Online, the old adage that “anything goes” may be true, but on your business blog, you need to think about your posting strategy before you write a blog post. What should you write about? Well, it depends on your business. These tips should serve as a guide to help you get started.
1. The Industry – The most common and successful business blogs are used by their owners to discuss current events going on in the industry in which they operate. A telecommunications company may write about a recent legal ruling or a spectrum auction. Our client Intuit writes about small business news, tips, and products. These pieces can be straight news or laced with opinion — if your CEO is doing the blogging (himself or as a ghostwriter), such “thought leadership” can add value in having him seen as a mover and shaker in the industry. (And that can often result in speaking engagements and even book deals.)
2. Your Products – Certain businesses — but not all — can benefit from writing about themselves. This is an especially valuable approach if your company sells tangible goods, the more luxe the better. Women’s fashions, wineries, custom musical instruments — all of these businesses benefit from having devoted fans who will lap up information about new products. If you sell purses, posting pictures of new merchandise along with a little story about each one can be a huge way to interact with customers. (Add in a Facebook and Pinterest strategy for even more success.) Making one-of-a-kind surfboards? If readers can see the process documented on your blog, step by step, you gain instant street cred for “pulling back the curtain” on the process. Video is a good strategy here, too.
3. Your Customers – Profiling your customers as miniature case studies is an excellent way to tell your audience that you care about them, plus it generates instant “word of mouth” testimonials that you can use to market your company. If you profile a customer or user, ask them to share the story widely on their own social networks. Boom, double the marketing power of the story. Check out the GoPayment blog, another client, for some great examples of customer profiles.
4. Anything Else – If you’ve got a huge following on social networks or some noteriety, the door opens a bit wider for you to talk about whatever you want. Mark Cuban, for example, is legendary for his off-topic rants that have nothing to do with the business he’s in. But he has opinions, and people seem to like hearing them, so why not use his platform (his blog) to spread his own personal gospel? If it adds credibility as a pundit — no matter what the topic is — it might have a secondary effect of adding credibility to the business, too. Just be cautious not to offend anyone, especially your customers.