The question of whether every organisation needs to have a blog or even be part of social media is a decision most management boards need to summon courage to take. I have attended meetings and made presentations on these issues and I believe the responses depend on marketing strategies, target market and a variety of other factors. But then, it is still in the interest of every business to have an authoritative, official corporate blog. Smart brands are already looking beyond hard selling and push tactics and are already looking to business blogging to build credibility, trust and profits.
When the blog was first launched, most writers and other individuals jumped on it because it created a platform to write, create more content and connect with people interested in their content. It empowered people who were not given a chance by traditional media a decent shot at income and global relevance. It simple made people authorities on the subject matter because other people were looking online for their source of credible information.
As people began to trust people with, businesses began to realise that people who had blogs were establishing businesses based on the amount of traffic and business enquiries they were getting. Smart businesses have begun to make inroads into the business of blogging.
While some organisations have established social media communication platforms, it is still not enough. Apart from the now obvious dangers of putting all your efforts on other people’s online platforms, most people may miss tweets and status updates especially if they are not watching Facebook every second and don’t check the history of their friends’ pages.
With more and more people getting smart by avoiding clicking on online adverts, you need to put your energies and dollars where it matters most –people are already searching online for stuffs they need to get done. Business blogging is however not the opportunity to use blogging like an advertising channel. It is not an opportunity to copy and paste your traditional press releases and flyers.
Blogging focuses on contextual content valuable to your target market. Blogging offers a place for conversation and must be seen to be friendly, enhance connectivity and encourage consumer feedback and responses.
Prompt response
Especially in the event of a crisis, a corporate blog becomes a potent tool for timely response. While rumours and false information may travel very fast in this age of social media, people will readily believe an authoritative blog when it releases information. Especially when it has been established for a long time, people will readily turn to official portals when they are looking for authentic information from and about a business.
Search engine optimisation
With a blog linked to your corporate website, Google will fall in love with your site. It is no news that Google has a way of knowing frequently-updated content and tend to rank them well. Done well, your corporate blog will rate you higher on search engines, driving more traffic to your site.
There’s a huge source of business prospects, clients and targets that come from search engine results queries. A large chunk of prospect comes from people who are entering exact phrases they are searching for (keywords) online and are hoping to get results that tally with their queries. Search engines love blogs and blogs will ensure you get the targeted customers. If your competitor’s content ranks above yours, then you are losing market. Over 85 per cent of people who visit search engine click on the first search queries.
Way beyond begging magazines to get the news about your business out into the media, you need a platform that also confirms what the press is saying is true. Most times the media won’t get your information out exactly the way you want it. Especially when there are competing interests and for organisations when the corporate communications department whose frustrations are glaring after toasting and courting editors in getting your information into the news, you need to have your own digital press online. When you need to respond to a damaging article in the press, it is annoying how your response appears on a tiny space lost inside pages of the newspaper as against the damaging article which makes front page.
Reach the newspapers
The newspapers have finally conceded to trying to catch up with trending news on the Internet and social media platforms in general. More and more newspapers are quoting blogs and bloggers as their source of information and even currently rely on social media sites for images and events.
More and more reporters are spending their time combing Twitter and blogs for news and use them in reporting. If reporters covering your industry know you have a blog and it is frequently updated, they are likely to visit it to get regular stories for readers.
Build credibility
Because the person who provides credible information ultimately becomes credible, going the blog route ensures you remain the main source of information for people in your industry. In fact, blogging became a blue ocean strategy for small businesses who wanted to compete favourably against their bigger corporations. Big brands also need to compete in this space as it affords them the opportunity to reach and engage their huge customer base.
Build your own profitable community
Because of the ability to accommodate feedback, a blog affords businesses an opportunity to build a community of readers, loyalists and ultimately customers. Once you have built a bit of traction on the platform, it is easy to figure out how to make this profitable for you and your business.
Company blogs are now a standard practice in every industry. And its profitability potential, which may be slow, is huge and enduring.
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