Entries Tagged 'audience' ↓
November 21st, 2008 — audience, bloggers, public relations, reputation, writing style
The first two part of this series discussed a semi-recent post made by Matt Cutts, that covered a few things that corporate bloggers need to know. The last point that we’ll cover in this series is what Matt had to say about blogging angry. There is some very powerful information and insight in his post, and we felt it deserved to be expanded upon in greater detail.
Business owners and corporate bloggers are human, and as such, we are subject to emotions. It is easy to get angry and fire off a few heated blog posts. What is not easy is to undo the damage that has been done. While you may be able to delete a bad post off of your blog, you’ll never be able to delete it from your reader’s minds. Posting angry is something that many of us have been guilty of in the past, but few stop to think about how this can affect them in the future.
The urge to vent to your audience and receive a few pats on the back can be very strong, especially when you’ve had a bad day. Whether you feel you have been treated unfairly, or a competitor is giving you a hard time, it is all too easy to lash out on your blog. This rarely works out the way that you plan however, and unless you want your blog to be associated with your rants, there are a few things that you need to do first.
1. Think before hitting the publish button.
As Matt suggests, never fire off a post and hit publish right away. You need to walk away from the situation for a few minutes to get a better perspective. In fact, after you cool down, you may wonder why you got so upset in the first place. If you haven’t hit post, no one will be the wiser to your problem or your outburst.
2. Think about how your readers will react to your post now - and how future readers will react to it.
You’d be surprised at what gets indexed by search engines. Let’s say that you fire off an angry post, and then forget about it. Six months from now, someone searching for information about your company stumbles across this post in a search. The first thing they see about your company is an ugly rant - what impression do you think that will give? You’ve got to look at the big picture, which isn’t easy when you are upset. That’s where the first point comes in.
3. Will the post tarnish your image, or the image of your company.
It’s one thing if readers think you are a blowhard, but how will that trickle down to your company? You are representing the face of your company through your corporate blog. Do you really want the public to see that face when it’s angry? Think about the consequences before you post, and remember that you are responsible for how others view you in many cases.
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November 18th, 2008 — Buildify, audience, blog design, content, engaging ideas, post design, research, sales, writing style
Do you want to utilize social media to the best of its capabilities with your corporate blog? Here are ten secrets that the best social media users are utilizing in order to boost the capabilities of their blogs and other websites.
1 - Do your research!
Why? Because every single successful marketing strategy is based on solid research. You cannot go blindly onto a social media site and expect to get immediate success by submitting your content. Find social media sites that work well in conjunction with your niche.
2 - Interact with the community as much as possible.
Do not completely ignore the community as many social media marketers do , but instead get involved because this is what social media is really all about. Take advantage of the social nature of the platform and interact for better success in your corporate blogging and social media endeavors.
3 - Write FOR your audience.
If you want your content to be hot, and even viral, then you need to write for your audience on these social media sites. Interact with the community and get to know its members, learning about their likes and dislikes for example. Learn what gets the most attention and cater to it the best you can.
4 - Shoot for relevancy at all times.
Relevance is the true key to effective social media marketing. Look at Digg, StumbleUpon and other social networking and social media sites for proof of this fact.
5 - Keep your writing short.
Internet users do not tend to enjoy reading long text passages, preferring instead to scan anything that they are interested in. Be accommodating by keeping your content short.
6 - Good design.
When users come to your page, are they greeted with a design that is clean and welcoming in nature? If not, they may leave! To combat this, simply focus on presenting a good design and you will go far.
7 - Stop trying to make sales.
Another rookie mistake that is commonly made in social media marketing is to try ands ell your products. Promoting your brand is a good thing, but if all you are doing is pimping your products then you are never going to get any respect in the social networking world.
8 - Create Outstanding Headlines.
Your story may be excellent, but your headline is what sells. If you want attention when it comes to social media, you need to have an absolutely killer headline otherwise users will not notice what you are posting.
9 - Help Others Out.
If you want to become a top user or a popular user, you have to help others out rather than simply submitting and promoting the content that you write.
10 - Convert the hottest content.
Capitalize on hot content as often as you can. Make the attention that you garner last for as long as you possibly can by creating more posts to follow the hot ones so visits can read not only your popular post, but also your newer content as well.
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November 14th, 2008 — audience, comments, content, web traffic, writing style
Time and time again, if you are a corporate blogger, you’ve probably heard about the importance of compelling content. What you may not know however is what constitutes this type of content. If you’re not taking the time to craft posts that your readers will find compelling, you may be missing out on a great opportunity. Let’s take a look at a few ways that you can start utilizing these techniques to help increase readership and retain your audience.
