ContentRobot

Blogging to promote products may seem like a logical idea, but how can you make a similar impact with other topics?

While you could talk about your company’s various achievements or explain exactly the organization does, it can be a bit self-serving and, well, boring.

Position yourself in the shoes of your customer. What do they want to know more about? What makes your company unique? What messages are they missing through other media? What can you do for them?
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We found a great article focused on blogs as a great marketing medium from CRM Magazine’s January issue. It basically says that blogging allows marketers to start conversations with prospects and customers through a powerful new avenue of communication. Some excerpt are below.

Marketing has always been about balancing company interest with customer interest, but now it is becoming more about opening dialogue and building trust. Blogs have moved nto the corporate world, enhancing typical marketing techniques by allowing companies to talk to their customers directly–and by allowing companies to listen to what customers are saying.

Smart companies are trying to catalyze and cultivate a community with that group, inviting members into a dialogue without being intrusive. Access the market by building it around you then provide insight and influence.

Companies can use blogging to indirectly fine-tune their marketing messages through social interactions. With other customer communication avenues, companies may be using the wrong language or addressing the wrong audience, but blogging enables faster feedback and a more strategic understanding of where the market is heading.

From a competitive standpoint, blogging demonstrates to customers that a company cares about its products and customers.

It’s no longer about getting a lead for sales and having them start the conversation; now marketing starts the conversation. It’s about dialogue because customers are interested in your opinion, not so much your sales pitch.

Click here to read the entire article.

While some blogs launch with a big splash, there are advantages to slowly laying a foundation to maximize your success.

1. Cost
Big bang means big budget. Can you play for advertising? Do you have a tangible killer, unique offering? If you don’t have the extra cash or the goods, consider adding time to make up for the funds instead.

2. Risk
Loud can get you noticed fast, but it can also expose any cracks of your plan and magnify any weaknesses. Can you afford to lose your investment should things go sour? If not, then consider a small investment first and build from there.

3. Changes
If you want to be nimble and tweak as you go, then slow and steady may be best. Why? After working to gain a loyal following, it’s harder and more noticeable to make changes to a larger audience (who you may disenfranchise). Remember, it is easier to make mistakes when you are more anonymous.

4. Management
More complex projects need more project management, good leadership, clear vision, and overall organization. Smaller projects merely need persistence, effort, and perserverance to be successful, especially if you lack the resources.

5. Fear
Do you have fear of failure, looking stupid, or appearing like a fraud? Keeping it simple can minimize your fears.

6. Ease
If you do not need big results right away then why cause yourself extra hassle and stress?

7. Patience
Early stages of a blog launch requires patience. You may not see fantastic results for weeks, maybe months. There are always exceptions of course, but don’t expect much. Instead, use this time to build good solid foundations, not go after instant riches.

8. Build
Build up content and profile, which builds traffic and eventually leads to revenue. Create lots of posts that bring in lots of visitors who subscribe, and tell others, who bring in more, and so on.

In Sum
Don’t be put off thinking you need to create a big budget production. Plan your project as best as you can before a single pixel hits the screen. Then, with your continued passion and connection with your readers, you can get the results you desire. Get blogging!

Do you have a corporate blogging policy? Before embarking on your blogging journey, you should consider the “dos” and “don’ts” of blogging from both a company and a blogosphere point of view.

Here are some ideas for you:

1. Employees/bloggers must abide by non-disclosure agreements or confidentiality policies.
2. Employees/bloggers must be aware of company policies governing use of corporate identity (logos, etc.) apply
3. Employees/bloggers cannot make discriminatory, libelous, etc., comments when discussing the company, its employees and competitors
4. Employees/bloggers must comply with other company policies (e.g., anti-harrassment rules)
5. The company should reserve the right to discipline employees/bloggers who violate any of the corporate policy

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Market Sentinel, Onalytica and Immediate Future of PR have co-written a white paper called Measuring the Impact of Blogs on Brands.

They took a scientific approach to objectively demonstrate which bloggers both have the authority and ability to affect corporate reputation.

By using the science of “citation indexing” via Google page listings and a Dell case study, they were able to quantify and analyze how bloggers can impact a company’s brand image.

It also analyzed their indirect influence as well as direct impact: proving that blogging has a significant affect on reputation.
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Should your company be blogging, or not? Of course!

Before you jump in, remember that using a blog as a medium of expression requires a certain level of commitment.

Companies should take a good look at whether they can approach blogging seriously enough so that they can avoid disappointing their customers (new and old alike). The risk and reward is still based on attracting and satisfying a targeted readership.

