Blogging or the idea of providing commentary on a particular subject is not a new concept on the web, in fact – that’s how the internet started. What has changed is that tools now exist that enable anyone with an internet connection to start a blog within a matter of minutes. Over the last few years corporate blogs have become more popular, popping up everywhere. So you have the tools but does it make sense to start and maintain a corporate blog?
In my opinion – it depends.
Blogs give executives the opportunity to talk directly with their customer, often about more then their product or service. Blogs take a more casual tone and often include personal perspectives and stories making corporate bloggers more approachable. In fact that’s when blogging works best. No one wants to read someone’s marketing material in a blog post. This approach to blogging can also go a long way for internal moral. In large organizations most employees won’t get the opportunity to speak directly to upper management. CEOs updating their blogs with their own thoughts on the vision of the company and how he or she sees the future while encouraging readers to post their own comments can provide both valuable insight and foster a sense of community in the organization.
Blogs can be a very powerful marketing and sales tool but like anything else it needs to be maintained. If you plan on starting a blog here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Develop a blog strategy. What niche are you writing for? What tone will your blog take? Who else is writing in your niche and what makes what you have to say different?
- Update your blog on a weekly basis. Fresh content is not only important to keep your audience engaged but also for search engines.
- Don’t post for the sake of posting. Make sure that you’re saying something relevant.
- Write with search engine optimization in mind. Engines will drive traffic to your blog so it’s important to choose your words carefully and keep them inline with your strategy.
- Invite others to write with you. Maintaining a blog can take up a lot of time and lack of post is often where blogs fail. Get a group of like-minded people together and encourage diverse contributions around your blog subject.
- Participate in other blogs. In all likelihood you won’t be the only one blogging in your niche. Find out about other blogs that cover your topic and see if there’s a way you can contribute.
There are many pitfalls when taking on a corporate blog but also advantages. The golden rule of blogging is, understand who you are writing for, have a blog strategy that’s in line with contributor expectations and your corporate strategy and then... blog away.
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