1. What is the value of your post?
One of the easiest ways to determine whether or not you have a compelling post is by estimating just how valuable your post really is. Has the topic already been covered in thousands of different venues? Does the post contain information that will somehow help the reader accomplish something? Is your post thinly veiled promotion? Once you know the answer to these questions, you’ll be able to start working on developing content that is truly compelling.
2. How do your readers react to your posts?
If the answer is “I have readers???” you may have a problem here. If you are basically shouting in the wind and you’ve never had a single comment on your blog despite your best efforts to market it, chances are the problem may be a lack of compelling content. This is the type of post that gets people talking, sharing and will help you make the most of viral traffic.
3. Does your post somehow make an emotional connection with the reader?
This isn’t an easy task in many cases. Let’s say that the niche for your corporate blog is washing machines. It can be tough to find a way to make an emotional connection over an appliance. However, it can be accomplished. What do people really care about when it comes to washing machines? Overall price, functionality and whether or not it eats clothes are great stepping stones that can be used to emotionally manipulate your readers (in a good way.)
4. Does the post make your readers want to know more about you personally?
When you create compelling content, you create a relationship with your readers. Once they start writing you personally, you can be assured that you are developing a good audience that is engaged by what you talk about. You may not be writing hard promotional copy with your corporate blog, but what you are doing is building that friendship – the easy way.
Compelling content can be subjective, but generally, it involves an emotional response that is evoked in the reader, and that someone can benefit from, even in a small way. Whether it’s through laughter, tears, or a feeling of “I’ve been there too” compelling content is the secret to success with corporate blogging, especially when you are first starting out.
You’ll be building a reputation as a corporate blogger that can be incredibly useful in the future, no matter what industry you may be working or writing in.
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November 11th, 2008 — Buildify, audience, content, research
The concept of viral content is something that you need to have a firm grasp on if you are trying to get your corporate blog out there. The question of whether or not your corporate blog is viral enough really comes down to what is happening when people visit. What kinds of content are you sharing with your readers? Are you writing content that your readers want to pass around? If you are writing content that is worthwhile to read but does not go very far beyond that, then no, your corporate blog is probably not giving off the feeling of being very viral in nature, which is going to prevent your readers from wanting to share your content with absolutely everyone they know.
In order to make your corporate blog more viral, you need to have a firm understanding of what people find to be viral on the internet. What are the hot subjects within your niche or the industry that your company operates within? Let us say that you are operating within an industry that has to do with working from home, working at a desk, or otherwise working in an office setting. Posting blog entries about productivity in the workplace, a subject that everyone concerns themselves with is something that will get the attention of your readers. Articles regarding being productive while working from home, stretches to do in the office to stay awake, and how to prepare a good cup of coffee using your department’s bland blend are all excellent topics that could become viral in the minds of the right readers.
If you know what it takes to bring your content to a more viral level, then readers will pick up on this excellent copy and want to pass it around. Making something viral is all about turning your blog content into something that is going to inspire feelings like, “My boss would love to read this.” And “I think my sister-in-law will benefit from some of the suggestions here.” And if the first recipients enjoy what they read and see merit in sending it elsewhere, that is when it will continue to be passed around, taking on a truly viral nature as people continue to find reasons to pass it on to someone else in their circle. Imagine if each of your readers send your blog link to a friend, a family member and a colleague every time you posted something noteworthy. Can you imagine the burst in traffic that you would be experiencing on a fairly regular basis at that point? This concept is completely attainable, as long as you learn how to produce noteworthy content that is going to become viral as your readers find it and find reasons to pass it on to people all over the globe. This is the true way to create viral media, and it really is not as difficult as you might imagine as long as you have something to say.
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November 3rd, 2008 — audience, content, search engine, writing style
When you first start your corporate blog, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of coming across a new marketing medium. You suddenly have access to millions of readers that are just dying to know about your products, right? Wrong! Your readers are out there, but they don’t just want to read about what you have to sell. They want to read content that enriches them, makes them laugh, makes them think or simply informs them.
There is a fine line to walk when you are corporate blogging for marketing purposes, and with practice, you can become a pro. There will a few bumps along the road, there always are, but with time, you can develop a solid method of marketing that works on your corporate blog. The key is knowing what to do, and what not to do.
Do: Provide your readers with a resource that will enrich them in some way
Don’t: Post endless commercials about your products that provide no actual value to a reader.
Do: Find ways to integrate your products into posts that readers enjoy.
Don’t: Spam your readers with endless product pitches and hard sells.
Do: Develop a balance of selling products, telling a story, and reporting news
Don’t: Ignore the fact that no one likes a blog that is nothing more than an endless commercial.
There is a trend that is obvious right off the bat with these do’s and don’ts. First, the key is knowing how to market to your audience. Second, you have to find a way to quietly market your products while still providing interesting content. Third, you have to avoid coming off like you are actually marketing your products – even if that is precisely what you are doing.
