towson e-business presentation

WHY BLOGGING SHOULD BE THE HUB OF YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA EFFORTS

March 9, 2011

Will Davis

will@rightsourcemarketing.com

410.925.6626

twitter.com/willdavis/

ABOUT RIGHT SOURCE MARKETING

• Unique hybrid model• Tracking and performance are key• We don’t just execute, we educate

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CLIENT EXPERIENCE:

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RECOMMENDED APPROACH TO MARKETING EFFORTS

Marketing

Vehicles

Website

Blogging

SEO

PPC

Social MediaEmail

Online Video

DisplayAds

CRM/Analytic

s

Reallocate

Track

Execute

Diversify

Identify

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BLOG AS YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA HUB

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WHAT IS A BLOG? BLOGGING?

• A blog is a cost-effective way to communicate quickly with — and get feedback from — your audience of readers, whether they are colleagues, competitors, the media, prospects or customers.

• A blog is a new way to market your services or products by positioning you and/or your company as thought leaders in highly competitive markets.

• A blog is just a tool, albeit a cool one. As with any tool, there is a right way and a wrong way to use it. There is proper blogging etiquette.

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BLOGGING PLATFORMS

• The importance of your domain for corporate blogs yourcompany.Com/blog or blog.Yourcompany.Com

• Be careful if you don’t use your own domain i.E. Yourcompany.Blogspot.Com or yourcompany.Wordpress.Com

• Template approach vs. Custom design

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WHY TALK BLOGGING NOW?

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Email Website Blog Social

Media

WANT TO GET LEFT BEHIND AGAIN?

WHY TALK BLOGGING NOW?

9WANT TO GET LEFT BEHIND AGAIN?

SOCIAL MEDIA GROWTH

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DIFFERENT TYPES OF BLOGS

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• Personal blog

• Corporate blog

• Professional blog

DIFFERENT TYPES OF BLOGS

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• News blog

• Product blog

• Micro blog

TYPICAL BLOG COMPONENTS

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Header/Title

Navigation

SubscriptionOffer

Ad

Ad

Blogroll

Post

WHY SHOULD ORGANIZATIONS BLOG - BRANDING

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“The perception of Sun as a faithful and authentic tech company is now very strong. What blogs have done has authenticated the Sun brand more than a billion dollar ad campaign could have done.”

-Jonathan Schwartz Sun CEO

WHY SHOULD ORGANIZATIONS BLOG - SEO

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#1 Ranking

WHY SHOULD ORGANIZATIONS BLOG - SEO

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WHY SHOULD ORGANIZATIONS BLOG - LEADS

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According to HubSpot, marketers with blogs generate 67% more leads.

OTHER REASONS ORGANIZATIONS SHOULD BLOG

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• Provides a “human voice” to company• Thought leadership • Transparency• Building community and engagement• Public relations/crisis management• Customer service

…The Same Reasons Organizations Get Involved in Social Media

COMMON BLOGGING OBJECTIONS

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“This is going to require a lot of time and resources.”

“Our legal department has hangups with blogging.”

“We don’t have enough to say.”

“We don’t want to take away valuable employees from their primary roles.”

“We’re afraid of opening ourselves up to complaints and criticism.”

“We’re not great at conversational marketing.”

“It’s going to be hard to measure.”

WRITING A BLOG POST – TYPES OF POSTS

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• Instructional: Tell your audience how to do something• Informational: Provide information on a topic• Reviews: Product or service reviews• Lists: Top 10s, Top 5s, Top 50s, etc.• Interviews: Recap discussion with interesting people• Case Studies: Show problem/solution/results• Link: Providing a link to an interesting article• Contrast: Compare two options• Rant: Bring the passion• Research: Recap your study or someone else’s• Predictions: Tell us what will be hot in the coming year/quarter/etc.

HOW TO WRITE A GOOD BLOG POST

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#1 Put your audience (the reader) first.

#2 Organize your thoughts before writing.

#3 Use short paragraphs.

#4 Use short sentences.

#5 Use simple words.

HOW TO WRITE A GOOD BLOG POST

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#6 Be specific.

#7 Write in a conversational style.

#8 Tell stories.

#9 Be clear.

#10 Write well. Be interesting.

THE BLOG AS YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA HUB

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• For all these reasons, your blog’s content can serve as your social media hub in ways your website can’t

THE BLOG AS YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA HUB

• Without the right content to point to, your social media presence is like a newspaper that’s all headlines and no stories

• Social media without a blog limits your use of social media to brief thoughts with no depth attached

HOW TO MARKET YOUR BLOG & BLOG CONTENT

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Website

HOW TO MARKET YOUR BLOG & BLOG CONTENT

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Email

HOW TO MARKET YOUR BLOG & BLOG CONTENT

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Twitter

HOW TO MARKET YOUR BLOG & BLOG POST

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Facebook

HOW TO MARKET YOUR BLOG & BLOG POST

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LinkedIn

HOW TO MARKET YOUR BLOG & BLOG POST

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Technorati

HOW TO MARKET YOUR BLOG & BLOG POST

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Industry Sites/Article Sites Using RSS

HOW TO MARKET YOUR BLOG & BLOG POST

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“Sharing” Sites Corporate Materials

Digg Personal Email

Stumble Upon Email Signature

Redd It Direct Mail

Delicious Press Release

100s of Others ALL Materials

MEASURING YOUR BLOG’S SUCCESS - QUANTITATIVE

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Visitors & Sources

Content & Stickiness

MEASURING YOUR BLOG’S SUCCESS - QUANTITATIVE

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MEASURING YOUR BLOG’S SUCCESS - QUANTITATIVE

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MEASURING YOUR BLOG’S SUCCESS - QUALITATIVE

• WHAT DO YOU WANT TO GET OUT OF IT?• BRANDING & AWARENESS COMPONENT• NARROWCASTING A MESSAGE• “SKIP THE FIRST MEETING”

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