week …
Remember, people might be listening to your podcast in vastly different locations? It might be whilst commuting to and from work, preparing dinner at home or sitting at the pool? Will they be able to concentrate on your podcast’s content or be distracted by a few other things such as their kids playing at the pool? Whatever the obstacles, it will take much more of your valuable time to prepare for and tape a podcast than writing a good blog post.
And no, even if you have managed to deliver a ‘good’ podcast, you might still fail to reach your target audience. Get your blog working properly first before starting your podcast adventure.
Bottom Line
Does your company have a CEO or a corporate blog? Why? How do you measure how successful you are as a CEO or c-suite blogger?
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