One of the most common mistakes that corporate blog owners make is turning their blog into a glorified sales letter. While there is a place for sales copy on a blog, it should only be used when absolutely necessary, and never as the main form of communication. No one really likes being “sold to,” and if you are noticing that there has been a drop off in your readership, you may be overselling your blog a bit. Here are some signs to watch out for to keep your blog from turning into a sales letter.

1. Product placement ratios go up.

There is nothing wrong with promoting your products in your corporate blog. In fact, that’s why many bloggers decide to get into this form of communication. However, if you are writing more about your products and worrying less about creating a relationship with your readers, you may end up in a bad spot. Try to keep your product placement ratio to one for every three to four posts. It’s best to use soft selling techniques, rather than blanket attempts to promote your products.

2. Your blog posts become impersonal.

Even the best copywriters have issues with overselling, and it’s all too easy for a corporate blog owner to fall into this trap. The harder you sell your products, the more removed you become from your audience. Again, try to find that balance between actual communication and selling your merchandise. In order to keep that relationship strong, consider posting more about how a product will benefit your readers, rather than throwing it in their face.

3. You start to get complaints.

If you have gotten one or two complaints that your blog is simply selling too much, this is an indication that you may need to think hard about your posting procedures. Those one or two people are only the ones that took the time to write and you have to consider just how many people walked away, instead of contacting you. You are writing your corporate blog for your audience first and foremost, to set up that relationship of trust – not to endlessly pitch your products at them.

4. You notice your page views declining.

This is a common sign that something is wrong with your blog. It could be a natural turn of events, or it could be a sign that you are drifting from your initial purpose. Once you start to develop that relationship with your readers, it’s tempting to try to monetize them by selling your products. However, it’s a fine line to cross over and it’s all too easy to end up losing readers as a result. Monitor your stats and see if you are noticing any drop-offs when you post promotional material.

While corporate blogs are a powerful medium for product placement, they should not be abused. Always keep your main focus in front of you and remember that the relationship with your customer and reader has to come first.

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Originally posted 2008-10-06 05:29:39. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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A corporate blog can be an incredibly powerful sales tool and many people begin this practice simply to sell more products. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but before you start, it is vital to learn the art of product placement. Blogging is similar in many ways to television and other media, but when it comes to product placement, there a few very big differences.

Have you ever stayed up late and watched an annoying infomercial? Most have, and even if you are vaguely interested in the product, it’s still pretty tough to get past the hype. Now, let’s put this in terms of a blog. If your blog is one long infomercial with no actual content of any value, chances are your efforts will be in vain. No one likes to read an infomercial – especially one that stretches on ad infinitum.

So, how do you still sell products on your blog, but avoid this trap? The answer is actually pretty simple. You need to develop a ratio of informative posts versus posts that contain product placement. You also need to work on inventive ways to integrate product placement into informative posts. Let’s cover the first one and then move to the second.

A good ratio to have to avoid sounding like the world’s longest infomercial is three informative posts for every post that contains a product placement. Yes, this only gives you about one chance a week to sell a specific product if you only blog once a day. However, the chances of that one post being effective are much higher than if you post nothing but product spam all week.

The key is to give your readers what they want. That would be informative content that they can use, enjoy, or relate to. No one can really relate to a commercial. Most blog readers are savvy enough to know that companies need to promote their products, and they are okay with the fact that occasionally there may be a post about a specific product. They are not okay with endless promotional posts that offer no value to them as a reader.

Now, let’s cover inventive ways to handle product placement. These are not overt sales pitches, but they can be even more powerful than a direct product placement post. The key here is to find a way to incorporate your product into your informative post that:

1. The flow of the post is not disturbed.
2. The product provides an answer to a problem.
3. The reader is interested in learning more about the product.

This is not as hard as it sounds. A simple well placed link to one of your products and a brief sentence about how the reader will benefit from it can be incredibly powerful. Test out a few techniques to see how well your audience responds to different variants of this technique until you find the one that is right for your blog.

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Originally posted 2008-10-31 05:45:47. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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