So many companies have visions of grandeur about online marketing, resolving to take their business to the next level by embracing the digital world in all its glory. They'll buy into the hype of starting a corporate blog, join every single social media platform, spend a ton of money optimizing their website. It's all so exciting!
They'll start off keen and aggressive, and slowly whittle down until they're left out of steam, out of time, out of content, and eventually, out of the minds of their audience.
All that excitement only to become another statistic.
There are few things I find more irksome - as a marketer and a consumer - than visiting a company's website, expecting to get some great information and insights on their prominently displayed blog link, only to discover that it hasn't been updated in over a year, along with their Twitter feed that they just had to have widgetized on their home page.
Come on people!
Weren't we all warned about how necessary it is to keep our content squeaky fresh - and consistent? And I don't mean consistently OUT OF DATE.
Don't let this be you!
Before I digress, I want to focus on blogging right now.
As more and more companies view blogging as a crucial communications tool, today's post is about getting back to the basics, and sharing the fundamental guidelines of starting and maintaining your blog to ensure that your company gets the most out of blogging.
Before you start your blog:- Make sure that there is interest in what you're writing about so that you have an audience to write for
- Create content that can be picked up by Google and other search engines
- Plan to post on a regular basis (that is, if you want people to keep coming back and to attract new visitors)
- Don't be afraid to self-promote your blog to your friends or colleagues or by advertising it at the bottom of your e-mail or by linking to it from your website (assuming you have one).
- Be open and honest. When you put information out there on the worldwide web, there's no hiding the truth, so put the transparency to good use.
- Keep your blog up to date, relevant, and interesting.
- Be clear what the aims of your blog are from the outset and stick to them.
- Let your audience leave comments, and don't overreact if and when they post anything negative about your company.
- If negative posts do appear, react in a balanced, open, and honest way. Blogs are a very useful way of 'getting your point of view across'.
- Avoid corporate jargon. Use language that everyone understands.
- Don't try and sell to your customers. Blogs are about commen tary and observations, not product details or hard sell.
- Make sure that only one or two people are blogging on behalf of the company. Your communications need to have a consistent tone; otherwise the content becomes confused and inconsistent.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter! Drop your comments and questions down below.
