Blogging is one of the most common social media tools used today. Many marketers are in love with the idea of blogging. If you are a business owner with out a blog, you’re in the out crowd.
But B-to-B blogging still has some hurdles and many CEOs and PR pros still don’t see its value. Why should they waste their time on a blog if they cant see the direct track back to sales or measure the ROI? I can’t disagree with them (although I do) but I hope I can shed some light on some positive reasons to blog. The rule of thumb is, only blog if you really want to blog, otherwise it will fail. If you are not ready for the open exchange of ideas, I recommend that you stay away from social media and blogs as a whole.
So why should a small b-to-b company start a blog?
Blog content is conversational, allowing for readers (potential/current customers) to engage with what should be educational content, not sales or marketing
Blogs allow readers to talk directly with company executives, giving them a sense of open-door communication
Blogs allow for direct customer feedback are better then any market research can give you
Blogs allow for better SEO and Google rankings (search engines love blogs) but you have to have it connected to your Web site for full search engine exposure
Blogs can help you gain expert status in your industry only if you blog early, blog often, and blog about worthwhile topics
A blog will only be successful if the content changes often, giving your customers a reason to revisit the site. If a marketing department takes of the duties of blogging for an executive, then the blog could fail. A blog (especially b-to-b) should be done by an executive; they are the industry expert to which the customers are most likely to listen.
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Posted by Mark Ewans on December 28, 2009 at 07:53 PM
I’ve read Nancy Miller’s newest article and it’s remarkable! I’m trying to read all these articles afterward. Thanks for the great stuff!
Posted by Abbott on March 03, 2010 at 11:28 AM
Thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed and informative article. It has given me a lot of inspiration and I look forward to more like this in the future.
Posted by Big Mike on March 03, 2010 at 04:40 PM
Resources like the one you mentioned here will be very useful to me! I will post a link to this page on my blog. I am sure my visitors will find that very useful.
Posted by Jardon on March 09, 2010 at 02:07 PM
Blogs serve many purposes from personal journals to online newsletters to ranting and raving. Written by one person or a group of contributors, entries contain commentary
Posted by Kol on April 01, 2010 at 11:55 PM
Very nice article. I particularly like the purpose of language in “Talk Like a Person”
Posted by David Dould on April 03, 2010 at 11:33 AM
Absolutely true… blogging in B2B should most certainly be handled by an executive in the company, or the people with direct, first-hand knowledge and intricate nature of the industry/topics. Great read!
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