According to Emarketer, the proportion of companies using dedicated blogs as a marketing channel—excluding blogs on social networks and microblogs such as Twitter—will rise to 39% in 2011 and to 43% by 2012.
Emarketer reports that businesses are launching their own blogs for communications, lead generation, customer service and branding primarily for these reasons:
• corporate control of the tool
• its integration with company web properties
• no limits on post lengths
• the ability to maintain a full, searchable repository of information
Successful blogs generally follow these tips and guidelines:
1. Make your blog as non-promotional as possible.
2. Keep it relevant to the reader.
3. Answer your customers’ questions or address their pain points.
4. Be sure it’s well-written.
5. Make it relevant to your company or products.
6. Offer proof or third-party validation to claims you make.
7. Keep each blog posting under 500 words.
8. End each post with a question that encourages dialogue with your readers.
9. Post regularly. Shoot for at least three times each week.
10. Talk in your normal voice.
11. Use real language. Don’t talk over people’s heads.
And once you’ve launched your blog, follow these tips for promoting it:
1. Promote your blog URL on your website.
2. Include the blog URL in your email signature. Encourage your employees to do the same.
3. Put your blog URL on your business cards, direct mail and print advertising.
4. Post your blog on Facebook.
5. Post your blog to your LinkedIn status.
6. Put your blog URL on company invoices as well as other correspondence to customers.
7. Talk about your blog when you speak at events.
Finally, remember that your blog is a promise to customers that you will communicate with them honestly and regularly. So, before you launch a blog be sure you have the time, staff and resources to post consistently and for the long-term.
