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Jun '16
What is a ‘blog’? Well, a blog is an online forum through which you can regularly provide updates and commentary to your audience, typically in a more informal style than traditional journalistic publications. A corporate blog can be used as an additional means through which the skills and expertise of a given company can be marketed to current and potential clients. Now that you know what a blog is, how do you go about writing a blog?
- First, you need to establish your goals in writing the blog. You need to decide what you want to tell your audience.
- Second you need to establish the purpose behind your blog; why your audience should visit your blog. You need to figure how what you have to say that would be beneficial to your audience. For example, if you are a financial planner, providing insightful market commentary, budgeting advice or up to date stock information may be things that are useful for your audience.
- You need to know who your audience is and target them accordingly. It would safe to say that your primary audience member would likely be your customers – current and prospective. However some clients may have different needs than others. For example, a realtor may choose to target homeowners who they know are looking for new homes or those that have been in their current homes for a while, as opposed to those clients who have just purchased their new house.
- You need to establish a blogging schedule. For some bloggers, weekly content is best, others perhaps once a month will suffice. If you are blogging about matters that are time sensitive and frequently reoccurring, then you will need to blog more often than with content that rarely changes.
- Develop your blog’s brand. Not only does your writing style matter, but the graphics, style and themes used also play a role in creating a blog brand.
- Actually write your blog! Think of compelling content, insightful commentary, trending and relevant subject matters. Focus on specific topics. For example instead of tackling Financial Diversification, limit your blog to a specific topic, ie TFSA or RRSP or Mutual Funds, etc.
- Market your blog. There are numerous ways to market your blog. You can promote your blog on your corporate website, link to other corporate social media accounts, use hashtags, advertise the blog link in your email signature, submit your site to google search and blog directories, amongst other marketing means.
- Measure the success of your blog. Find out who is reading your blog. Track the number of visitors to your page, how many times your blog is cited or shared online.
Once you have decided on writing a blog and need help getting up and running, give us a shout! We can help you establish the blog, the content, the schedule, and measure your success. Let Now You’re Trending get your blog up and trending.