If you are not quite sure a corporate blog is relevant to your branding exercise, you must rethink. Many astute B2B marketers’ experience has shown their blog pages and not the company’s official homepage that more often than not act as an entry point for the new site visitors. In many cases, blog posts are generally outpacing the other pages for key metrics like total visits, number of page views and time spent on a website.
Why this well be the case? They feel that two important factors are at work here: First obviously is frequently updated blog content with most important key terms lead to greater online visibility and better search engine rankings. Plus, social sharing tools enable readers to share content within their extended networks, enhancing brand reach and visibility.
You should handle your blog tactfully. Here are a few ideas to chart the right course:
Make it reader friendly
Strive to make it reader friendly even while you stick to your argument. You should know what you need to avoid while conveying a particular point of view. For instance, do not prolong and ramble on. Readers will lose interest in a post if it carries on sans any valid argument.
Know your target audience and end goal
What also holds the key to your corporate blog success is to knowing your target audience. A business should define the purpose of hosting an official blog. Know your end goal behind serving it either to enhance your E-Commerce site’s search engine popularity or to underline your credentials as a domain expert?
Of course, priorities are bound to vary from one business owner to another. Clarity about its purpose will make the process of setting it up smoother and create appropriate content.
Encourage interaction and engagement
Leverage popular social media sites. Encourage readers to share your post on networks like Facebook, and engage in interaction on your business’ Facebook page. Provide your readers with the requisite tools to amplify your core marketing and branding message to their own communities.
Have retweet/tweet buttons, Digg, StumbleUpon and other relevant social sharing buttons on blog posts. While designing your corporate blog, ensure that plugins and widgets, which can support spreading the content far & wide, are included. This falls under marketing and engagement as well.
Do not use it merely as a marketing tool
No matter how keen you are to leverage it as an effective marketing tool, it is not a wise idea to flaunt your corporate blogs as one. Never imply directly or pass a message to readers that you are creating it solely for the purpose of branding and marketing. Whichever way you use it, your company blog should not be projected as a regurgitation of official news, updates and press releases, or as an open advertisement for the product and services.
