Whilst researching ‘blogging’ as a marketing strategy for my SME, I was amazed at the amount of views and attention particular blogs had received. Many successful blogs were from writers with years of experience and an excellent “blogging reputation”. I found myself questioning if companies can actually use blogging as a successful marketing strategy. Also would a company with no previous blogging experience even be able to create a successful blog?
YES! With these top tips anyone can create a successful blog post.
The aim is to discover if ‘blogging’ is an ideal marketing strategy for SME’s and if so how they can create a successful blog to reach their target audience.
So what is it all about?
I’m sure you’ve heard about one of the biggest things to hit the web in the last few years: blogging. If you are unsure watch this short clip!
So ‘business blogging’ is a marketing method which can improve a business’s online presence. A majority are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other. It is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites(Engdahl, 2008). In that sense, blogging can be seen as a form of social networking service. Bloggers also build social relations with their readers and other bloggers(Raatma, 2010).
Companies that recognize the need for information, originality, and accessibility employ blogs to make their products popular and unique, and ultimately reach out to consumers who are aware of social media (Ahuja and Medury, 2010).
Blogs allow a company to provide longer descriptions of products or services, can include testimonials and can link to and from other social network and blog pages (Huang, 2012). Blogs can be updated frequently and are promotional techniques for keeping customers, and also for acquiring followers and subscribers who can then be directed to social network pages(Raatma, 2010).
Did you know?
A survey carried out by Hubspot discovered…
- Companies are now in the minority if they don’t blog.
- From 2009 to 2011 the percentage of businesses with a blog grew from 48% to 65%.
- Eighty-five percent of businesses rated their company blogs as “useful,” “important” or “critical.”
(Blog.hubspot.com, 2015)
So why should a business blog?
1.)Humanising the company
“Every time your customers interact with your brand they should feel as if they are interacting with you or your ideology” (Tsai, 2012).
This strategy helps the company create an emotional connection by building trust and reducing risk. This bond is necessary as companies need to realise that it is the individuals, not companies that ultimately make purchase decisions (Estes, 2012). For example; an online company where the potential customer will never meet the employees, gives the customer a sense of connection to the employees by writing the blog. This is quite similar to customer service in a shop. Also through empowering customers by offering them a role in the business, it can result in brand loyalty (Hawkes, 2014).
2.) Brand Awareness
Implementing Blogs into a business can create brand awareness; this plays a major role in a consumer’s buying decision-making process(Rossiter, 2014). The most important way that blogs help raise your brand awareness is that they drive traffic to your site. This is useful for a customer searching for products and services, as the brand is already remembered from a differing source. Blogs can give your customers the opportunity to build a deeper relationship with your business (Chef and Chef, 2013).
Success Story: Fiskars
Fiskars successfully, created a passion for scissors! Remarkable, as this was done through the use of a blog. Also known as one of the most creative blogs in the corporate world. An increase in brand awareness was a result of the creative blog campaign carried out (Schaefer Marketing Solutions, 2011). An increase in sales, was mainly due to the traffic being directed to purchase pages.
3.) Encourage Engagement
For SME’s keeping the content fresh, discussions active and productive, and enabling social sharing is going to help you raise your brand awareness and increase site traffic over the long term. This was carried out by ‘The Marriot’, by getting a big corporate blogger to blog about his visits over 300 hotels around the world. This encouraged users to respond to the stays they found relevant to them (Grow, 2015).
Success: The Marriot
The company has reported generating millions in direct sales from this blog and has also used this as a platform to set the record straight in the event of a bombing or hostage situation involving one of their properties (Kaye, 2005)
It is also Important to consider…
It takes time and a strong commitment to maintaining a regular blog for your company. That it also highly depends on the type of customers a business interacts with on whether a blog post is necessary or effective (Estes, 2012). For example; if your business is targeted towards people over the age of 65, are you honestly going to get a high response or activity rate?
Static websites provide helpful information, but the relationship tends to be fairly one-sided because companies have a lack of control over blogs. Just as other social media your reputation can be destroyed instantly (Rettberg, 2008).
There’s more to a great blog post than just words on a screen
We need to remember becoming a professional blogger is not going to happen over night. Here are the best ways to create a successful blog for your SME business. A good starting point would be the Title I guess…
- A Meaningful Title
This is VITAL because the title determines whether it is read or just scrolled past, and if it is shared. Make the reader enticed, with a clever caption (Rettberg, 2008).
The top four phrases that work are
- Ten things you must know about…
- The secret trick to…
- Discover how to…
- Did you know…
(Zawilinski, 2009)
Related Article: Discover the secrets to the best blog titles here.
