Blogs: Successful with Business Travelers

In a recent article in the New York Times, the popularity of business travel blogs is revealed. Some of the travel companies that have their own blogs are: Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Marriott International, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines. According to Jane Levere of the New York Times, these corporations have introduced blogs to promote both products and brand images.

Research has shown that 21% of all business travelers read blogs on the internet. This includes business blogs and others including finance, sports and others. These new blogs geared towards the business traveler provide many uses, from where to flu shots in airports to the best places to eat in a new city.

The overall theme of each blog started was that it allowed each company to connect with its customers.

One of the most popular blogs is written by J.W. Marriott JU, who is the chairman of Marriott International. He has a blog called “Marriott on the Move.” His blog has gotten 345,000 since it launched. He commented:

“I love it. I read an awful lot of responses we’re getting,” he said. “It gives us a chance to communicate with the world and a chance for people to communicate back.”

At Southwest, after starting their blog, they changed company policy about when customers could purchase their tickets. These blogs not only allow for readers to gain insight to what’s going on in the company, but also to allow the employees of the company to communicate. On many of these blogs listed above, the employees are the people who post. This allows them to share open communication as a team, and find out what the rest of their company is doing aside from their department. This level of communication allows companies to expand and grow as more collaboration takes place, both between the employees themselves and a business to customer perspective.

How has your corporate blog help expand your use of Enterprise 2.0? Does allowing customers to make comments on your current projects help your business expand?