Most of our clients at The Simons Group are b-to-b, and they often ask questions such as, “Do I really need to pay attention to social media?” “Does my business need a blog?” “How are other b-to-b companies using blogs and other social media to their advantage?”
The short answer? There is no short answer.
When it comes to business blogging, keep the following in mind …
Why do I need a blog?
- It’s a cheap, easy and effective form of marketing. Blogging is a way to push content to clients, prospects and other target audiences cheaply, quickly and effectively.
- It makes you look good. When done right, a blog can demonstrate how your company is walking the walk. By blogging about important industry news, conferences and employee-attended events, and concrete examples (in the form of case studies, testimonials and anecdotes) of what makes your company great, you can establish your business as a more trustworthy, knowledgeable, innovative organization.
- It helps SEO. A blog can help with your SEO efforts, assuming it’s properly optimized and contains quality content that is updated frequently. If your blog is separate from your Web site, the links on the blog that lead to your site can give your company’s Web site a rankings boost. Blogs within your company’s Web site also boost SEO, thanks to one simple principle: The more quality content you have on your site, the higher the chance of someone finding it through a search engine. Plus, search engines typically favor sites that are frequently updated, or “dynamic,” rather than “static” Web sites that rarely change.
- It’s a great conversation starter. Your blog can help you gain insights from customers, test new ideas and seek valuable feedback. The comment section of your blog is a valuable tool for encouraging conversation.
Are other companies benefitting from blogging?
YES! There are several companies, many of them b-to-b, that have hugely successful blogs. Among them:
- 37Signals, a company that builds Web-based applications for companies large and small, has a blog that boasts nearly 100,000 RSS subscribers – a huge accomplishment for any blog, let alone a corporate one. How’d they do it? Many point to the fact that they rarely blog about their products and services, instead favoring topics that are timely, relevant and interesting to their target market.
- Lenovo, a company that makes PC’s, primarily for customers in business, government and education, has several blogs, and recognizes that there is a delicate balance between promoting a company and writing helpful, thought-provoking posts.
- Adobe takes a daring and innovative approach to corporate blogging by allowing their employees to create their own blogs, making their communications about Adobe products more honest and believable, and allowing them to throw their own interests and opinions into the mix. While the blog isn’t much to look at, Adobe customers appreciate the content.
- Dozens of other great examples include blogs from Sun Microsystems, Seagate and Accenture.
Don’t be intimidated by the size and complexity of some of these corporate blogs/blog networks. One simple, common thing makes them all successful: They deliver content that target audiences find useful. They don’t over-promote products and services, and they aren’t boring (at least not to the audiences they are geared toward).
What not to do.
Blogging, like many things in life, is only worth doing if done right. Don’t sabotage your business’ blog by doing any of the following:
- Being too “salesy.” Talking about things that are relevant to your industry and customers is crucial, but there is a fine line between being informative and too commercial. Most people see through even the most subtle soft-selling. That’s not to say you should never talk about your company and its accomplishments; your blog should be a good mix of modest self-promotion and informative, entertaining content that isn’t directly self-serving.
- Letting your blog die a slow, painful death. Blogging requires commitment. At a minimum, post once a week, but strive for three to four times a week if you can. One solid post per week, in addition to a couple shorter posts (such as quick reactions to industry news, questions to your audience or link roundups) is enough to keep readers interested and engaged.
- Taking yourself too seriously. No matter how traditional, buttoned-up or serious your industry, your blog is the place to let loose a little. This isn’t an annual report – feel free to be a little bit more casual in your language and tone, and don’t be afraid to use humor to inject a little personality into your blog.
- Having bad design. While a number of successful blogs feature less-than-beautiful designs, a nice-looking, polished site that is aligned with your company’s overall branding can help immensely when it comes to attracting and keeping readers, especially for new bloggers and smaller companies.
- Ignoring SEO. Blogs can do wonders for your site’s SEO, as we mentioned earlier. The same SEO practices that apply to your company’s Web site (keyword selection and frequency, URL structure, meta data and links, to name a few) apply to your blog. Keep your eye out for the next issue of The Simons Scoop, which will include an article about SEO.
Don’t be intimidated by the task of getting your blog off the ground. Your marketing agency can help you get started, and assist with content creation. Plus, most blogging platforms have an extremely simple administration process that allows you to post, respond to comments and make edits.
Does your business have a blog? If not, are you considering starting one? We want to hear your thoughts on using a business blog as a marketing strategy.
