There
is a laundry list of issues that need to be addressed when it comes to
improving corporate blogs, but here we’ve narrowed down the key elements that
companies should focus on. Here are 10 tips for corporate bloggers hoping to
make a positive splash in their communities.
When
creating a product or service, you must be able to define the value that it’s
bringing to consumers. In the case of a blog, you need to clearly define the
focused theme that your team will follow. Choose a blog name and theme that
fits well with your company’s expertise, but don’t be afraid to branch out into
a larger space. Your blog should provide pertinent information for consumers
interested in your area of business.
Once
you’ve chosen an area to cover, create a set of editorial guidelines that your
bloggers will follow. Guidelines can include appropriate verticals and topics to
cover, as well as how and when posts should be written.
A clear goal and theme for your blog will make it easier
for users to know what to expect.
2. Choose a Blogging
Team and Process
Choose
a team of core bloggers to begin your blogging adventure. Select individuals
that are knowledgeable and comfortable writing about the areas you would like
to cover. Also, it’s key to choose people who write well and have a great
online presence.
Train
your bloggers on the editorial guidelines and decide what type of writing and
editing process you would like to put in place. Some companies prefer to elect
an editor or group of editors to have a final look at all blog posts, while
other companies allow their bloggers to publish directly. Figure out the level
of comfort you have with your blogging, editing and publishing process and
implement a procedure that works well for your team.
3. Humanize Your
Company
A
company blog is an opportune place to let down your hair and get to know your
customers. Think of it as a conversation between people, not between a brand
and one person. In order to have a conversation, you need two people — a
blogger and a reader.
Always
keep in mind that your blog is about people connecting and conversing with
people, not a corporation. Throw away that “corporate” concept, and you’ll be
ahead of most.
4. Avoid PR and
Marketing
If
maintained correctly, your blog will act as a repository of real analysis and
opinions provided by your company’s fine employees. The type of insight and
expertise that a blog can demonstrate is far more useful than any PR pitch that
you could post. Stay away from trying to sell your readers. There are
appropriate venues for that, and your blog shouldn’t be one of them.
Lululemon Athletica, a yoga-inspired athletic apparel
company, constantly adds value to its community through its blog by providing posts on
topics that their core followers would appreciate. Some of the most recent
posts were on how to do a handstand, protect the lower back, and explore
a new city.
Readers
will get a taste of the massive knowledge bank available at your company. Take
your mind off of marketing, and you’ll find that the analysis that you provide
sells your company better than a press release ever could.
5. Welcome Criticism
Oftentimes, corporations shy away from opening up their
websites and blogs for commenting and interaction, because they are afraid of
the harm that criticisms may cause. Make it a policy to welcome criticism,
thinking of it as an opportunity for feedback and improvement. There are lots
of ways
to deal with negative feedback, so don’t be afraid to open up to your
community.
6. Outline a Comment
Policy
Be
aware that if you open up your blog for full feedback (which you should), you
will get a variety of comments — constructive, complimentary, hateful, and
spam. Be prepared for everything. Create a comment policy that your team can
follow, and make sure everyone is on same page. Outline the types of comments
that should be responded to, deleted or passed along for follow-up.
7. Get Social
Make
sure your blog is open for comments and utilizes share tools, such as Facebook,
Twitter and Digg. Share tools allow your users to pass along your content. Why
not allow your readers to promote your work?
Put
forth an effort to respond to comments or forward them on when a specific
employee could offer the best expertise in that area. Make sure each employee
maintains a personable tone when responding to comments, so that readers know
that your bloggers are genuine.
Lastly,
if you haven’t done so already, implement a social media strategy for your
blog, creating the appropriate profiles across social networks that your
readers and customers are active on. Usually, Facebook and Twitter are a good
start, and YouTube is a must for video-sharing. When you post on your blog,
announce the new post on your social networks and ask for your readers’
opinions on the subject.
Promote your social presence on your blog, by implementing
links, buttons and widgets that link to your social profiles. This will enable
readers to stay connected with you across platforms. Whole Foods’ blog, Whole Story, for example,
displays its social links prominently at the top of the blog.
8. Promote Your Blog
Just as you would promote any other company initiative,
get the word out about your blog. Share the URL on your website, social
networks, business
cards,
e-mails, and advertisements.
Without
promotion, building an audience can be difficult. Get behind the quality work
that your team is putting into the blog and promote away.
9. Monitor Mentions
and Feedback
One way to get a pulse on your blog and its effects on the
community is to monitor mentions and feedback. Set up Google Alerts for your brand, blog
name and any keywords that might be relevant. Search on Technoratiand Twitter for those set terms.
To make things easier with Twitter, set up custom search
columns in a Twitter client, such as Hootsuite,
Tweetdeck or CoTweet.
The columns will update in real time, keeping you up-to-date on brand and blog
mentions at all times.
Getting more sophisticated, you should look into social
media brand management tools, such as Radian6, for monitoring
keywords across social sites.
10. Track Everything
You’re probably accustomed to tracking everything, and
your blog is no different. If your blog is a page on your website, make sure
your current web analytics tools are set to track all the same data that it
monitors on your website. If you don’t currently have a web analytics tool,
check out Google
Analytics,
a free analytics tool with an easy-to-use interface. At the
minimum, make sure you’re tracking site traffic, where referrals are coming from,
and traffic-wise which posts are doing best. Learn from the data and adjust
your blogging guidelines accordingly.
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