September 14, 2010

Have you noticed a resurgence in blogging lately? I had been, and then eMarketer confirmed it in an article that talks about how more companies are using blogs as marketing tools.

One in three companies will maintain a public-facing blog for marketing this year, according to eMarketer, rising to 43 percent by 2012. "Companies are finding that blogs fill a specific niche that other forms of social media do not," said eMarketer senior analyst Paul Verna.

"Marketers perceive blogs to have the highest value of any social media in driving site traffic, brand awareness, lead generation and sales -- as well as improving customer service," according to Verna.

In other words, it appears that blogging has come of age. They are no longer the domain of nerdy types without friends, loudmouth know-it-alls lounging at home in their pajamas, the too liberal or too conservative, those with no real job other than talk, type, tag, text & Twitter.

Instead, blogs are increasingly being used as a business tool: As a way to grow website traffic, leads and customers, and to boost a company’s visibility. Blog content that is frequently refreshed makes your company more findable in search; and social media tools and platforms allow your content to be shared exponentially, further boosting your reach and visibility.

Blogs are also being used as a way for you to foster deeper relationships with customers and to establish yourself as a so-called thought leader with a finger on the pulse of your industry—whether you sell donuts or data.

In other words, it’s quite possible that a company's blog—not its home page—is the most popular entry point for its online visitors. So it’s critical that you think about creating a blog. Or, if you are already publishing one, you have to make sure that it’s more than meh.

Here are three things your blog needs more than anything else: 

(These three things, by the way, are often overlooked: I’m going to assume that you have covered the fundamentals—like frequent updating, outlining editorial guidelines, and identifying a blogging team or key editor to "own" the blog internally. If you nee a primer, see my colleague Erica Swallow’s excellent one on starting a corporate blog.)

1. A point of view.  In your blog posts (and all your content, for that matter), you don’t want to sound like everyone else. Your blog needs to have a perspective and point of view that expresses who you—as a company—are. 

Are you irreverent? Fun? Contrarian? Down to earth? What makes your company unique? Establishing your own unique perspective helps to differentiate you in a crowded market—to forge a separate and unique identity, to create an enduring and memorable brand—and lays the foundation to create interesting stuff to be shared through social channels like LinkedIn, Twitter or on Facebook.

Literary types might call this your brand "tone of voice." Does the idea of "voice" suggest something artsy-fartsy, completely outside the realm of doing business? In a word: No. In a few more words: The notion of voice actually has everything to do with your business today. Voice is about how you write, certainly. But in a larger sense, it’s also about how you express your brand. It’s about the tone you take in all of your communications and publishing. 

Here’s what I mean: ChickRx is a medical advice site that targets 20-something women and uses a compelling approach that mixes solid expertise with an open, accessible and irresistible tone of voice. The result is a surprisingly interesting and humorous medical site: Who knew health care could be fun, right?

2. Really great headlines.  So often I see really great blog posts that are saddled with limp, lame headlines. That’s practically heartbreaking, because as my friend Brian Clark points out, eight out of 10 people will read a headline, but only two out of 10 will read the post itself.  "Your headline is a promise to readers. Its job is to clearly communicate the benefit you’ll deliver to the reader in exchange for their valuable time," Brian says.

It's important, therefore, to learn how to write a really great headline that piques a reader's curiosity and entices them to read more.  Let readers know how the post will be useful for them, and add an element of intrigue. Simplify a complex subject comprehensively ("How to ___," "9 Ways to ___," convey urgency and expertise ("The Secrets of ___," "What You Should Know About ___"), tell a story ("The Weirdest (or Best, Worst, Funniest, Most Ridiculous, etc.) ____ I Ever Had"), or challenge conventional wisdom (“Why the Experts Are Wrong About…). Brian Clark has assembled a series of posts on help you improve your headline-writing.

One trick I almost always follow is this one: Write the headline before you write the post. Doing so helps you focus on the key idea of the message—the "promise" to the reader Brian talks about—without meandering all over the place and creating a disorganized, overstuffed mess. (I wrote the headline to this post before I wrote post, in fact.)

3. Calls to action. Because your blog——and not your home page—might well be the first thing a potential customer sees, you need to include compelling offers or calls to action to usher visitors from your blog to other areas of your site, or to encourage them to learn more about you and your company. Hubspot's Kipp Bodnar suggests a strong call to action placed in three areas: At the end of a blog post, in the top bar and side bar, and text links within the body of a post. 

What exactly that call to action might be depends on what steps you want prospects to take, or how best you might entice them further, and where they are in the sales process. (Are they highly interested or just browsing?) The call to action might be additional or supplementary content (a webinar, ebook, or so on), or a discount, free trial, or product details.

In any case, create a path for you customers on your blog: Think of your blog as a concierge that directs prospects to the topics that interest them most.

Now: Your turn. What are the must-have components of a corporate blog?

Photo credit:  Tinou Bao

Join the conversation ( 11 )

• Johnny Hempen 1 year 4 months and 19 days ago

  

  There is no more valuable skill you could acquire as a marketer, than the skill of creating attention-grabbing headlines.
  
  It’s a skill that once mastered, can be used anytime, anywhere, to attract more prospects, increase your sales, improve your cash flow, and boost your profits!
  
