There are two automatic responses to the subject of implementing a company blog:

1. We’re understaffed as it is and we can’t spare anyone to blog

2. We can’t allow negative comments about our company on our own website.

We’ll cover #1 in a later post, but let’s skip #1 for now and move on to #2.

Comment moderation is a conversation you need to have when discussing strategy. And if you need to have a conversation with an executive level someone who doesn’t automatically see the value of blogging, much less blog comments, we’ve got your back. Feel free to use our blog posts for internal discussions on how to approach and advance your company’s online marketing strategies.

Let’s look quickly at a couple objections to blog comments:

“Visitors will say all sorts of negative things about our company and products/services, not to mention heckling our other commenters.”

Here are just a few responses to that ideology:

1. If negative things are already being said, they’re happening somewhere you can’t control, AND they’re damaging your reputation.
No brand is perfect. No one expects otherwise, except possibly the executive staff. Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Digg, forums, message boards, emails, IMs , or plain-old face to face, someone somewhere is probably complaining about your company. Let’s be real. It’s a matter of percentages. The question is whether you will be a company to allow customers to voice their thoughts, opinions, and suggestions or not.

By allowing comments, a disgruntled customer can share their complaints to the company and feel like they have a voice. By taking each comment seriously and attempting to meet each person’s needs, you earn a reputation of excellence. Having a good product is one thing. Making people feel important makes you a winner. Side benefits include publicly answering questions and complaints for all future visitors to read. You establish a permanent record of leading customer relationship management.

The technology is already here to meet and care for your customers. Whether you choose to use this technology for their benefit will say something about you and will create one manner of contrast or another between you and your competitors.

2. Just because visitors type a comment, doesn’t mean you have to allow it as-is.
Comment moderation is the greatest thing ever. It allows your Community Manager to really feel the pulse of your target audience. He or she has the power to edit comments to remove obscenities without deleting the entire comment. This way, you can bleep out unwanted words and still allow your visitor to have a voice for his/her opinion. And posting negative comments, as already mentioned, really allows you a chance to shine by either setting the record straight or accepting the criticism and going the extra mile to win that customer back.

Sometimes we the public get emotional and comment without using our mental editor. Your Community Manager has the power to recognize a valid point and the ability to remove any racially/sexually/emotionally derogatory verbage. Not only are you sparing the eyes of your other readers by editing the comment, you are also preserving the complaining customer’s reputation. People look foolish when they lose control, after all. By sparing them the embarrassment of public humiliation, still publishing the legitimate part of the comment, and responding with sincere kindness, you may just convert a few naysayers into evangelists.

3. In today’s 2.0 culture, a company that doesn’t allow comments portrays the image of untouchable superiority.
Let’s face it. You don’t like it, but your competitors WILL eventually adopt the latest technologies. You can either be at the front or the tail. Whoever brings up the tail will likely be noticed. Thought leaders have bragging rights. They can point to what they do that others don’t. “Brand X doesn’t allow comments on their website. Makes you wonder what THEY’RE afraid of people saying.”

I scan hundreds of blog posts every week. I will tell you this: If I notice that a blog doesn’t allow comments, I won’t read it. I automatically have a bad taste in my mouth. They want all the attention and the glory and they don’t care about me. So be it. But they won’t keep me as a reader. With evolving technology, sometimes you have to adapt to avoid being mislabeled.

Here’s the problem. Most executives are established, meaning they’ve been around a while. That means they’re most comfortable with traditional marketing and PR. With traditional marketing/PR, you broadcast out to the masses, and you hope your message was the right fit for the right time.

NOW YOU KNOW FOR SURE. You read commments. You get feedback. This is not a bad thing. Information is power. Rather than polling a community to find out what people think, ASK THEM! Let them tell you.

Yes, you will have to make some decisions about which comments to allow and which not. The real question here is: are you afraid that your company really isn’t that great? That’s what your readers will think if you don’t allow them a voice. Why else wouldn’t you let them speak? You must have problems you know you can’t answer and thus you are hiding from the truth. It doesn’t matter if it’s true. It’s perception.

By allowing comments, you tell your audience that you are transparent, willing to discuss anything that concerns them. It automatically instills a sense of brand confidence. You thank commentors for highlighting blindspots, and you save money for not having to pay a QA consulting firm to find where your company is weakest. Your customers will let you know!

That’s enough from me. What do YOU think about allowing comments on a company website? Perhaps you have a perspective I’ve missed. I’d love to hear it.

Daniel Dessinger
He who Optimizes, Strategizes, Blogs, and Socializes
MarketNet.com

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