“Blogs are not an elective. They’re a prerequisite” (Baker and Green, 2005)
Blogging has blown up recently, individuals are creating and making an extremely good living off of blogging. However, can companies use blogging as a successful marketing strategy?
This blog attempts to extract the benefits from blogging within a commercial context for small businesses. The blog will advise the reader on how to benefit from the use of blogs and provide examples of good and bad blogs which real businesses have used.
How it all works
To put the questions in context it is necessary to explain what a blog is and how they work. Business blogging is a marketing method which supposedly improves a business’s online presence.
However, that definition gives rise to two questions:
- What is ‘blogging’?
- And what do you mean by an online presence?
Blogging is a post which belongs to your websites “blog”. These posts are usually a written piece regarding anything the writer wishes. Although this definition of ‘blogging’ is ambiguous, this blog aims to develop this definition further.
An online presence is self-explanatory, it is the ability for a your business to be visible online, this could mean various things, such as being at the top of search engine searches, on people’s social media platforms and also create a buzz around the products online. (Dobele, Toleman & Beverland (2005))
How is blogging as an individual different to blogging as a business?
Now we have outlined the meaning behind blogging, the next question which occurs is how blogging as a business differs from blogging as an individual. One of the biggest differences which can be extracted is individual bloggers usually blog as a hobby, it was previously stated that some individual bloggers have earned a living, and sometimes a very good living, off of blogging. However, the majority of bloggers are blogging because they care about what they blog about as a hobby.
Alternatively, businesses blog to market their business. Marketing has developed significantly since the internet has blown up, thus the introduction of marketing on social media, email marketing, search engine optimisation and so on has been introduced. Marketing through the medium of blogs has also increased, and it has proven success for a number of companies, if I direct the reader to the opening sentence from Baker and Green outlining blogs are a prerequisite. Thus outlining, the importance of blogging as a business.
Why should a business blog though?
We have outlined the difference between blogging between individuals and businesses, and Baker and Greens opinion on blogging. However, this section is going to further examine the benefits of blogging from a business perspective.
The first benefit which we are able to outline is that they humanise a faceless business, it is an interactive tool for the business. (Singh, Veron-Jackson and Cullinane (2008)) Businesses are often seen as big corporations, even when they are not a multi-national corporation, this benefit gives customers an insight into the company. For example an online company where the potential customer will almost never meet any of the employees, gives the customer a sense of connection to the employees writing the blog, it will have the same effect as excellent customer service in a shop. This benefit is also closely linked to brand loyalty, when a potential customer, or reader of the blog has a positive experience then it can turn into brand loyalty. Firms can empower customers by enabling them to have a role in the business, and this in turn can lead to brand loyalty. (Nardini (2005))
DeFelice (DeFelice, A. (2006b) outlined that firms can also use blogs to stay relevant to their customers, i.e. an old company keeping up with the developing marketing strategies. An example of this can be shown from the suit makers ‘Scabal’, a company which was established in 1539 has a blog and uses it to its full potential. Subsequent to analysing their website, their target market is male aged 30-60, however, the use of a blog will undoubtedly introduce new customers to the company who are interested in menswear and tailoring.
The previous benefit leads on to the next benefit nicely, blogs provide a way to bridge a generational gap as previously outlined with the example of the company ‘Scabal’. Another example which exemplifies this benefit is the company Southwest Airlines. Their blog attracts readers from college students to retirees. These examples outline how a blog which interacts a reader can attract attention from a market which the small business didn’t even expect to ever attract.
Blogging is global! The internet provides a global platform, thus writing a blog provides a platform which is worldwide. Consequently, it is clear blogging is a low-cost method to create opportunities to increase revenue to your business. Every time the business publishes a blog post, the business creates more opportunity to be found online, consequently increasing the online presence.
Although there is a significant amount of blogs, there are limitations to blogging. Companies have a lack of control over blogs, and that blogging can result in brand bashing (Murphy, 2006).
Blogs also require a lot of commitment and continuity, blogs are used as an interactive tool and having a lack of commitment can counteract all the positives which were once created from the blog.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
This blog post has now identified what a blog is, how blogging differs between individuals, and the benefits of blogging for a business. However, blogging is easier said than done, a number of businesses have attempted and failed, however some have exceeded all expectations.
The first blog to identify is ‘The Body Shop’. It is common knowledge that the body shops blog has been a raving success. They have a far reaching blog with competitions, skin care tips, how to guides and campaigns. However, it is not only their blog which has contributed to the increase of sales. Other bloggers also contribute to the success of the blog, bloggers such as ‘Zoella’ blog about their products.
The Virgin Atlantic blog is also a company which utilises digital marketing strategies. The Virgin media group know they’re audience very well and the type of content they enjoy reading. It is also the content which is something of a success story, the bloggers have interesting concepts of every day stories, the products and services virgin provide are arguably not very exciting. However, their blog is something to get excited about.
Instagram is another successful blog, they engage with the readers and really interact with the audience. Instagram blog about current affairs and global events, which everyone in the world can connect with. They also use the ‘Weekend Hashtag Project’ which invites the readers to use the hashtag which everyone else who partakes is using.
This blog has identified three blogs which have been very successful, these are not the only successful blogs online. However, these blogs are in a range of different sectors and provide the reader with a varied view of what a successful blog looks like.
Although the companies outlined are huge companies, the principles still apply to a small business. The readers of this blog can learn from the positive points regarding the three blogs above, and the principles of blogging as a marketing channel.
How should a business blog then?
We can withdraw various principles from the three examples provided, such as in the case of Virgin. They know their audience to the best of their ability, and they understand what type of content they want to read. Instagram provide a fantastic example of how to engage with their audience and the body shop outlines how to provide excellent content.
Top 10 tips
- Write interesting and original content.
- Engage with your readers.
- Establish your goals as a blog.
- Research your audience.
- Be committed to posting frequently
- Develop your blogs brand
- Market your blog
- Build an audience and a following.
- Make your blog shareable
- Measure your blog’s performance.
Is blogging for you?
I think it is clear to see that blogging is for every business, it has a long list of benefits as we have established. A blog will help you reach the capacity your business can work at, however, blogging is a lot of work, and nevertheless it has significant rewards.
References
Baker, Stephen, and Heather Green. “Blogs will change your business.” Business Week 2.05 (2005).
Sing, T, Veron-Jackson, L and Cullinane, J. (2008) Blogging: A new play in your marketing game plan. Business Horizons. Vol. 51, Issue 4. Pages 281-292
Nardini, J. (2005). Blogging 101. Frozen Food Age, 53(12), 32— 33.
DeFelice, A. (2006a). A new marketing medium. Customer Relationship Management, 10(1), 32—35.
Murphy, C. (2006). Blogging: Waste of time or corporate tool? Retrieved August 12, 2006