Karen Wickre is the Senior Manager of Global Communications & Public Affairs at Google. She has been instrumental in developing Google’s blogs. She is also a presenter at WOMMA’s Talkable Brands Exchange, Oct. 7 in NYC.
When I was researching for this interview, I was impressed with how many Google blogs there actually are. Do you have an actual number on how many blogs Google is currently publishing?
We do have a count. It’s about 150, it might be 148 or 152 - something in that range. We have a published directory in our press center.
The reason there are so many is that a lot of different product teams and initiatives wanted their own blogs. For example, more than 20 are developer specific. So they often have a very defined audience. Also nearly half of the blogs are in languages other than English because we have services available all around the world.
It may seem like a large number, but once you break them down the topics and languages, it begins to make sense.
What would you say normally sparks the decision to start another blog? Is it, as you mentioned, the developers or is it in reaction to getting questions from the community about a specific subject?
We have a bit of a process where there is an internal site to the tune of “So you want to start a blog.” It’s the same procedure for starting a Twitter account or Facebook page too. The thinking behind all of it is - You may have perfectly good reasons for starting a Google blog, but is this truly about a product, service or initiative that a few people are willing to handle over time?
These are meant to be about company related things, so they shouldn’t be up to one person to do because they are excited about having a blog for a few months. We try to impress upon people that it’s an ongoing obligation. So, the team says, “Yes, this is a new and distinct area, such as Android technology. We have a need to have a blog to cover all the related Google products.” They can make their case in the Q&A form from the internal blog starting site, which gets sent to a few of us who manage the process.
We make sure that the relevant PR person has signed off on the idea and will work with them to review posts or suggest post topics. Then we build a template that is branded propers and has the Google identification so that it’s clear that it is official from us. And then, off they go. We informally check in with them to make sure they are posting regularly and so on.
It sounds like you have this process pretty well down. For other brands looking to start a blog of any nature, are there any key lessons that you have learned that they should know?
Probably more than I can explain in this interview. If there was one key lesson, it would be that it’s a matter of keep on all parts. And I think I find the main advice I would give to people is - Think of a blog more like a newsletter and less like a wire service.
The tent for your topics is probably broader than your original thinking. And it should be. It’s a place where people come and read about your company, your initiatives or some mix of things. So be prepared to think broadly about the kinds of posts you can write.
Sometimes people say, “We don’t have that much news about our product.” Well, it’s not just about news and announcements. It’s about how people use it, best practices, little known features, profiles of people on the team, under the hood looks. It could be all kinds of things within the focus. Encourage the people writing the blog to think more broadly about the content. All of it can reflect the company, the business and the people behind the business. Don’t think of it just as a machine gun shooting out the latest announcement.
What are you hoping the attendees of the Talkable Brands Exchange will take away from your presentation?
I hope they will think about content more broadly, more liberally. Also that blogging and tweeting are very parralel processes and opperate pretty similarly.
The main thing is just to think about this ongoing stream of content and to make it as informative and appealing consistantly even if it’s not super frequent to your readers. And also to engage with questions and comments while figuring out how much direct engagement works best.
You are speaking to people directly and there has not another easy way to do that until these tools came along.
————————–
WOMMA’s Talkable Brand Exchange
When: October 7, 2010
Where: American Express HQ, New York, NY
Time: Half Day Event From 8 a.m. - Noon
Register today: http://wommabrandexchange.eventbrite.com/
Price: $149 - $249
As a leading brand in the WOM industry, DuPont knows the importance of attending conferences like the Talkable Brands Exchange to stay relevant, hear what other brands are doing, and stay connected with thought leaders whose companies have similar goals to mine. WOMMA’s Talkable Brands Exchange is a must-attend event. Plus it’s only 1/2 a day so I can be back in the office and applying what I’ve learned and sharing with my team immediately.
-Gary Spangler, eMarketing, DuPont
