Recently, USA Today published an article revealing that more and more companies are abandoning their blogs in favor of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks. According to their statistics, the percentage of companies that maintain blogs went from 50% in 2010 to just 37% in 2011.
Furthermore, only 23% of Fortune 500 companies maintained a blog in 2011. Instead of blogging, these companies are focusing their efforts on Facebook and other social networks.
But why? A number of reasons are given, including:
- It takes more time and effort to blog.
- There are risks with blogging—liability issues, defamation, etc.
- Everyone is on Facebook, Twitter, etc. so it makes sense to be where the customers are.
Why You Need to Keep Your Blog
While I understand the temptation to ditch your blog for Facebook (and Twitter, Google+, etc.), I strongly advise against it. Why?
1) There’s value in long-form content —
How can you expect to establish yourself as a thought leader and a credible industry expert when you’re only posting short updates that are a few sentences long? That’s not the type of content that builds credibility on its own, and it’s not the type of content that has lasting value.
Status updates are fleeting. They get lost in the conversation within minutes.
There is value in the long-form content you can create on your blog. It lets you demonstrate your expertise and gives you more room to spread your messages. Furthermore, blog posts stand the test of time far better than status updates. People reference blog posts for years; status updates…not so much.
2) Social networks are filled with noise —
When you rely solely on Facebook or any other social network for communicating with your audience, you’re in for a huge battle to get their attention. There is so much noise that you have to cut through in order to make your posts stand out.
Think about the way you browse Facebook. How many posts really capture your attention? Probably not all that many.
3) Social networking done right also takes time and effort —
The idea that social media doesn’t require much work is ridiculous and shows a lack of understanding of how complex social media marketing really is. Building an engaged audience, creating quality content, and getting measurable results from Facebook (and other social networks) takes careful planning and a heck of a lot of time and energy.
If you think ditching your blog will make your life much easier,
you’re mistaken or you’re doing it wrong.
4) Your blog is a hub you own —
When you don’t have a blog, you don’t really have a hub to funnel your audience into. Your online presence becomes scattered, making it difficult for you to convert visitors into leads and sales.
Furthermore, you don’t really own the content that you’re posting on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. It’s not your hub; it’s on a third-party site that you don’t really have much control over.
What do you think?
Should companies be ditching their blogs for Facebook?
Why or why not? Share your thoughts by commenting below.