Do Brands Want More Than 140 Characters?
I am often asked about the new trend in social marketing or, more specifically, the new Facebook or Twitter. I am not sure what the next hot network will be, but I have noticed more and more companies recognizing the benefits of a corporate blog- if done right.
Creating relationships and gaining consumer trust are just a couple of examples where marketers are seeing value. To accomplish these benefits certain guidelines must be kept top of mind.
Assign a person to the blog. Whether it be a CEO or an expert within the corporation, it is important to maintain a one-on-one conversation. Aligning a face with the conversation will add to the element of transparency.
Do not change your personality. Even though you may use your corporate persona, it is important to remain in the first person. Show genuine personality. Relying on a superficial personality could come off as a long-winded advertisement, therefore, avoiding an opportunity to connect with the consumer. Most likely the consumer will just fast forward to the next link.
Monitor online conversation. Recognizing pain points and themes of conversation among consumers and then relating to them on your blog will drive trust and traffic.
Communicate off the blog. Join conversations related to your industry on other blogs, forums and communities. Educate non-customers and assist pain points of current customers. Appropriate types of content, themes of conversation and amount of brand association should be recognized when monitoring.
Building trust and relationships with consumers is important, but there are many other benefits of corporate blogging that should not be ignored: organic search, releasing news or content and driving traffic between other networks (Facebook, Twitter, forums, etc) and the corporate site.
Image Source: edans