It can take some time to develop that balance, and there are a few ways to know when you are striking the right chord. Watch your site analytics, pay attention to comments and feedback. If your traffic goes down, or your comments drop off, chances are you are either selling too hard, or not providing your readers with what they want to hear.
Another don’t that bears mentioning is writing your blog solely for the purpose of search engine optimization. Yes, SEO is vital. Yes, SEO will benefit your site, increase traffic and has the potential to increase your sales.
What SEO cannot do is force people to buy your products. Search engines don’t have wallets. Search engines will not buy your products – but people will. You need to write for them – not for the search engines. Find ways to enrich your content with keywords, but keep it readable by human beings. Avoid practices like keyword stuffing, auto generated content, and gibberish. It may take a little longer to get that ranking you want, but along the way you will be appealing to humans, not machines, and it is the humans that you need to reach first and foremost.
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October 24th, 2008 — audience, content, social bookmarking sites
While there are plenty of resources available that tell you what to do when it comes to corporate blogging, there are very few that will let you what not to do. Mistakes are rampant in corporate blogging, especially when you first get started. Not all are dire, but some may have a lasting effect and could harm the future of your blog. It pays to know what you should do and it pays even more to know what to avoid. Here are the most common mistakes made by corporate blog owners.
1. Abusing social bookmarking sites.
Anyone who has ever had their site banned from digg or any of the other major sites knows how frustrating it can be. When you are first getting started with this form of promotion, it is all to easy to get carried away and submit every single post you have. This is frowned upon and will likely buy you the reputation as a spammer, or someone that should be ignored.
There is no doubt that social bookmarking is powerful, but that power should not be abused. Submit your posts sparingly, and avoid black hat techniques for promotion. Study which of the posts make it to the front page of these sites and then see which of your own would fit that general form. If necessary, write posts that will appeal to the users of these sites, but always remember the integrity of your site.
2. Failing to post pictures in your blog.
This is an easy one and it is also the one that trips up many blog owners. Have you ever seen a pictureless blog? It’s flat, it’s boring and there is nothing on the page to draw the eye. Pictures, when used properly, enhance your blog. A lack of pictures makes it dull.
Try to stick to one picture per post, or even every other post. If necessary, post more than one but remember that not everyone has a high speed connection. Optimize those images, use them sparingly and remember that a picture is worth a thousand words.
3. Ignoring your audience.
This is deadly to any blog. If you are not paying attention to what your reader’s want to know, then you may as well quit blogging right now. While you can’t please all of your readers all of the time, you can find ways to make them feel included, and to write what they want to know about.
One of the best ways to determine what your audience wants to know is by using an analytic program that will give you more insight into your site’s traffic. Pay attention to the keywords that are used to find your site, pay attention to what searches are performed and measure traffic to see how effective your posts are.
While there are certainly more mistakes that can be made, these are the most common. Try to avoid making them on your own corporate blog and you’ll be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
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October 21st, 2008 — audience, keywords, promotion, web traffic, writing style
Growing traffic to your corporate blog is not a difficult process if you know what to do. If you have a corporate blog and you need to grow your traffic base, here are some simple steps that will help you create a more effective overall corporate blog.
1 - Know who you are targeting.
What types of readers or customers are you hoping to attract? Before you can grow traffic to your blog you need to know what kind of traffic you are intending to attract. Come up with a list of the types of readers that you want to gain the attention of, then fine tune your writing accordingly.
2 - Now that you know who you are targeting, the next step is to become savvy when it comes to keywords.
Choose good keywords, not necessarily the most popular, but still keywords that will benefit you. Choose keywords and phrases that are on target, on topic and on subject without them being searched for by absolutely everyone. There are a lot of software solutions out there that will give you a good idea of what keywords to use, such as WordTracker for instances which allows you to test out different words and phrases.
3 - Focus!
Make sure to liberally cover your postings with the words and phrases that you chose. This is not always easy for people who are not trained in SEO, but with some practice you can learn how to implement important keywords into your blog. Search engines like Google are beginning to use advanced algorithm technology that allows them to analyze the nature and subject of your page in order to index it more efficiently, so the more keyword rich your blogs are, the better off you will be.
4 - Make your blog real and personal.
In other to build the most value possible in your corporate blog in order to build traffic, you need to write consistently, regularly and passionately. You have to care about the subject that you are writing about, which is what will allow you to deliver the content that readers are looking for. If you want your prospects, vendors, partners and customers to believe in the content that you are posting, you need to post content with true value and meaning.
5 - Now that you are writing the types of content that your potential target markets are looking for, the final step is to promote yourself!
