When laying out a blog strategy, companies should handle comments with care. Blogs are informal, conversational social networks--unfamiliar marketing territory for a lot of organizations. Usually, concern about comments centers on negative comments and legal issues. While there are no cut-and-dry answers, consider these points as you look for an approach that is right for you.
1. Allowing all comments without review is the most freewheeling policy. For obvious reasons, this option is not often used for business blogs, unless the aim is to shock or provoke controversy.
2. Allowing comments with moderation is a sound middle ground. By moderating comments, you can edit out inappropriate text or remove it entirely. The company can elect to review comments before or after they are made public. The tradeoff here is speed versus discretion. The faster a visitor sees her post, the better she will like it--slow publication of comments tends to irritate visitors. If you have the ability to review comments quickly, publishing comments after review will work fine.
3. Not allowing comments is the most conservative approach. Since many blog surfers highly value the conversational quality of blogging, a no-comment policy may make it quite difficult to build an audience. On the other hand, lots of people neither leave comments nor particularly care to read them. Established blogs have more flexiblity with commenting. Marketing guru Seth Godin does not allow comments, but it has not seemed to diminish his popularity.
4. Look at your platform. Some blog platforms, such as MovableType, allow you to change comment settings for each post. Others, such as Blogger, set comment rules globally. Selectively allowing comments may be an appealing option.
5. Look at your objectives. Seems like the obvious--but how often do we overlook it? If your blog is meant to assist in a new product launch, customer feedback is critical. But, if your blog serves as an informational resource with links to major industry sites, comments may not be important at all.
6. Make sure your legal team is in the loop. Internet law is evolving--to determine what kind of commenting (and posting, for that matter) might put a company at risk, consult the experts. A key to successful blogging is being able to balance legal considerations with genuine and open communication. It is being done all the time--but it takes work!
7. Finally, don't be afraid to experiment. Comment settings and internal policies can--and should--be changed as circumstances dictate. The better you know your audience, the easier it will be to find the right approach.
