6. WHAT IS A BLOG? BLOGGING?
• A blog is a cost-effective way to communicate
quickly with — and get feedback from — your
audience of readers, whether they are
colleagues, competitors, the media, prospects or
customers.
• A blog is a new way to market your services or
products by positioning you and/or your company
as thought leaders in highly competitive markets.
• A blog is just a tool, albeit a cool one. As with any
tool, there is a right way and a wrong way to use it.
There is proper blogging etiquette.
6
7. BLOGGING PLATFORMS
• The importance of your domain for corporate
blogs yourcompany.Com/blog or
blog.Yourcompany.Com
• Be careful if you don’t use your own domain i.E.
Yourcompany.Blogspot.Com or
yourcompany.Wordpress.Com
• Template approach vs. Custom design
7
8. WHY TALK BLOGGING NOW?
Social
Email Website Blog
Media
WANT TO GET LEFT BEHIND AGAIN?
8
14. WHY SHOULD ORGANIZATIONS BLOG - BRANDING
“The perception of Sun as a faithful and authentic tech
company is now very strong. What blogs have done
has authenticated the Sun brand more than a billion
dollar ad campaign could have done.”
-Jonathan Schwartz
Sun CEO
14
17. WHY SHOULD ORGANIZATIONS BLOG - LEADS
According to HubSpot, marketers with
blogs generate 67% more leads.
17
18. OTHER REASONS ORGANIZATIONS SHOULD BLOG
• Provides a “human voice” to company
• Thought leadership
• Transparency
• Building community and engagement
• Public relations/crisis management
• Customer service
…The Same Reasons Organizations Get Involved in
Social Media
18
19. COMMON BLOGGING OBJECTIONS
―This is going to require a lot of time and resources.‖
―Our legal department has hangups with blogging.‖
―We don’t have enough to say.‖
―We don’t want to take away valuable employees
from their primary roles.‖
―We’re afraid of opening ourselves up to complaints
and criticism.‖
―We’re not great at conversational marketing.‖
―It’s going to be hard to measure.‖ 19
20. WRITING A BLOG POST – TYPES OF POSTS
• Instructional: Tell your audience how to do something
• Informational: Provide information on a topic
• Reviews: Product or service reviews
• Lists: Top 10s, Top 5s, Top 50s, etc.
• Interviews: Recap discussion with interesting people
• Case Studies: Show problem/solution/results
• Link: Providing a link to an interesting article
• Contrast: Compare two options
• Rant: Bring the passion
• Research: Recap your study or someone else’s
• Predictions: Tell us what will be hot in the coming
year/quarter/etc. 20
21. HOW TO WRITE A GOOD BLOG POST
#1 Put your audience (the reader) first.
#2 Organize your thoughts before writing.
#3 Use short paragraphs.
#4 Use short sentences.
#5 Use simple words.
21
22. HOW TO WRITE A GOOD BLOG POST
#6 Be specific.
#7 Write in a conversational style.
#8 Tell stories.
#9 Be clear.
#10 Write well. Be interesting.
22
23. THE BLOG AS YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA HUB
• For all these reasons, your blog’s content can serve as
your social media hub in ways your website can’t
23
24. THE BLOG AS YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA HUB
• Without the right content to point to, your social
media presence is like a newspaper that’s all
headlines and
no stories
• Social media without
a blog limits your use
of social media to
brief thoughts with no
depth attached
31. HOW TO MARKET YOUR BLOG & BLOG POST
Industry Sites/Article Sites Using RSS
31
32. HOW TO MARKET YOUR BLOG & BLOG POST
“Sharing” Sites Corporate Materials
Digg Personal Email
Stumble Upon Email Signature
Redd It Direct Mail
Delicious Press Release
100s of Others ALL Materials
32
36. MEASURING YOUR BLOG’S SUCCESS - QUALITATIVE
• WHAT DO YOU WANT TO GET OUT OF IT?
• BRANDING & AWARENESS COMPONENT
• NARROWCASTING A MESSAGE
• ―SKIP THE FIRST MEETING‖
36