You can succeed if you stay away from old habits, by talking to and with your audience, and give your readers something worth coming back for.
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The December 12, 2005 issue of BusinessWeek featured an article called “The MySpace Generation” which talks about American teens and how they use the online space. NewWeeks says: They live online. They buy online. They play online. Their power is growing.

Teens and twentysomethings are the first group to grow up fully wired and technologically fluent. They own computers, laptops, Blackberrys, and cell phones that keep them connected to their peers.
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Want to start that external corporate blog but don’t know where to start? Try these 10 starting tips:

1. Read your news via RSS feeds
Learn how feeds can affect how and what you blog about. By establishing a blog, a lot of your readers will never actually visit your site and read about you within their feeds.

2. Learn about what a blog is
Start by becoming a reader of 5 or 10 different blogs, then do some extensive research. What are the distinctive features of blogs? What blogs are there in your business? What do you think the audience likes or dislikes about them? This way you find your own tone and niche.

3. Have a specific purpose
Don’t start a blog because you can, because you must for a reason that you decide. Say: We will start a blog because… A good starting point would be to think about how to best share your expertise and knowledge and go from there.

4. Ask: do I really need a blog?
You’ve done your research and know your goal, but it is it worth it? Can you really say you have “open” and honest communications? Are you prepared to take some business risks? If you can say “yes,” go blog!

5. Ask: do I have the resources?
Blogging takes both time and commitment on the parts of both the bloggers and management teams. Can they nurture it? Do you need outside help?

6. Is your blog a part of your communication plan?
Discuss and outline the relationships between blogging, the web site, and other PR efforts. And don’t forget to create a blogging policy!

7. Who are your bloggers?
People blog, not departments. Do they want to? Should they? Determine who your best bloggers could be. They should, at the very least, understand blogging and what’s out there in the blogosphere along with your brand’s particular uniqueness and strengths.

8. Determine your technology requirements
Among the decisions you’ll need to make include commenting, trackbacks, categories, blogrolls, and what tools will you use? By establishing these up front, you’ll have a better chance for success.

9. Launch quietly
Make sure that you can implement all your great ideas and plans. Be sure your enthusiastic bloggers are good enough to be very visible representatives of your brand. Skip issuing a press release to say you have a blog.

10. How do you know if you are successful?
You should know in about 2-3 months if a blog is good enough to deliver results. Have you been linked to by other blogs? Is anyone commenting? Do you get feedback from your target group? At this point, you also know how much resources the blog really demands by now, and you have all the information you need to make a long term commitment.

Are you ready to take the plunge, contact us today.

While business blogging has become the trademark of forward-thinking companies, you need to establish some best practices to derive the benefits it has to offer.

Know What You’re Doing.
Senior management and the legal department should be educated about what blogs are and how they might affect business.

Reinforce the Company’s Core Values.
Make sure that any posted content fits the firm’s values and supports the business strategy.

Create Blogging Policies.
Blogging policies should state (among other issues) that bloggers do not share trade secrets, make personal lives public, post financial information, and do not use blog for negative publicity.

Avoid the Marketing Blog.
Making your blog into a blatant marketing campaign is a bad idea. Customers are looking for real answers and honest opinions. They will pick up on insincerity instantly.

Keep It Fresh.
Make content relevant and timely with the most worthwhile news to encourage people to come back.

Fine Print.
Since there are so many legal issues surrounding blogs, it is imperative to include a disclaimer and limitation of liability.

Internal blogging is a great way to manage projects - from improving information flow, reducing clutter, and capturing status. Here’s how to successfully use a business blog for managing projects. Here are 5 good reasons:

1. Communicate with Project Stakeholders
Keep them up-to-date with the progress of the project without bombarding them with email. Use posts to update milestones big and small.

2. Create an Online Paper Trail
Documentation, issues, requirements, snags, and information are easily created and maintained. With categories, version control, archives, and search functionality allows you to easily manage it all.

3. Information Sharing and Knowledge Management
Organize shared passwords, useful URLs, code snippets, screenshots, etc. to build a knowledge base for the existing and future projects.

4. Track Project Progress
Post news, updates and status reports to a corporate-wide blog to keep everyone informed as the project progresses. This is especially useful for across those teammates who are across timezones or all over the world.

5. Team Management
Project blogs can socialize new team members quickly, encourage communication, and create a development environment that takes both people and their ideas seriously. Communication is enhanced because team members can regularly post outcomes, which keeps people not only informed, it also allows for rapid feedback.

Want to create an internal blog, contact us!