A very straightforward question. Why a CEO must blog?

There are two reasons that made the CEO blogging mandatory from the marketing point of view.

First, a CEO is the best spokesperson of every company

OK, the founder is the best spokesperson of every company, but if the one is not with the company anymore, the CEO is the best spokesperson of the company then.

The exceptions are rare. Michael Jordan is the best spokesperson of Nike, not Phil Knight, but this is another story.

Customers tend to listen, when the General Manager of a company speaks. If the CEO earns good reputation, the entire company wins. If the CEO earns good reputation, the company earns part of its reputation too.

Second, it helps the CEO think about marketing strategy

What if the CEO can’t write?

You can’t write, if you don’t know what to write about.

But if you have a good positioning idea, if you have your brands’ difference and a reason to buy is expressed in good positioning idea, then it is much easier to write.

For example, what Rick Wagoner, the CEO of General Motors must write about? About changes of health care benefits for retirees, closing plants, or reducing engineering costs, because all our vehicles are the same?

But wait. Is this a reason to buy Chevrolet? Or Buick?

And one more issue becomes clearer:

Because Rick Wagoner manages by numbers, he can write only about numbers, not about the reason to buy his product. OK, he can mumble something about the “value for money”, discount initiatives, or any another loser’s stuff, but not about really good reason to buy.

His passion is numbers, not marketing and strategy. Obviously he can’t be a good CEO, because…

Because he can’t write a blog focusing on the real reasons why one should buy a car from General Motors. A reason to buy one or another brand is the core of marketing strategy. Did General Motors have a good marketing strategy? In one word, no.

If General Motors had good marketing strategy it would have been easy for the CEO Rick Wagoner to write blog posts about the reasons to buy one or another brand. Not about sales initiatives and promotions, but about the brands’ difference from Toyota or other competitors, about why this difference is right for you, about the companys’ belief and passion in maintaining this difference.

It is sad, but this can’t happen. Rick Wagoner can’t blog, because he doesn’t have good marketing strategy.

If he wants to start his personal business blog, he must think about Marketing Strategy of General Motors.

And he must start his personal business blog about GM. Because this will force him to think about the Marketing Strategy of General Motors.

So, why a CEO must blog?

Because blogging helps him to think about the marketing strategy and because blogging helps the company to sell more and to earn more. And this is the goal of every CEO.

Tags: CEO blogging, best spokesperson, marketing strategy, Rick Wagoner, General Motors, business blog