You might think that large corporations wouldn’t be nimble enough to embrace new marketing approaches quickly. You might be wrong. Look at GM.

Ever since blogs first emerged in the late 1990’s, much has changed. Mark Zuckerberg enrolled at Harvard, for one thing. His Facebook creation and other, newer social media sites have overshadowed blogs.

But business blogs continue to be born every day. In fact, VerticalResponse reports that 55 percent of small businesses have launched them.

And you’d be surprised at who’s jumped into the fray big time.

Fortune 500 Blogs? Who Knew?

Research from the Charlton College of Business Center for Marketing Research (UMass, Dartmouth) uncovered some startling information about how Fortune 500 companies are using social media. Not only have America’s leading companies embraced all aspects of social media at an increasing pace, but the number of Fortune 500 companies with active blogs has grown from 16 percent in 2008 to 28 percent in 2012.

And many of them are doing very good work. Granted, these business giants have generous social media budgets and unlimited resources, but your smaller company can learn from their efforts.

General Motors Gets It

Google, “General Motors blog” and you’ll come to the GM Social Hub page on the corporate site. Guess what? Blogs dominate the link list. GM uses Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube, but the volume of blogs demonstrates just how seriously GM – number 5 on the Fortune 500 — takes these tools.

Consolidating your social media links on one page, like GM does here, is a great idea, though you’ll undoubtedly want individual links placed in context around your site. This approach also calls attention to the company’s blogs, which might otherwise sit in the corner unnoticed.

A Veritable Smorgasbord of Content

What does GM blog about? Here’s a sampling.

• Company news – GM Fastlane posts news about GM itself, featuring new product articles and human interest content. The “Fan Photo of the Week” shines the spotlight on visitors. btw features guest articles by GM employees on a variety of topics.
• People news – Faces of GM shows GM interacting with the community, profiles company leaders and focuses on GM’s community outreach.
• Upcoming plans – GM BeyondNow blogs about GM’s future products, plans and research projects.
• New technology – Voltage is a tips-and-info blog for Chevy Volt owners. The Future is Electric helps build buzz for GM’s EV and hybrid vehicles.
• General consumer issues – Four regional blogs, like Driving the Heartland, offer local flavor through travel and car tips, seasonal features, photo contests and other articles.

Getting Schooled By the Old School

So when your content well is running dry, take a look at how major corporations are using blogs to build their brands, engage customers and attract new business. They may not have the agility of small businesses like yours — the ability to react quickly to new technologies and trends — but they’re rich resources for ideas.