5 simple reasons why companies should blog
Posted by Anna Knapik on March 19, 2009 in Marketing, Social Media with 1 CommentThere have been a lot of discussions online on corporate blogging, its pros and cons and its impact on brands.
Some marketers say that it’s quite a risky initiative as the online environment is very transparent and information published online may be used against you at some stage. On the other hand, that same transparency can be a great promotional tool that can contribute more to the success of your company than any other channel.
Still, I don’t believe that every company should blog. The blogosphere is full of business blogs that are completely irrelevant and do not bring value to its readers. It is vital that companies know what their blogging objectives are and develop a strategy that will help to achieve those objectives.
It should be remembered that blogging takes a lot of time. It’s not just time for writing but for reading and researching your entries. And above all, what some people fail to acknowledge is that not everyone can write a blog. The fact that someone is a great CEO or marketer or knows an area inside-out will not automatically make them a prolific blogger. You must really enjoy writing, exploring things and drawing conclusions from items you come across every day to become a good blogger.
In addition, sales-driven businesses should not expect to increase their revenue dramatically by starting an online diary. Blog shouldn’t be considered as another way of pimping your products. It’s more about relations, brand awareness and positioning.
Still, there are a number of reasons why companies should consider setting up a blog. The following is a short list of the most compelling reasons to blog:
1. To become more personal
Blogs are a voice of a company and its people. For businesses taking a more personal approach, blogging is a great communications channel. A blog can humanise your business and make it more approachable. It’s an opportunity for your customers to understand your culture and values better. That’s why blogs should be authentic and show true insight into your company.
2. To engage with your target audience and get feedback
Blogging is a great way to engage with your audience in an inexpensive way and find out what they think about your products or services. Moreover, corporate blogs are platforms for ideas and suggestions that may help improve your products. Just take the Apple Blog where people exchange opinions on various products, give their feedback and make suggestions. This is a great bank of knowledge that, if properly availed of, can bring a lot of value to your company.
3. To position yourself as an industry expert
In an uncertain business world, companies need to develop and retain a competitive advantage. In many cases, a company may possess a very narrow and specific insight that not many people have. So why not take advantage of the knowledge that is already there, in house, and use it in the blog? As more and more people are looking things up on the internet, sharing experience and expertise may become a vital step to position your company as an industry expert and point of reference. This approach can be a slow burner from a sales point of view but it may eventually help you get new customers that, otherwise, would not have approached you. It’s also a great way of enhancing your reputation and establishing your company as a knowledgeable, insightful and savvy market player.
4. To increase online presence and drive traffic to the website
It’s no secret (well, maybe still a little secret to some) that search results can be boosted significantly by updating a blog on a regular basis. Linking to other blogs, blogrolls, selecting accurate key words, taking part in forum discussions, commenting and trackbacking all increase your online presence and make you visible in the online world – if people stumble across a post that is interesting, informative, clever (preferably all three) they are more likely to want to read more about the author and visit your website.
5. To find out more
Finally, an internal reason that can have a great external outcome. Paul Dervan in his post about why Irish ad agencies should blog gives a very important reason that is often underestimated – the learning process by the bloggers themselves.
As mentioned before, blogging requires that you keep abreast of news, innovations and technologies. To add value to your readers your post needs to be readable and informative. Therefore, writing a blog keeps you alert – you start to be more attentive and observant in search of information. This alertness helps to become more competitive in the market place – you get a lot of knowledge about your industry and competitors and become familiar with industry innovations. A constant learning process not only for your readers…
Anna Knapik is passionate about corporate communications and B2B marketing. She has a particular interest in the online arena and its application across various marketing disciplines.
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I’‘m glad to find out that if I increase my blogging and engage more, on on personal aspect, I’ll simply blog more.
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