EnglishHave I found the right recipe? More questions than Answers?
Early this morning I received a beautiful Mother’s Day card from my dear daughters. What a lovely surprise I thought. I treasure these moments, and save the masterpieces to recall on a future rainy day. I am a very lucky mum since I get to celebrate Mother’s Day three times a year. Our household is partly British, partly Hungarian and we live in Austria. Today I am celebrating a traditional British Mother’s Day. In May I will celebrate the event again twice, firstly in Hungarian style then according to the Austrian tradition. I have noticed that my children have decided that I am Mom and not Mum, as our beautiful English language becomes more Americanized. However, I suspect that two countries divided by a common language may become a more contentious subject for a future blog.
In a sense, my children have already started this year’s blog on the theme of Mother’s Day around the world. I will read their blogs again, but how many of you will read mine? My regular blogs have become an integral part of my working routine. As I write this blog I think to myself, is my blog working? Is it fulfilling its purpose? Does it successfully promote my company, its image and its leading edge products? Is my blog attracting enough of the right kind of traffic? Could there be a traffic jam somewhere along the road?
Whilst blogs have their roots in dialogues my aim is to encourage more dialogue; to stimulate and encourage discussion. My aim is to do what all good blogs should do, encourage my readers to follow up and to learn more. Whilst sharing information with my readers, I would like to captivate their imagination and encourage them to find out more. Whilst writing, I am always thinking about my target audience; therefore my key goals are to involve, to inspire, to inform, to engage and captivate my readership.
It is good to know that I do have some followers out there. Writing my blog at home I often wonder how I might attract readers. I merely desire to stimulate conversation and engage people to explore unexplored some avenues. But isn’t it nice to know that my followers are enjoying the content. What are the current events and buzzwords which will catch their attention today I wonder?
This thought process led me to re-examine the prime purpose of my blogs and reassess if they are fulfilling the role for which they have been designed within our corporate strategy, and accomplishing their purpose within the Company’s Mission Statement.
It is the 20th anniversary of the term, “blog”, and (short for weblog). Prior to the existence of the blog, companies simply distributed and shared their information through, now outdated, online posting systems. Today, blogs have become a mainstream way for corporations across innumerable industries to sell not only themselves but also their products, beliefs, identity, personality and character of the company.
Blogs are an essential source of information and education and they are paramount to increasing a company’s online visibility and digital reach. In short, if your company does not currently have a blog, get moving.
Of course blogs are now an integral part of corporate business strategy. They are no longer optional for a company’s success, they are a must. From the humble origins of blogging it has turned into an important industry with many large corporates employing teams of professional bloggers. Companies now require a mission statement with clearly defined goals. But how to measure success? Are we fulfilling our mission? So I am keen to know not only if my blog followers are increasing in number but if my blogs are translating into a successful business strategy for this Company.
Blogs are the way forward for companies not only to sell their products, but much more. The Company’s approach to business, its underlying baseline strategy and commitment remain the key information that those reading these blogs will discover. My blog aims to focus on business first and foremost. Companies look at how potential clients search for information, and increasingly discover exactly what it is they are looking for; nowthe role of corporate blogs becomes even more obvious. Companies aspire to online visibility through their blogs to ensure that it is within digital reach of their existing and potential client base.
Nevertheless, measuring blog traffic is not a precise science, but it can provide a good indication if we are moving in the right direction. Generous statistical data can be churned out, but what to do with all this fascinating information about the visitors to my blog? Is my blog being shared, and if so, why? What are the parameter variables?
Corporates are still searching for the right recipe. Recent surveys have indicated that not only is the return on blogginghigh, but also that blogging is one of the most cost-effective forms of communication. The real cost, once the blog base has been constructed, is its platform which comprises the resources dedicated to its maintenance, scheduling, writing, spreading and follow-up.
Whilst social media come and go, blogs provide a much broader and longer lasting social and inter-personal presence. Search engines clamour for good blogs if content matches what people seek, and is relevant. How do people search for information nowadays? And how do they find it? Yes, and that’s where the corporate blog comes in. The advance of social media had provided companies with a new platform to display its wares with a myriad of opportunities.
So, in essence, SEO is key to the success of my blog! Getting comments and feedback allows corporations to pursue several business goals, solicit input and feedback on virtually anything we would like to know. In fact, blogs can be used as a permanent feedback source and monitoring system, integrated with other more sophisticated monitoring tools. Corporate blogs have inadvertently become the lifeblood of the corporate website and prime drivers not only of social interaction but also for key account targets. Research has demonstrated that there is a direct correlation between the costs of leads for potential customers, and the use of blogs.
Whilst it is important for us to tell our readers what is that we want to tell them, it is also important for us to listen to them and find out what it is that they want to hear. Since the advent of social media, corporate blogs are more than ever used as social media hubs. In some cases social networks can also be social media hubs and even the corporate website offers various – underused – possibilities regarding social media marketing.
However, the content of corporate blogs is not the final goal, but simply a means to an end. Today, more than ever before, buyers, sellers, journalists, potential prospects and professionals increasingly seek relevant content. They have more channels to do so and with the advent of social media, they can share and find it in many ways.
Corporate blogs have a defined place now in our social landscape and growing companies must focus on this medium to move forward as a matter of good practice. Client engagement is about taking the right steps within the context of interconnection. Ultimately, it’s about positive action and reaction, and that’s how my blog will be measured. Corporate blogs provide the quintessential role in client acquisition and as such they have direct impact on the ROI of inbound marketing. This is the primary reason why corporate blogs matter; our prospective clients consult them. Emphasis on relevance, addressing ideas, responding to questions and stimulating the concept of a trustworthy client focused source of news, views and informationis the key to success.
Having a unique blogging perspective will demonstrate acompany culture, whilst continuing to adapt to the latest technology and blogging techniques.
Looking forward to receiving your thought provoking responses.
Krisztina Begg
Senior Consultant
[email protected]