More and more companies create blogs on their websites or start full-fledged media that compete in topics with independent publications. It’s not a trend at all; the reason is the effectiveness of content marketing. Standard advertising tools no longer produce a wow effect and do not give the opportunity to fully build communications with existing customers.
As a rule, when creating a blog or corporate media, enterprises have two goals: the loyalty of current clients and the influx of new ones. Achievements under the first goal are measured by the value of the lead and the value of the buyer, comparing it with standard advertising tools. Progress under the second goal is measured by indicators such as average check, revenue from the client for the year, and the outflow of consumers.
However, many companies decide to create and maintain a client blog. The reasons for rejecting such a decision lie in stereotypes. Let’s look at a few of them.
Stereotype 1 — “It’s Expensive”
A key factor in defining “Expensive” or “Cheap”, of course, is comparison. Often, when creating a blog or media, businesspeople are in pursuit of how to write a great blog and perceive this as an unmeasured investment in the image. In this regard, it can be classified as “expensive”, because the effect will be incomprehensible. The result remains only in belief that the blog works for the welfare of the corporation.
If you invest in a blog to get real benefits, correctly configure analytics and compare it with the indicators of other advertising tools, then the blog will go into the “cheap” category, because the real benefits in the form of new customers and current loyalty will be measured in money and it will be possible to match blog revenues and expenses.
Stereotype 2 — “It Doesn’t Work”
The fact is that the very concept of “It Works” cannot be fixed to any tool forever. Someone has successful contextual advertising, but in other cases, it doesn’t work and this is normal. As for the corporate blog, it perfectly attracts SEO-traffic, and also returns regular customers via email and social networks. It’s still not enough to attract traffic to the blog, because you need to convert readers into buyers.
Stereotype 3 — “The Client Doesn’t Care If the Company Has a Blog”
Of course, people come to a certain firm not because it has a blog. On the other hand, there is a difference and it is significant. If we talk about new clients, signing up for your blog greatly increases the conversion into a deal. Those who came through the blog already know what you can offer. Working with your current customers, you increase the frequency of communications with them. This dramatically raises loyalty to your enterprise and also raises interest in your new products.
How to Create a Corporate Blog
To get started, you need to decide on the person who will be responsible for blogging. Keep in mind that you will have to control him or her, including the operational level. Then your next steps will include:
- Development of editorial policies;
- Content plan creation;
- Finding the writers;
- SEO blog promotion.
When setting up analytics, consider such important KPIs as:
- Blog audience reach, viewing depth and time spent on the blog;
- Readability of materials;
- Conversion to blog subscribers.
Finally, running the blog will require:
- Employees with competencies in the fields of content production, SEO, marketing and analytics;
- Contractors for SEO-promotion and development;
- Time from 1 to 3 months to launch the project.
As an alternative, you can delegate the creation of the blog to an outsourced company. Sometimes it can be cheaper, faster and better.
In Conclusion
A corporate blog is not a manager’s wish — it’s a working communication tool that brings new customers and keeps current ones. It is necessary to create and maintain a company’s blog, but it has to be done correctly, with clearly defined goals and data digitization. If you are well-prepared to organize your blog, then you’ll get a return on investment by attracting new clients through it, increasing the average check for current purchasers, and reducing the outflow of existing frequenters. So, why not start right now?
