We ended up having a good laugh over the idea that people would go online just to talk about their day, or their hobby, or their political gripes, and expect that anyone out there would care what they had to say. Let alone that such an activity was so important it deserved its own neologism.
It sounds like “bog,” and that can be an appropriate image. Especially in the early days, blogs could often be sticky, messy places where authors and commenters would toss petty squabbles, conspiracy theories, personal insults and fruit salad recipes — then visualize their words rising to the top of the mire, charming as Botticelli’s Venus.
Despite the unruliness of the form — or maybe because of it — blogging took off in a big way. Naturally enough, businesses soon took notice.
To make blogging an effective marketing tool, businesses turned it into a highly managed and orchestrated activity. So-called “best practices” took the place of individuality. Editorial calendars replaced the “what’s on my mind today” approach to topic selection. Word counts and SEO strictures were imposed. Multi-level review cycles cleaned up any trace of bloggy muck.
Vanity gave way to “content,” emerging from committees, developed by copywriters, approved by gatekeepers and measured by click rates. And you know what? There’s a lot to be said for that approach: When “blogginess” is replaced by professionalism, messaging is more likely to be on-target and qualified business leads are more likely to be reading. That’s what we do for our clients, and we’re proud of the results.
We’re also bringing some of the same approach to the Symmetri Blog – because, after all, we’re a business and we hope our blog helps generate business results. But that’s not all. Here’s what makes a Symmetri Blog different from an ordinary personal or business blog. There’s no committee. It’s not just copywriters. And although there has to be some gatekeeping, we’re pretty loose with the keys. This might be the only company blog you ever read where everyone in the agency participates, everyone has an equal voice, and everyone has something to say that’s uniquely their own. That means you won’t find bland conventional wisdom here, any more than you’ll find illiterate lunatic ravings. You’ll find a way into the minds of smart, impassioned people who care about every aspect of marketing — art and copy, social and digital, clients and their customers — and who have strong opinions about how to make a difference.
A Symmetri Blog is the best of both personal and corporate blogging: Opinion without ignorance, expertise without platitudes. It’s not easy to be both authoritative and provocative, but that’s our challenge, and everyone at Symmetri is taking it on. Nobody goes out of their way to read a blog hoping to find conventional wisdom, reheated. We hope you’ll visit often for a fresh serving of new perspectives and personality from every amazing individual who helps make the Symmetri magic happen.
