10 Corporate Blogging Tips and Strategies

Ambal from Click Documents asked me if I had any tips/strategies for corporate blogging.  The presentation below is a corporate blogging basics presentation useful for beginning bloggers.  That said, here are the main takeaways.  For more indepth understanding of a content marketing strategy, this content marketing white paper will help.

1. A blog is just a tool, nothing more, nothing less. BUT, it can be a powerful tool to distribute consistent and valuable information to your prospects and customers.  Be sure to focus on the informational needs of your customers, and provide helpful content around those needs. The more niche the better.  Find your expertise area and own it!
2. Not sure how to get started with a robust social media presence? First, focus on your blog and use that as the magnet to attract customers from social networks to your site.  You cannot have a social media strategy without first understanding your content strategy.
3. Match your expertise areas with the needs of your customers.  Every situation where you have expertise and your customer has an informational need is a piece of content that leads to a larger content strategy.
4. There are thousands of blogging platforms.  Pick the easiest to implement. Wordpress and TypePad would be my first and second choices. Larger organizations may want to look into Compendium.
5. Get your blogging ears on and listen.  Use tools such as Google Alerts, Twitter Search and Tweetdeck to actively listen to your community.
6. Where are your customers hanging out?  Find relevant industry blogs using Twitter, Google Alerts and Google Blog Search and begin to read those blogs. A bit later, start to engage and comment with helpful tips.  Once you gather a presence on those blogs, guest blogging opportunities should be considered.  Make a list of at least 10-15 blogs.
7. Automatically spread your message.  Use a service like Twitterfeed to automatically post your blog updates to Twitter and Facebook.
8. Choose a consistent schedule.  Whether it's once, twice a week or even daily, pick a schedule and stick to it.  This blog posts 2-3 times per week and has been doing so for almost three years now.  Of all these points, this may be the most important.
9. Track your performance. Use Google Analytics to monitor which posts are being engaged in the most and where people are coming from.  Do more of the posts that are read, less of the ones that are not.
10. Length and style tips:

• Shorter is often better (250 words).  Get to the point and make it actionable.  Link out to ideas that need more explanation.
• Bullets/Lists do better
• Titles are like magazine covers...their role is to get people to open them.  Work on titles that get people to read your post.
• Integrate video or presentations (embed) whenever possible.  Mix it up!
• Actively link to other bloggers.  They will notice.
• Proofread!

Beginner Corporate Blogging Tips

View more presentations from Joe Pulizzi.

Comments

[Ambal Balakrishnan]

Hi Joe:
Thanx for the detailed post highlighting tips/strategies for corporate blogging. I am going to run down the list and mark off areas in which my team has to improve.

This list combined with Russell's ideas(http://blog.junta42.com/content_marketing_blog/2009/10/creating-consistent-content-a-content-marketing-plan.html) will certainly help my team create a good, blogging+content marketing plan for 2010.
Thanx again.

[tedlsimon]

Joe,
Great tips for anyone looking to get their blog started or improve their current efforts (be it corporate or personal). I plead guilty to violating #8...and probably a few others as well.

Keep up the great work...enjoy following you!

[Jody Pellerin]

In support of #8 I can say that readership definitely increased when I blogged more frequently and on a consistent schedule.

As far as #10 goes, I would add PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE proofread and if grammar and spelling are not your strong suit find someone else to do so. I am seeing increasing numbers of posts with misspellings, with the wrong word (usually a homonym) being used, poor punctuation and parts of sentences being left out.

I won't say I am perfect but I do go back over my posts before I hit publish. Give the PhaseWare Files a look - we just blogged about this subject.

http://www.phaseware.com/PhaseWare-Files-blog/bid/27509/Dear-Bloggers-Please-Proofread-Your-Work

[Tom Allinder]

Joe, I have found success with tackling controversial subjects too. Blogs on tough subjects tend to push a lot of buttons!

[Russ Henneberry]

Thanks Joe. One of my biggest challenges with clients is convincing them that they should use a blog to build a positive relationship with their clients and prospects and not as a "hard selling" tool.

[Joe Pulizzi]

Hi Russ...I agree with you. Getting clients to understand that they need to be providing consistent information that isn't a hard sell is the toughest part. More companies are getting it, but it's like moving the Titanic at times.

[Christian Russell]

I do agree that bloggers notice when you link them. It takes a while, and when you're starting anything in the blogosphere, you basically feel invisible at first, but it does pay off in the long run.

[Chris Baggott]

Great tips Joe.

Also, we suggest frequently to open the floodgates for content creation. Good business blogs tell the stories about how you solve problems. The similar situation story has been the greatest sales tactic of all time for eternaty. "Tell me how you have solved a problem like mine in the past and I'm likely to trust you to solve my problem"

This is true whether you sell cars or high end legal consulting.

The best people to tell those similar situation stories are either your employees or your existing customers. Empower them...solicit them. Free them.

Chris Baggott
CEO
Compendium Blogware