If you have considered launching your own company blog, here are some great tips to keep in mind from iMedia Conncection:
1. Smile
It may sound strange, but most corporate blogs miss an obvious detail right off the bat, says Doug Lowell, a partner and executive creative director at ID Branding, who advises his clients to post pictures of the blogger with each post so that users know who’s talking to them.
2. Spread the wealth
Not everyone in your organization may be cut out for blogging, but marketers who rely on a single blogger to disseminate the brand’s message may not be doing all they can to connect with users. Have multiple employees within your organization contribute to your blog.
3. Link, link, link
You’ve probably heard an earful about the power of linking to improve SEO; but links also provide another critical ingredient to a personality-driven blog: the ability to listen. After all, links are a visible indicator of the blogger’s willingness to engage in a conversation and actually listen to what others have to say in that space.
4. Have a little fun
Most people don’t have to be told to have fun, but for a host of reasons, most marketers work hard to hide their human side behind a wall of branded messaging. While that might be just the trick for TV or print, it’s no good on a company blog. Engage your readers by hosting a contest, sharing photos and encouraging reader participation.
5. Admit when you’re wrong
Companies don’t make mistakes; at least, that’s the official position of your legal department. But people do screw up from time to time, and the people worth knowing are those who admit their mistakes and move on. The same is true for corporate blogs. Brands that use their blogs as a way of letting customers know that they’ve made an error do a tremendous service to themselves because people often appreciate the honesty and integrity.
6. Take off your marketing cap
It’s easy to go for the hard sell on a brand blog. After all, there’s nothing really standing in your way, which is why authenticity has become a rallying cry for marketers who are passionate about blogging. Unfortunately, authenticity has become so overused in the context of blogging that it has nearly lost all meaning. One quick tactic for screening out overly polished messages is to ask this simple question: Am I writing this the way I would say it in conversation? If the answer is “no,” it’s probably too polished.
7. Ask for ideas
While the success of your brand’s blog often comes down to what you say and how you say it, sometimes it pays to use the blog as a platform to ask questions.
8. Broaden the brand’s POV
At its core, any brand is about business. But the more a brand grows and matures, the more it touches upon various aspects of society. A blog is the perfect place to broaden out the brand by highlighting how the company fits into the user’s daily life.
9. Think like a publisher
It doesn’t matter what type of brand you have, if you’re using a company blog, you’re a publisher, so it pays to think like one. Marketers should devote in-house resources to establishing specific “beats” for their bloggers because giving pre-approved guidance will not only help keep the blog on message, it will also help ensure that the blog is updated regularly because bloggers won’t have to scour the entire web to find a good topic.
For the full article, compliments of iMedia Conncection, click here.