Use every ounce of marketing know how that you have to help your blog reach out to your target readers. Mention your blog on your website and in your direct mail correspondence. Mention it in your newsletter and utilize RSS feed links. E-mail your contacts with information about what is currently going on in your blog, and implement other advertising campaigns like Google AdWords, Ad Sense and other vital gateways to much larger networks.
“Build it and they will come” is not enough, but once you build your blog, the next step is to spread the word if you want your ideal target market to find you.
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October 20th, 2008 — advertisment, audience, marketing, statistics, web traffic
Listen to corporate blogging evangelists long enough and it’s easy to start thinking that success is going to fall out of the sky and bonk you on the head. However, spend a few weeks implementing all of their techniques and you may end up wondering whether or not all of this hard work is worth the effort. Before you fall into this trap, and give up, it is important to decide whether or not corporate blogging is worth the effort.
As with any good marketing plan, corporate blogging takes time to implement. It is vital to develop smart expectations, and realize that in order to achieve them, you will have to put in a measure of work. While there are a few success stories of corporate bloggers that were instantly successful, it takes the average blogger more than six months to start to see results. If you are not willing to wait that long, you may want to rethink your position.
Let’s look at this problem logically. First, you have a problem – you need to promote your company or products and you have heard that corporate blogging is a great way to do that. The solution is setting up that blog, working hard and being patient. The results can vary widely, based largely on your niche and how much effort you put into implementing the solution.
Corporate blogging is not for everyone and there are some businesses that are not well served by this type of marketing. Realizing that your results may not be nearly what you hoped for is a bitter pill to swallow, especially if you have just spent the last six months of your life slaving away at your blog.
So, is corporate blogging really worth it?
The answer varies on many factors, namely: How much time are you willing to put into the effort, How well you plan to promote your efforts and whether or not you can effectively reach your audience. If you understand this going into your corporate blog, it is easier to develop a solution that will ensure that all of the effort you are putting into this is worth it.
You can work for months on a blog, but if you are not promoting it, if you are not writing posts that readers care about, you are wasting your time. You can wait months to see results from heavy promotion, constant writing and tweaking of your efforts, but if it results in increased sales, it is definitely worth it.
Check the hype at the door and look at corporate blogging logically. It is a powerful tool – but only when implemented, used and promoted properly. Fail in any one of these three categories and you may just be wasting your time.
The best solution for many budding corporate bloggers is to read through case studies of other companies and their blogging efforts. You can learn from their mistakes, develop a more reasonable expectation of results and work to implement the necessary ingredients for your success.
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October 16th, 2008 — Buildify, audience, customer base, research
Once you have made the decision to write a corporate blog, then you are definitely on the right path. However, one of the most important considerations that you need to make when planning for your corporate blog is this: Who are you blogging for? There are two different facets to the answer to this question. The first facet is specifically who you are intending to target, and the second is who is actually reading.
Who are you targeting?
The first thing that you need to figure out when putting together a corporate blog is who you intend on reaching out to. Are you trying to reach new potential customers, or trying to elicit feedback from your readers on the products or services that you offer? Is your main target audience people in the same industry as you, people who operate within your company, or people who are looking to learn more about what you offer?
Who you are intending to write your blog for will determine what you write and how you write it. You need to have a good idea of who your target audiences are when you put together a blog, because a lot of your effort is going to go to writing to reach out to these target readers. If you do not already have a clear cut idea of who you intend to reach out to with your blog, then you have some things that you need to figure out before you start writing.
Who is actually reading?
Something to consider is that the people are reading your blog may or may not be the people who you are actually intending to target. Just because you want to attract new customers doesn’t mean that is who is going to find and want to read your blog. Just because you are attempting to attract people with a certain interest does not mean that is who will find your blog.
You need to be able to determine who is actually reading your blog in order to improve your capability of reaching out to additional readers. Are you attracting people from certain niches? Are you attracting readers but no potential customers? Are you reaching out to the right people, or are you having trouble getting the attention of those who really matter to you? Once you know who you want to target, and once you know who you are actually targeting, that is when you can improve the capabilities of your blog and work on reaching out to new audiences.
One of the biggest questions that you can ask yourself when you start putting together a concept for a corporate blog is this: Who you are blogging for? Once you know who your target audience is, that is when you can truly become effective as a corporate blogger because it will allow you to target your blog entries, website content and other details of your blog specifically to suit your target audience for the greatest effectiveness.
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October 12th, 2008 — Buildify, advertisment, audience, blog design, bloggers, blogosphere, engaging ideas, marketing, money, networking, promotion, seo
Good morning Sunday readers! Are you looking for some blogging tips to help out your blog or thinking of starting one? Check out our quick guide below to some great places for ideas and resources.
General:
Blogging Tips:
Promotion and Advertising:
SEO | Optimization:
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