Blogging

What can businesses do with blogs? Some generic goals/outcomes of blogging: Establish yourself or your company as the industry expert Deliver organizational messages to large audiences Promote and sell products, services, brands and concepts and communicate organization personality Create and maintain relationships with customers and consumers Conduct market research and R&D Public relations tool Mimic social media functionalities/features like community, crowdsourcing, ratings, commentary, etc. Drive prospects and customers to other digital and offline content (web, mobile apps, store, etc.)

Kinds of Blogs Industry Resource Blogs Product Blogs Internal Blogs Advice / How-To Blogs Review / Evaluation Blogs Goal / Event Driven Blogs News Blogs

Schaefer’s Blog Content Types Evergreen Content: Always useful, timeless Identity Content: Who we are, Who you are, Why we are the same People Content: Here’s what we / you are doing lately Bread and Butter Content (instructional, diagnostic, proof): Take our survey to diagnose your health

General Blog Guidance Be human and personable Share your personal life stories (AA meeting!) Altstiel/Grow: Be transparent, original, relevant and responsive Find and write in your own unique blogging voice Usually your goal is to spark conversation Sales pitch / marketing copy should be “passive”, sidebar or non-existent Experiment with content types / approaches to see what works best (Minimum Viable Blog) Once you “hit it”, lock in and be consistent in your approach, tone, copy style, etc. Post as often as your content keeps readers engaged and time allows Be ultra-patient, but not for too long.

General Blog Guidance The headline has to grab readers and be SEO optimized Put the “punchline” in your first paragraph/sentence. “Perfect is the enemy of good.” “Done is usually better than perfect.” Be better than your static website. It’s about “them”, not you. Blogger profiles are helpful. Get initial comments any way you can! Guest Blogging (hosting guest bloggers and being a guest blogger) can attract readers and enliven blogs

How long should blog posts be? New or established blog? How long was your last post? How soon is your deadline? 250-1,000 words per post is the typical range Posts that are too short or too long index worse on search engines What else are you including? (videos, images, links, blogrolls, etc.) Are you trying to solicit comments? Is all of your writing engaging? How does your bounce rate respond as you vary blog length? Preview your post before posting! Should be longer than twitter and facebook posts. What is the post’s readability (grade level)?

Blog Content Plans Similar to the ad campaign creative brief Blog Objectives Intended Audience / Revealed Audience Core Topics / Blog Scope Posting Schedule / Deadlines Cycle Ownership and Responsibility Be ready to constantly modify all the above!

Schaefer’s Blogger Types Dreamers Storytellers Persuaders Teachers Curators Some or all of the above… Take the quiz on p.63 to determine which blogging style may be best for you.

What do people want from blogs? Advice, Tips Moral Support Knowledge and “Smarts” Adventures and Exotic “Travels” Entertainment Health and Well-Being Community / Belonging / Friendship To Experience Your Passion

Personal vs. Business Blogs Personal modes of blogging – Blog as personal motivator / achievement tool – Blog as introspection tool – Blog as sharing tool Conversion from personal to business blog can be difficult – May be best to “stay the initial course”

Special Blogging Considerations Allowing commentary – To allow or not to allow? – To moderate or not? Handling negative feedback – Can actually legitimize your blog, brand, site, etc. – Acknowledge and respond! – Only apologize when you need to apologize. – Follow the law and company’s social media/blog policy – Respond privately? Outsourcing the copywriting

Blog Performance Tracking Klout score (klout.com) Alexa Rankings (alexa.com) Quantcast Rankings(quantcast.com) Position on blog directories (blogtopsites.com) Google / Bing page rank Trackbacks / Inward links Traffic, Activity and Conversion (TAC) [Schaefer] Specific Internal TAC Measures – Unique Visitors/Page Views – Subscribers/Followers/Shares – Comment Frequency and Velocity – Call to Action Conversions – Cross-platform referrals – Bounce rate

Blog Reel

Dunkin Donuts Blog

My Starbucks Idea Blog

Whole Foods “Whole Story” Blog

Twitter Blog

Blendtec Product Blog