A new research study by Forrester details the risks, costs and benefits of adding a corporate blog to a company's marketing plan. The study outlines a 3-step process by which marketers can examine the key benefits, costs and risks that blogging presents and also understand how blogging is likely to impact business goals. See MarketingVOX for more details.

Interesting effort. It's important for companies to realize that blogging as a form of doing the same kinds of press release activities is unlikely to pay off much, unless your web infrastructure is primitive and giving front-line employees the ability to update it without asking for IT's help is a big step forward. Note that this isn't just for start-ups - I'm thinking of a few US Senate committees as I'm writing this. Beyond those circumstances, Forrester's model offers a way to begin to get a handle on the payoff - if you can figure out how to get there. One way to start: get a Cluetrain. And don't try to pull the kind of stuff that Microsoft just got caught for - even if, like Microsoft, you have some justification. Learn the applicable culture or hire a guide, just as you would for any out-of territory marketing venture.

Meanwhile, blogging as a form of information sharing within the corporate firewall remains another option with potentially strong ROI. See my 2002 presentation to the Queen's University KBE Centre for Knowledge-Based Enterprises for more thoughts along those lines.