It's almost hard to believe that a little less than a decade
ago, you could actually keep up with the blogosphere. In the
years between the dot-com bust and the Web 2.0 explosion,
you could count the number of blogs devoted to, say, music
or movies on one or two hands. A few years ago, as blogging
exploded across the Internet, many companies saw an in-house
blog as a cheap and easy way to promote their businesses.
The social media sphere quickly became glutted, however,
with some pundits now arguing that there may be "too many"
blogs. Some companies have even begun cutting blogs and
professional bloggers from their budgets, as online ad sales
shrink due to poor economic conditions. Even if you're
targeting a niche audience, now could be a critical time to
see if you're doing all you can to make your blog stand out
from the pack.
Readers are savvy enough to spot a blog that's little more
than a promotional tool for a company. Unless readers are
already interested in your products or services, they won't
be adding your company's blog to their bookmarks or RSS
reader simply to read bland product announcements or
company-related news. Even as budgets shrink and competition
for readers' eyes becomes fierce, you have to treat your
blog less as an advertising dump, and more as a venue for
original content -- one that happens to be attached to the
website that sells your product or service.
Entertaining and informative posts are your best bets for
hooking readers, keeping them coming back, and hopefully
converting them to customers. Readers become attached to
blogs because of their unique, idiosyncratic voices --
especially when they're humorous voices unafraid to share
controversial opinions. If your readers are receiving a
daily dose of industry editorializing, plus a side of jokes,
it will certainly help your blog stand out from the hundreds
of boring blogs that are content to cut and paste dry press
releases or that offer up a list of links without any
original content.
Many companies and entrepreneurs are afraid to offer up
public opinions about the state of their industries, current
events, or even popular culture. But you want your blog to
develop a community of commenters, eager to discuss your
posts. "Safe" posts or bland news items won't spark much
debate in your comments box. If you can't afford to hire an
outside blogger, see if someone on staff has a knack for
witty, attention-grabbing prose. With time and the right
blogger, your readers may be doing half your work for you,
attracting new readers and maintaining lively comments-box
back-and-forth.
But how do you attract those commenters in the first place?
Well, are you taking advantage of all the cheap/free
marketing opportunities offered in the social media sphere?
Do you have a Facebook group or MySpace page devoted to your
company? Links, or even whole blog posts, can easily be
posted to social media groups and pages. Does your company
have a Twitter account? Customers "following" your Twitter
account can receive instant notification of new blog
updates.
If your company already has a list of opt-in subscribers who
want to receive email or snail mail news updates about your
company, you can send out an invitation to them to join that
Facebook group or follow your company's Twitter updates. You
can also send them regular links to posts of interest on
your blog. (And if your company doesn't have an opt-in list
of email subscribers, now is the time to start building one,
via online submissions forms, advertising circulars, or
in-store sign-up sheets for brick-and-mortar businesses.)
Make sure the person in charge of your blog is also
commenting on other blogs and developing online
relationships with other bloggers; a quick link to your blog
in a comments box or a friendly bit of reciprocal
link-swapping can send more new readers your way than you
might think. News aggregators, though they're often
dependent on readers re-posting your blog updates to sites
like Digg, are also valuable. Adding buttons and links to
news aggregator and social networking sites like Digg,
Stumbleupon, and others to your blog will certainly help the
process along.
While newspapers may be in dire straits and magazines may be
folding, don't discount the role traditional media can play
in promoting your blog. While a press release about a new
blog isn't going to attract quite as much attention as it
might have a few years ago, a press release about a new
feature like a podcast, a blog-only promotion or giveaway,
or a major overhaul to your online presence is still a very
worthwhile expenditure. Make sure a brief mention of your
blog and its unique content goes in the "About" section of
every press release you send out, regardless of what news
you are announcing.
Despite the industry doomsayers, blogs are still a valuable
promotional tool for any company. With more blogs debuting
every day, however, they're not quite as effortless as they
once seemed. With a strong, unique blogging voice, and a
little extra work promoting your blog around the web and
beyond, you can help prevent being buried in the blogalanche.
Keep rockin',
Mickie Kennedy
Founder, eReleases.com
CEO, eReleases.com & Press-Release-Writing.com
http://www.ereleases.com
http://www.press-release-writing.com
Toll Free: 800.990.5545
Phone: 410.931.2966
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