The Power of Blog Marketing for Corporations
A blog can be a great boon for a company. The output of regular written content helps to improve Google results, not only in ranking, but in visits. The added web presence also provides another, rather powerful, means of interacting with current and potential customers or clients. However, the act of the writing a blog can seem intimidating, leaving you wondering what you are going to say. To that end, we’ve polled a variety of social media experts and come up with both suggestions on how to make your blog most effective, and prompts for just what to put on your blog. Keep this in mind when considering your company’s content strategy. We would love to help if you need assistance with strategy or writing your company blog.
Three Keys to Blogging:
- Keep your blog as informal as possible. The logic behind this is that your blog is there to facilitate conversation, and keeping things informal helps with that. One suggestion by a national media marketing expert was to write as if you are having a conversation, as if you were speaking out loud or on the radio, rather than writing in a traditional print style.
- Allow for user comments. You can turn comments off, allow comments but moderate them (so you check the comments before they are posted to the blog’s comments section) or allow all comments. Letting readers post comments is an excellent way of getting feedback and it facilitates a two-way conversation with your readers.
- Write frequently. Even if you are just making small updates, frequency is the key.
So, what to write about? Well, remember that this is a company blog, so you’ve already got part of your topics figured out.
Cover the News
Whether the news is coming from your company, or someone else’s, providing industry news on your blog allows you to not only inform you readers, but also display thought leadership as you provide opinions on industry happenings.
If you’re issuing an official press release about an upcoming event, it’s a good idea to blog a more conversational version of that same press release, turning a one-way announcement into a conversation with those it most affects.
Are you getting ready to offer a new product, did you hire a new employee, is there a company expansion in the future, or did something interesting happen? Not every event is worth a press release but often these smaller events are perfect for the blog. What about industry conferences or seminars?
Also note, much like in polite company, it’s best to avoid blogging about politics and religion, whenever possible.
Examples:
- Press Release: http://www.allenandallen.com/news/allen-and-allen-attorneys-listed-in-2017-best-lawyers-in-americ.html
- Company Event: http://events.fastcompany.com/fcgrill/
- Company News:https://blog.etsy.com/news/2017/big-news-from-etsy-a-new-home-for-craft-supplies-and-new-support-for-sellers/
Questions and answers
Posing an actual question, one that isn’t rhetorical, is a great way to get your readers to interact. And readers that interact are readers that return. The questions that you ask can range from industry specific to the mundane to the personal. Want to strike up a conversation? Try asking your readers if they plan to watch any movies this weekend. Even if it’s not industry-relevant, it is personable, and it lets your readers know that you’re human.
Answering questions is actually second to asking them. However, when a question needs to be answered, the blog is as good a place as any to do it. Have a frequently asked question that your customer service reps get on a regular basis? Want to give it a better response than the two lines devoted on the FAQ? Knock it out here. Have an interesting or odd question that was asked recently? Answer it and open it up for discussion in the blog.
Examples:
- Q&A: http://www.inaray.com/news/inaray-advantage-interview/
- Personal:
- http://theherbexchange.com/native-plants-is-your-yard-full-of-aliens/
- http://www.cookandwiley.com/2016/04/21/why-i-love-gregg-shorthand/
- FAQs: https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2017/01/election-hack-faq/ (You can find out more helpful information about WordPress security thanks to this helpful guide on BestVPN.com.)
Spread the knowledge
A company blog has a very strong benefit that many individual blogs never quite achieve – that of inherent expertise. Being a professional in your industry means that you have an intimate and expert-level knowledge of the topic; leverage that position by sharing some of your knowledge.
You needn’t post new information either. If your website already has a wealth of information on it, you can use your blog to link to that information. A blog post of teaser copy that introduces the older content on your website with a helpful link to the page will drive readers to parts of your website they may not have visited otherwise.
Blog about products on your site or the services you offer. Your blog should be used to market your offerings, but remember that it should be as small percentage of your writing. Too much marketing and you will lose readers. But when you do blog about a product, be sure to link to that product.
Examples:
- Product Information: https://www.leatherhoney.com/leather-cleaner-leather-shoes-boots/
- Specials: http://tnstateparks.com/blog/valentines-specials-2017
- Product Teaser: https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/raspberry-pi-zero-w-joins-family/
Love thy customer
Case studies are an effective way to show how your company’s products or services work in a real-life situation. And letting your customer speak for themselves on your blog can be even better. Invite your customers and clients to write about their business on your blog. Customers can send you referrals and testimonials which you can post for them. Also, bragging about a customer/client, is a good way to get attention from that customer. However, this is a fine area in which to tread, as it can lead to potential client poaching or perceptions of favor.
Examples:
- Request for Customers: http://www.mogulus.com/blog/?p=785
- Testimonial: http://whiteglovecarpet.com/reviews/
- Case Study: https://www.bigoakinc.com/our-results/big-brand-retailer-doubles-organic-traffic/
Embrace Multimedia
Videos, photos, and podcasts. While they might not be good for search engines, they make a better blogging experience for your readers and break up the visual bleakness that can come from lengthy written posts. Pictures and video prevent blog posts from all looking the same. Remember, you’re going for readers; the search engine is simply a means to an end. You don’t have to show videos you have created. You can place videos from other sources but try to stay away from competitor videos. Youtube.com is a great source for videos and flickr.com has thousands of pictures to choose from to accent your blog. Adding your own product images to a blog post should strongly be considered, especially when bragging about superior features of your products.
Examples:
- Video Post: http://www.entecva.com/how-to-sync-a-sharepoint-library-video
- Podcast: https://stackoverflow.blog/2017/03/06/stack-overflow-podcast-103-grandma/
- Photo Diary: https://laurenconrad.com/blog/2016/12/photo-diary-my-10-favorite-moments-of-2016/
- Product Photos: http://blogs.solidworks.com/solidworksblog/2017/01/see-newest-solidworks-inspired-products-solidworks-world-product-showcase.html
There are, of course, plenty of other items to blog about; but, blogging need not be a chore. Write how you speak. Write what you’d like to read. And write frequently. Blogging actually gets easier as you go, not harder.
We would love to help if you need assistance with strategy or writing your company blog.
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