With the rise of the Internet, blogging has become one of the most influential means of communication. People and organizations around the world are creating relatively low budget websites created as a forum to share business knowledge and ideas.
In the business world, the method has become an important tool for reaching current and potential customers. Companies take advantage of blogs to raise the profile of the company, as a method of communication with customers and staff, as a means to generate new ideas or as a way to improve its image as a forward-looking company, among other reasons. The thoughts contained in a blog can spread like a virus, delivering powerful new ideas to hundreds of thousands of people in minutes.
For these and other reasons, blogging has become a powerful method that businesses can use for less time, effort, and cost than traditional marketing and public relations. This Quick Guide will provide you with some effective techniques to take advantage of blog marketing.
Monitor the buzz
A good way to determine how your business is doing in the face of the competition is to read public forums dedicated to the products or technologies you sell. Doing so will help you understand your customers. You’ll quickly learn what disgruntled users and customers (and possibly even former employees) think about your company and brand without spending a penny on focus groups or research.
Communicate with bloggers
Marketers familiar with blogging recommend reading all the blogs related to the products you sell. If you start your own business blog, it is also a good idea to engage in dialogue with users and other people who post regularly. While some use a web registry simply as a forum to vent, your ideas can provide valuable information that can help you fine-tune your messages and improve customer service. Responding to the blogging community is not only a good way to promote your product or brand, it is also an effective method of correcting false or inaccurate information. You can humanize your company with a corporate blog, either with one or more employees and even senior management personnel, such as a CEO, contributing to the blog. Businesses of all sizes can take advantage of a blog to open a dialogue and thus build closer relationships with users and customers.
Advertise on blogs
Targeting a blog audience relevant to the product you are selling is a valuable form of advertising. Research shows that blog readers typically read another 20 blogs a day. Therefore, any message directed at bloggers spreads exponentially, maximizing the money spent on blog advertising.
Vary your banner ads
Since users tend to visit blogs frequently, it is important to change the content of banner ads regularly. Banners and text must be relevant to the blog. If you are starting your own blog, you could try creating a blog topic along with a series of related announcements.
Helpful tips for creating your own blog
If you’ve decided to develop your own blog, the following basic guidelines will help you create one that people will actually read and respond to:
Create interesting content
To ensure that readers visit your blog and share the information you provide, you need to keep them interested. Therefore, it is essential that you offer useful ideas and content. It is also important that you develop a unique style. And don’t be ashamed to post ideas that others won’t agree with. That will only generate more buzz for your blog.
Blog often
Especially if your blog is popular, you should post frequent comments and updates. Often times, it is a good idea to publish a minimum of five posts per week. And the more you post to your blog, the more likely your blog will appear on the list.
Google News index that is updated daily.
Don’t forget about the distribution
Consumers and others new to blogging may have a hard time finding a blog, so it’s essential that you make it easy for them to find yours. Make it easy for news subscribers to locate your blog through web search engines like Google and Yahoo, and using RSS search engines, including Google Blog Search, Bloglines, Feedster, and Technorati. This will ensure that your blog is well promoted.
Conclusive thoughts
I hope you enjoyed this article and that it helps boost your marketing effort, allowing you to increase sales. Thank you for reading!