2.) Involve Related Images
Your goal is to add strategic images that help your readers, and enhance your content(Raatma, 2010). You must take into consideration the legislations around copyright though. Here’s some advice on finding free online images that you can use and how to use the correct images.
Related article: http://bit.ly/1yARXOI
3.) Unique content
You don’t simply want to make the same point that everyone else is making. You need to have a unique angle, approach, or spin (Kaye, 2015). Read this article on tips to stand out from the blogging crowd.
Related article: http://entm.ag/1G3XoZc
Success Story:
This blog is aimed at breaking this repetitive image of blogs through wonderful story-telling. If you want to see a blog that is doing a good job spinning some entertaining stories, look at General Electric.(Kaye, 2005)
4.) Respond to blog comments.
This is an opportunity to connect directly with the people who are reading your work. Not all comments need a response, but be sure to respond to ones that do. And sometimes it’s worth just posting “Thanks for reading my blog.”
Success Story:
This is something that Instagram effectively carries out, they strive on engaging their audience through interaction and comments. A study revealed that the Instagram blog readers said this is what makes them return, they feel they are being listened to!(Schaefer Marketing Solutions, 2011).
5.) Make your blog shareable
Collaborate with your social media marketing aspects to divert traffic and gain attention and brand awareness.
South west airlines used a link from their blogs successfully to their alternative social media platforms for a wide range of issues, they combined this with free give always on their social media platforms (Schaefer Marketing Solutions, 2011). Their blogs offered an increase in diverted traffic in 2014 than ever before! (They also received increased positive press attention).
6.) Keep content up to date
Without keeping your information relevant your customers will not return, this can also have a negative affect on your future potential customers too(Tsai, 2012).
Success story:
Dell also posts regularly (1-2 posts per day at least) which keeps content fresh and encourages repeat visits. why not checkout Dell’s blog to see how they are so successful.
To conclude this topic…
With minimal effort and expense, you can build credibility, boost search engine rankings, increase website traffic, and foster relationships with potential and current customers. This is an opportunity no small business should ignore. However the growth process takes time, so if you are looking for a quick fix to boost your numbers and reach customers, you may want to consider a different strategy. But if you are ready to make a commitment to your business so that you can experience long term growth, then a business blog is a great way to do it!
Would you like to read more on this topic?
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Would you like to TWEET about this Blog?
TWEET:From 2009 to 2011 the percentage of businesses with a blog grew from 48% to 65%
TWEET: If your company doesn’t blog, you are in the minority.
References
Ahuja, V. and Medury, Y. (2010). Corporate blogs as e-CRM tools – Building consumer engagement through content management. Journal of Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management, 17(2), pp.91-105.
Blog.hubspot.com, (2015). HubSpot Blog Homepage | Marketing, Sales, and Agency Content. [online] Available at: http://blog.hubspot.com/ [Accessed 3 Apr. 2015].
Chef, T. and Chef, T. (2013). The Actual Purpose of Business Blogging is Not What You Think – SERPs Blog. [online] Blog.serps.com. Available at: https://blog.serps.com/the-actual-purpose-of-business-blogging-is-not-what-you-think/ [Accessed 2 Apr. 2015].
Engdahl, S. (2008). Blogs. Detroit: Greenhaven Press/Gale.
Estes, H. (2012). “Blogging and Academic Identity”. Literature Compass, 9(12), pp.974-982.
Hawkes, P. (1994). Building brand loyalty and commitment. J Brand Manag, 1(6), pp.337-347.
Huang, L. (2012). Social Media as a New Play in a Marketing Channel Strategy: Evidence from Taiwan Travel Agencies’ Blogs. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 17(6), pp.615-634.
Kaye, B. (2005). It’s a Blog, Blog, Blog World: Users and Uses of Weblogs. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 13(2), pp.73-95.
Raatma, L. (2010). Blogs. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Cherry Lake Pub.
Rettberg, J. (2008). Blogging. Cambridge, UK: Polity.
Rossiter, J. (2014). ‘Branding’ explained: Defining and measuring brand awareness and brand attitude. J Brand Manag, 21(7-8), pp.533-540.
Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}, (2011). The 10 Best Company Blogs in the World – Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}. [online] Available at: http://www.businessesgrow.com/2011/01/05/the-10-best-corporate-blogs-in-the-world/ [Accessed 3 Apr. 2015].
Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}, (2011). The 10 Best Company Blogs in the World – Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}. [online] Available at: http://www.businessesgrow.com/2011/01/05/the-10-best-corporate-blogs-in-the-world/ [Accessed 3 Apr. 2015].
Tsai, F. (2012). Social media framework for business blog mining. IJBSR, 6(3), p.336.
Zawilinski, L. (2009). HOT Blogging: A Framework for Blogging to Promote Higher Order Thinking. The Reading Teacher, 62(8), pp.650-661.