  Headlines are your “front line” to any market. It’s the first thing most
  prospects see. Your headline is your one big chance to interest and influence a selected audience with your message.

• Steve Shearer 1 year 5 months and 3 days ago

  

  Call to action all over everywhere, cool - never considered that!

• José Manuel Sánchez Zepeda 1 year 5 months and 4 days ago

  

  Hi Ann,
  
  -Simply amazing article-
  It's interesting that with these simple things we can make a change in the way people reach and interact with us as a Company. Here in Mexico, maybe is not so advance the social media approach like the US, but is a future that is really happening today in some niches… I was reading an article about how P&G is using mommy bloggers as a way to show the greatness of all their products to all their target groups... and well all these 3 things are absolutely within.
  
  Sometimes, the first problem I saw is that the Companies. blogs doesn’t have a real blogger for the job, usually is a Director, or a Chief of Department and other day is other people… so.. it losses the first point… It’s a shame… it’s like making a schizophrenia, not only for the blog.. also for the brand or brands. I think what you say in the last thing resumes all: call to action. We can have a great point of view, great headline, great brand, and a cool approach… but if you don’t connect emotional and rationally, well.. it’s a waste of time.
  
  Thanks again Ann for the Article.

• Ann Handley 1 year 5 months and 9 days ago

  

  Thanks, Jennifer!
  
  Two thoughts:
  
  1. I believe the eMarketer study includes B2C as well as B2B. That could account for some discrepancy.
  
  2. Re the gap... we call this the "confidence gap" in the report. I believe it's because businesses aren't producing the right kind of Content. In other words -- it's not just about blogging or social or whatever. It's about writing compelling stuff that engages your customers. (Which happens to be a passion of mine -- it's the focus of "Content Rules.")

• Jennifer Watson 1 year 5 months and 9 days ago

  

  Hi, Ann ... great post! Re: ""Marketers perceive blogs to have the highest value of any social media in driving site traffic, brand awareness, lead generation and sales -- as well as improving customer service," according to Verna."
  
  This seems contradictory to the new junta42/MarketingProfs 2010 Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends report which shows that only half of content marketers use blogs (51%) and most importantly, of these, 60% don't really believe them to be effective.
  
  I wonder why the discrepancy -- does Verna have data to back up his conclusion, or does he just want this to be true? ;-)

• Ann Handley 1 year 5 months and 9 days ago

  

  @Beth Totally agreed. Don't saddle your great post with a "Meh!" headline! Work as *** the headline (or harder) as you do on the post.
  
  @Brandy Sorry to hear you lost out on the job -- but their loss. Your background in journalism makes you (and others like you) a perfect hire for companies who want to include content marketing as part of their mix. (And frankly, that should be anyone doing business online.)

• Ann Handley 1 year 5 months and 9 days ago

  

  @Peg: Thanks for chiming in. So many companies spend a lot of time differentiating visually (with a logo, or a look and feel of a web page), yet they often don't consider voice as part of that equation. So yeah -- voice matters in business!
  
  @Meghan: Right! Headlines are a must. I like the way Brian Clark calls them a "promise," as it's important to both convey the information a reader gets as well as tantalize a little.... make their mouth water for the content, so to speak.

• Brandy Wilson 1 year 5 months and 9 days ago

  

  Hi Ann,
  
  Excellent article. Its interesting to me that you advise company blogs take a point of view. I lost out on a social media job because the company loved my writing, but thought it was too editorial. My degree is in journalism so maybe thats where my writing style naturally defaults. It just seemed to me you'd want your company to have a perspective and not be too neutral. That shows expertise and it also gives your business a personality. This blog validates my opinion on that. So thanks Ann.

• Beth Kelley 1 year 5 months and 10 days ago

  

  We definitely try to maintain a certain tone or voice on our company's blog, and I think headlines are particularly important and often overlooked by corporate bloggers. If a headline doesn't catch my eye, I'm not going to click on the link and read the blog post; thanks!

• Meghan Ingram 1 year 5 months and 10 days ago

  

  Great article - and the title is a good example of your point about writing great headlines!
  I am especially interested in your advice about having a point of view: my company's blog tends towards an informative slant, to encourage readers to come to us for solid advice about marketing. I am inspired to continue critiquing our posts and incorporating topics and headlines that will interest our readers. I agree that consistency in voice is a must!
  Thank you for a solid article that reinforces some key points that blog editors and authors should be observing.

• Peg Mulligan 1 year 5 months and 10 days ago

  

  Hi Ann,
  
  Great article on on taking blogging to the next level.
  
  Your advice on voice, resonated with me especially as a writer, but just as importantly, as a business person. This insight is so on the mark:
  "The notion of voice actually has everything to do with your business today. Voice is about how you write, certainly. But in a larger sense, it’s also about how you express your brand. It’s about the tone you take in all of your communications and publishing. "
  
  Voice is such an advanced concept to teach (in writing classes), because it's really a quality that ensues from the center...the same with business...If the business doesn't know itself or have that center (branding), it's going to be more difficult to blog with a unique tone & differentiate your site from the pack...
  
  Thanks for reminding us how interwined voice and branding are, as well as providing the additional blogging stats and tips.
  
  Peg