As someone who writes a company blog, I was pleased to see this excellent advice from Marshall Kirkpatrick on ReadWriteWeb in his post: How to Comment About Your Company on Blog Posts, Without Being Spammy. ReadWriteWeb often writes about new technology and gets many comments so the post draws from their experience and reactions and speaks to those who might comment on their blog. I think their advice generalizes well to any one who comments on technology, whether it is through a blog comment. Michael also offered the interesting statistic that less than one in a thousand who reads a post leaves a comment.
ReadWriteWeb welcomes five types of comments from company representatives: updates on new product developments, clarifications on your product or market position, articulation on product differentiation, kind words about the other companies, and comments that add humor or insider insights. Michael adds concrete examples in his post for each comment type. He adds that these comments work when they are delivered in humble manner and writes they are most effective when, “gently engaged with competitors and focused on adding value to the discussion of the whole sector.” You are also advised to be transparent about yourself and your interests.
This makes sense and is excellent advice. ReadWriteWeb welcomes comments since they want to known as a source for discussion on social media. As they write, much of their advice to blog commenters is common sense. I would add one more suggestion. I think the same rules for conversations in-person meetings apply to social media. Treat conversations on the web like those at events. For most situations, the conversation has already started, the group has already gathered. You need to understand what is being said before you enter the dialogue and then add value.
I also think Michael’s advice applies to those who write company blogs, not simply to the making of comments. Your blog is like a comment to the larger blogosphere. While I do not think your are limited to the five types of comments when you write your company blog, I do think the sprit of humility, transparency, and the attempt to add value to the conversation as a whole still applies to your efforts. I always invite your comments here.
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