Blog, Marketer, and Democratic Marketing

In the process of developing a closer relationship with customers, some companies should provide some interactive channels. Could be imagined if a big company have no this media. There will be a gap between company and customers. Now, there are some interactive media such as public relation, call center, customer service and so forth.

But, one of contemporary media which is used rarely by some companies is blog. Blog which its emergence became a marker of the birth of citizen journalism has changed the pattern of people communication. With this medium every people can be a reporter. When the bomb exploded in London in 2005, some personal blogs reported the accident faster than conventional media like newspaper or television. This phenomenon has proved how powerful and revolutionary the blog’s effect.

Up to now blog has improved fast. Based on the report of blog searcher Technocrati, there are about 63,2 million blogs in the online world. Even there are 175 thousands new blog everyday with 1,6 million number of postings. It has proved that many people involved in this new media.

A Blog is different with a website. Blog is more interactive. In the certain case blogs have changed the mode of people relations. Include the way of doing business. We know internet has changed the word. Time and space has been compressed. There is no distance between time and space as in the previous period (Giddens, 2001). The revolution of communication carries the present. Blog also has the same character. In the business area blog has a role to keep relation between company and its customer continually. The advantage of blogs is that posts and comments are easy to reach and follow due to centralized hosting and generally structured conversation threads (see Wikipedia).

Some local companies have accessed blogs. It is called a corporate blog. For example Koran Tempo, a national newspaper in Indonesia. As a big company which runs business based on information industry Koran Tempo considers blog as a progressive and effective media of interaction and communication. Blog acts as a bridge for editorial staff and their readers. Meanwhile the traditional website is positioned as chamber of digital archives. Blog is positioned as a room of conversation. Website tends to be one way, top down, formal, rigid, and not communicative. In this blog, readers of Koran Tempo can contribute to give direct input, opinion, impression or even complain. The editorial staff can be immediately responsive. This condition is not found in the printed edition.

The corporate blog can be divided into two categories, internal blog and external blog. A internal blog generally accessed through the company’s intranet. Many blogs are also communal and allowing anyone to post to them. That blog may encourage employee participation, a sense of community, free discussion of issues, direct communication between various layers of an organization, and collective intellegence.
The external blog becomes media where company employees, teams, or spokespersons share their views. It is often used to announce new products and customer services. This blog has function to explain and clarify policies or to react on public criticism on certain issues. The marketing communication division can use it as media for press releases.

The other local companies which have blogs are Maverick, Virus Communication, and Virtual Consulting. This blog can be managed by team of marketing or public relation. Some company has found benefits of blogs. Even can jack up sales or production as which been experienced by Virtual Consulting (Koran Tempo 29/02/08).

Some international big companies also use this beneficial media. Such as Microsoft, Cisco, Kodak, Delta Airways, Google, Boeing, Ford, IBM, or Sun Microsystem.
There is one factor that influenced companies unwilling using blog. Because of the openness character of this blog, some companies are afraid of any public comments. They are worried the blog become a counterproductive media to their company. Even the complains posted on blog can be read every people all over the world.
Can not be denied that modernity offers the openness.

So, in my opinion companies be not afraid for using blogs. On the contrary the fear can be a marker of disorderliness in their products or services. Complains must be treated as special gift. And yet complains will be responded by other readers who have not same opinion. This condition can be a chance for marketers to prove their professionalism.

One more benefit of blog! Companies use it as a tool for making community of their product lovers. For example Kecap Bango, national soy bean produced by PT Unilever Indonesia. Through this blog, spokespersons of Kecap Bango can share some information to their customer. Even customers can communicate each other. Not rarely they can held a direct meeting. This moment must be used by marketer as a beneficial moment. Blogs also can be effective tools for doing word of mouth strategy.

Actually, blogs can be used as means to do democratic marketing. I use this term intentionally to illustrate how marketing can do democracy that every customers, consumers, or other stakeholders have vote to decide product’s existence. A company should concern on people as the main stakeholder. [Sigit Kurniawan]