In “our world” of being online, writing and commenting on blogs, we recognize the benefits of a blog and how it can enhance a company’s presence and ultimately drive sales. Blogging is not an overnight success as the case with traditional advertising and old school marketing. “We’ve always done it this way or we need to be able to measure results immediately to see if this is working” (company catch phrases) is what is met when the topic of social media marketing is whispered. How do you overcome this proverbial wall that is met? @MackCollier set out to answer this question during #blogchat on Twitter (#blogchat is hosted by @MackCollier each Sunday evening 8pm CST).
Blogchat Question: “Selling Your Boss on Blogging. How to put together a blog proposal that gets accepted.” The following is a recap of the discussion with the complete transcript available to follow the entire discussion.
The discussion was opened up with @MackCollier
For your blog proposal, make sure you spell out the blog’s purpose, focus, resources needed, and DIRECT benefit to your biz.
This got the conversation started with many contributors sharing their thoughts on how to convince the boss that blogging is a viable source of engaging potential as well as current customers.
1. Develop a Game Plan/Strategy. A plan is needed for all marketing activities a company chooses to participate in – traditional for ad placement in the desired mediums to social media as to which platforms to have a presence, the frequency of and the promotion of a blog. A few takeaways regarding the game plan/strategy:
The game plan is to spend less time talking about pitfalls and more about the awesome things we could do with a blog (via @Shanan_S).
I think its most imp to let bosses know you have a plan & can show how a blog would benefit them (via @MackCollier)
I think if you can’t show directly how $$$ will come from blog, at least show benefits boss understands value of (via @MackCollier).
Remind them that convos are happening… with or without their “official” blog. Good, trained employees = less legal probs (via @Mandy_Vayrinak).
If you can show where others have been successful using blogs especially competitors that might help (via @klandwehr)
Show how a blog works with twitter to build community (via @blogbrevity).
Agree with your do your research & “show real world examples of succesful blogs” and results-oriented case studies (via @CathyWebSavvyPR)
2. Legal Issues. The legality of blogging within a company’s own corporate language is many times a barrier to blogging. The legal team has to be on board to ensure that it is not violating company policy.
Remind them that convos are happening… with or without their “official” blog. Good, trained employees = less legal probs (via @Mandy_Vayrinak).
The legalities of blogging in a corporate environment are not only about the blog itself, the promotion of but the conversation and the sharing of the post.
3. News Releases vs Blogs. A news release is not a blog and vice versa. The content may be similar however the audience is completely different. A news/press release is speaking to the news media whereas a blog is speaking to the target audience.
Real press releases also need to be written about the right things – not just well-written (via @CathyWebSavvyPR).
For some releases, traditional PR is going to work better than an “enhanced” release within the same company (via @Sue_Ann)
A press release is anything written that is newsworthy. If it is newsworthy I promise people will not care about the format (via @PatrickAllmond).
4. Develop a Following. Starting a blog, writing industry specific valuable content is only half the battle. The other half is getting the people to read and return. Creating a following on the various social media platforms provides a forum to introduce the blog to followers that already have been exposed to the company and have a higher interest in the information than a new visitor. Remember the boss needs to see results … quickly to justify the blog.
Blogs need to have a target market. You should not write a word until you know who you are talking too (via @smallbizlady).
I think it’s about customer support as well (via @rockinrobync)
5. Return on Investment. The success of a blog is based upon the value of the content to the reader and reader reaction whether that be in comments, return visits and of course sales. Not every blog will be a home run and produce sales.
Also, don’t assume that a blog will produce positive results. You need to be where your customers congregate online. (via @Matt_uVizz)
Customers who are engaged are more likely to be loyal and there’s no cost of acquisition (via @rockinrobync)
Ultimately the company has to be open to becoming active within the social media community and recognize that the conversation is happening whether they are participating or not. It is their choice to enhance the customer experience by providing a platform for customers to learn more and become a part of the company. Blogging provides that platform.
Closing thoughts:
It seems to come down to getting the Boss comfortable about blogging ~ all aspects from legal to comments (via @CASUDI)
Remember that your boss wants to see that a blog is right for the company, not to do ‘because everyone else is’ (via @CathyWebSavvyPR)
Size isn’t critical. Quality of content, good promotion/network, involved community = drive blog value for biz (via @Mandy_Vavrinak)
As always, thank you to @MackCollier for hosting #blogchat and to all the participants. If you have not taken part in #blogchat, come and check it out. Meet new people and gain insight into social media marketing.
photo credit: laverrue