What Third Generation Blogging Means to You

A Compendium Whitepaper

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The secret to business success is really no secret at all

—

your customers have aproblem, and you must be able to solve it. And i

f you’re the most trusted, thorough,

and

easily accessible solution to whatever problem your customers face, chances are you’ll

earn their business.So, how exactly does corporate blogging fit into that equation?

Blogging: A Brief History

Before discussing the merits of Third Generation

blogging, it’s important to

understand what Third Generation blogging actually is

—and what it’s not.

Blogging has been around for nearly a decade, with the First Generationof blogging being

“journalistic” in nature. The

se bloggers had opinions to share andstories to tell, and the blogosphere opened up a new platform for them. Most of thesebloggers fit into a niche

—

for example, they were political activists, they understood aspecific gadget, or

they were “Mom” bloggers. Their readers knew where and how

tofind them and were genuinely interested in hearing the stories that only a select fewwere telling. Returning readers and subscribers were the primary objectives, andmonetization was a distant afterthought.These early adopters paved the way for the next generation of bloggers who alsowanted to share their views and commentaries online, this time in a corporate setting.However, content contribution was still only available to a select group of people,

mainly CEO’s and “thought leaders” who were atte

mpting to gain market credibility forthemselves or the products they represented by building a community around theirideas. While Second G

eneration bloggers aimed to be “transparent,” the

commonconsensus was that these bloggers spent a great deal of time pontificating, but addedno real value to their readers or the organizations they represented.Finally, Third Generation blogging has achieved what the other generations didnot: humanization and monetization. Rather than electing a select group of thoughtleaders to share their views, one of the key aspects of Third Generation blogging iswidespread content contribution. It makes sense: employees understand your

customers best, know the most effective solutions to your customers’ problems, and

can promote your business with the most credibility. Allowing several different voices toshare information and connect with blog visitors means humanization. And while thehumanization of marketing efforts seems basic

–

of course people want to buy from

people “like them” –

it is also what leads to monetization. Just as you measure yourwebsite initiatives and other marketing tactics in terms of leads and revenue generated,Third Generation business blogging can be measured the same way.

Climbing the “Slope of Enlightenment”

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To better illustrate the current state of corporate blogging (in relation to other

emerging technologies), Gartner Research published the “Gartner Hype Cycle of Emerging Technologies 2009.” (See Figure 1.) According to Gartner’s proven syst

em forpredicting success, if a new technology has any promise at all, it quickly receives a great

deal of hype and rides the “Peak of Inflated Expectations.” Once the initial buzz is over,the technology slides down into the “Trough of Disillusionment.” T

he true test of a

technology’s success is whether or not it can make its way out of the “Trough of Disillusionment” and work its way up the more stable “Slope of Enlightenment.” When

users fully understand the benefit of the technology

—

and the resulting return oninvestment (ROI)

—that technology begins its ascent up the “Slope of Enlightenment,”

thus resulting in rapid, widespread, and continued adoption.

Figure 1:2009 Gartner Hype Cycle of Emerging Technologies

The “Benefit to the Enterprise”

While a technology is scaling the “Slope of Enlightenment,” increased business

enhancements associated with that technology are identified and become more

commonly understood. Thus, the “Benefit to the Enterprise” develops. Once this

happens, second‐ and third‐generation products appear from technology providers, andincreased funding is funneled to programs.The First and Second G

enerations of blogging didn’t offer any enterprise