Social Studies: Why Business Blogs Work
Courtesy
Paul Salvaggio
Have you noticed that more and more companies are setting up blogs?
Try this… next time that you're on a corporate website, look up in the top navigation links for the word "Blog." Chances are that you will see one. According to a 2012 survey published by Hubspot and cited on Forbes.com: "…businesses are now in the minority if they don't blog. From 2009 to 2011, the percentage of businesses with a blog grew from 48% to 65%."
So why are companies investing in blogs? According to Hubspot, companies are blogging to generate thought leadership, improve search engine rankings, and earn trust. Backbone Media did its own survey on company blogging in 2005, and even back then, corporations were blogging for many of the same reasons.
Companies are using blogs as a way of supporting multiple marketing and communications goals at once. Blogs offer an informal means to quickly publish content that may not fit into the ubiquitous About Us, Solutions or News sections. The publishing platform enables marketing teams to share their messages, and to showcase the people behind the products. In this self-publishing model, the experts can share in-the-trenches experience with trends and innovations.
While blogging serves a number of purposes, it does not replace the need for more traditional marketing interactions, such as press releases and newsletters. Rather, it's a new channel for companies to continue the conversations started there.
A Blogging Start-Up Guide
How would you start a business blog? A good blog starts with a goal to achieve a specific business result – establishing thought leadership or improving search rankings. It also requires a good strategy to achieve the stated goal and most importantly, a commitment to regularly post content.
While many companies start blogs, they often fail because of sporadic posting that fails to gain an audience. The reality is that many companies want to blog but don't possess the time or writing talent to maintain a minimum pace of one article per week. For these companies, there are blog content writing services that can be contracted to either assist in the writing process, or supply a specific number of articles per month.
While the blog doesn't have to be a complete resource on every product, or service your company offers, it should be engaging and information driven. One strategy to avoid is blatantly promoting your products or services in your blog. An accepted alternative is to weave in contextual "calls to action" – web links – that drive users to your website or landing page.
A good example of the call-to-action strategy comes from TIBCO Spotfire. The analytics and data discovery software provider uses its Trends and Outliers blog to explore trends, research and expert takes on topics like big data and data analytics. The blog also has a couple of regular features similar to a magazine that build engagement and conversations in the industry.
Link to landing pages that provide gated (but free) resources like webcasts and whitepapers, which can help track leads and understand customer desires.
Bloggers should also stay up to date with the latest trends. Recent trends include adding more visual content to blogs and sharing content on social media, which can help SEO results.
To truly benefit from business blogging, follow these basic strategies, adjust for these trends, and focus on consistent content creation. Such corporate blogs eventually experience lead generation nirvana -- it may not happen overnight, but it will happen.
Paul Salvaggio is director of marketing services and technology for www.BackboneMedia.com, a Westborough company that develops websites and blogs. Email him at Paul@BackboneMedia.com or follow him on Twitter at @paulsalvaggio.
WBJ Web Partners
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