Blogging for the digital forensics business

Only a pawn... At Techno Security a few weeks ago, I had the occasion to talk to a couple of marketers with a forensic software firm. We talked about their content plans, and I was impressed enough to ask: if they were tweeting, why weren’t they blogging?

Answer: they want to. But they also wanted to make sure they got it right. The right people needed to be blogging, and they needed to be able to devote time to it.

This reply mirrored what I have heard from other marketing and PR professionals since social media caught on in the general business community (about 18 months ago), and the issues are more complicated than many suspect:

Who will do the blogging?

For a software firm or forensic team, “marketing” may not be the best answer. Marketing should certainly monitor social, and measure the results of social campaigns. But blogging is not Twitter or Facebook, where status updates often rely on company and industry news. Blogging is far more in-depth, and requires solid knowledge of the issues if it is to promote the business. Some marketers may well be able to fill this role, but can they do as well as software engineers, the C-suite, or the people performing the exams?

When will they blog?

Everyone – marketers, C-suite, engineers – is busy. Blogging takes time and energy; it’s not just a matter of throwing press releases up there and calling it good. It’s meant to show clients and prospects what your business is made of. You have to make the time to think, to interpret and analyze.

How will they blog?

Just because a person knows the issues and has the time doesn’t mean they have the right voice. An overly academic, technical, pedantic or even casual tone and word usage will probably not work to attract the customers you want.

Many forensic firms do have blogs, and many of those are very good. I suspect it’s easier for examiners to blog than it is for a software firm; examiners like to be able to help one another, and while software developers do too, the information they hold is much more proprietary. Of those who do blog, I’ve found, their information focuses on techniques for examiners.

All of this, of course, comes back to why your firm has a blog. What aspect of your business are you looking to advance?

Do you want to be known as a “thought leader” on forensic tools and techniques and legal issues?
Are you a software engineer who is looking to “crowdsource” the forensic community in order to make your tools better?
Are you a private investigator trying to educate the public, or a trainer trying to educate your audience?
Or does your firm incorporate a little of all of these, and more?

The goal, or goals, comes first. Then the plan, including the people, to execute, including how to tell whether the plan is working. If the people aren’t there, then they aren’t. It’s OK. Focus on other social components of a marketing plan, including Twitter, LinkedIn groups, or any other social site where you can easily connect with your customers.