How Delta does blogging right.

If you and your company are thinking of starting a business blog, definitely take a good look at what Delta Airlines is doing with their corporate blog (http://blog.delta.com). They really “get” it.

Why is the Delta Airlines blog a great example of a corporate blog?

There are several reasons, but here are a few of the more vital ones:

• Useful and appealing. Take a look at the categories on Delta’s blog…there blog posts cover the gamut from airport information to customer service to flight attendant stories to Wi-Fi availability. There is something on this blog for everyone that does business with Delta – flyers, vendors, shareholders, etc. Posting on a variety of topics – all of which are pertinent to Delta’s business – ensures repeat traffic.
• Conversational Tone. Almost every post on blog.delta.com is easy to read and understand, written in a conversational tone, and most posts are short, to the point, yet interesting.
• Obvious “open” communication. Most posts on the Delta blog conclude with a request for feedback. And many of the posts have multiple comments. Comments are one of the best ways to see how effective your blog is, who’s reading it, and what sort of information they want to see more of.
• Blogger variety and transparency. There are multiple bloggers here, including marketing people, product managers, Delta museum archivists, fleet managers, operations people, and flight attendants. When each of these bloggers post, readers can click on their names and get a full profile of exactly who they are.
• Visuals. Pictures and graphics makes blogs more visually interesting. Nearly every Delta blog post includes some kind of visual.

Possible weaknesses of Delta’s blog:

• Frequency. Delta bloggers post an average of one blog post per week. That is on the low end of most popular blogs, and experts recommend a minimum of two posts per week. That is the only weakness I’ve seen so far.
• Incomplete blogger profiles and fictitious blogger. I already gave Delta props for transparency and having profiles for their bloggers. But I did notice some blogger profiles that were incomplete. If you’re serious about transparency and you go to the effort of including clickable blogger profiles, they should all be filled out completely. Also, Delta has a “blogger” named Wanda Lust. Yeah, I get it, but “Wanda” isn’t a person, so there is a conflict with the transparency Delta is so good at 99% of the time.

All in all, I really like this blog! Delta seems to understand what their audience wants to know about. Their posts are well categorized and organized. The site is easy to use. Comments are easy to make and are actually read by the Delta bloggers, so there is a real feel of open communication here – the whole point of a blog.

For those who know the history of Delta the Airline, it may be surprising to find such a well done Delta the Blog. But this blog is just one of the ways Delta is improving their customer service reputation. This blog is a complement to a user-friendly booking web site, as well as to their online and phone customer service.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Delta frequent flyer. The fact that Delta is doing customer service so much better than in the past is a big reason I fly them. But they also go where I want to go, when I want to go there. But I do like their blog and I’m happy they are using the web so effectively to promote their business and let their customers know that they are listening.

Take a look at Delta’s blog and let me know your thoughts. Or, send me your favorite corporate blogs and I may spotlight them here.