Spun Digital - Finding customers online

Companies should approach blogs as a customer relationship management tool as much as a website marketing channel, it has been claimed.

Blogs can enable companies to learn things from their customers, according to the vice-president of brand, content and online at Starbucks Chris Bruzzo.

Speaking to the Seattle Post Intelligencer, he explained that a blog can help a company to forge relationships with customers, rather than being constant website promotion.

Mr Bruzzo told the newspaper that a blog can "only go so far" as a marketing tool.

He added: "If you approach it as a customer relationship and as a multi-faceted human connection between Starbucks and customers, then we can have more than a conversation about products.

"It can be a customer-insight channel and we can learn things from them."

Web Worker Daily's Dawn Foster recently warned that search engine optimisation (SEO) can only do so much to boost interest in a company blog.

She explained that unless a website blog has interesting content on it, users are unlikely to stick around in order to bring any SEO benefit.