General Blog Objectives:
Many companies see the wisdom in taking a pull approach toward marketing. A blog complements that marketing strategy. Additionally, Search Engine Optimization is critically important to pull marketing, as is thought leadership within the industry. All of these tactics have the highest chance for leading to the holy grail of B2B marketing and sales – viral marketing and referrals.
Relative to blog content, executives, directors, managers, and subject matter experts might blog about a wide range of topics which they are passionate about.
Relative to Blog technology, Blogger (.Net), WordPress (PHP), and Typepad are all suitable blogging platforms. Each supports integrations with Social Networks (linkedin, facebook, twitter, etc.). All environments can be hosted on the various Blog ISP’s, embedded within the corporate site itself, or as a stand-alone blog hosted separately. While all these tools offer free services, using free services is fraught with pitfalls and generally not an optimal corporate marketing strategy.
Notably, a blog works well with a companion Twitter strategy. Twitter being a micro-blog, one often finds a close correlation between tweets and blog posts, although they are mutually exclusive.
A critical emphasis: Purpose and Goals for the Blog
- Promote the Blogger and the subject matter within the Blog
- Engage the audience in an interactive conversation and develop a following
- Educate the readers with innovation and insights
- Enhance Search Engine Optimization of targeted, affiliated Web sites
Expected Results: Effectively designed and managed Blogs have become an important component of professional communications and influence. The results of a Blog are directly tied to goals and objectives, Blog content quality, and the persistency of Blog posts over time. Like a successful exercise program, a Blog strategy needs to be tailored to suit the goals, capabilities, and constraints of each Blogger and/or organization. Thus, internal conversations need to be facilitated by an experienced Blogger in order to prevent misunderstanding, debunk myths, document a do-able action plan, and shepherd the successful implementation until the Blogger “finds their voice”.
Need help launching a content-rich and technically advanced blog? Contact Mike Wise.
