Originally written by Julian Karstel & Robyn Bloch | Revised & updated by Carina Claassens

As many of our other articles state, a company blog is the centre point of your content marketing campaign. Remarkably, some companies still do not see the worth in having a blog separate from their main website.

What’s the Big Deal?

A blog forms an integral part of all social media feeds, ultimately directing potential customers to your industry-leading content. In the past, articles were simply posted on the company website. Those articles only received attention from those who visited the site. If articles are posted directly onto your website, you’ll soon realise a very uneven balance between the articles and the rest of your website content. Some larger companies have more than one blog. Have you seen Adobe’s blog list?

The company blog is the champion of value creation. Through a blog a company is able to create the single most important element for its potential customers - value. Creating quality, industry-related content attracts subscribers and keeps them coming back for more.

Why Blogging Works

For a blog to be successful it needs substantial content that is both exciting to subscribers and has the potential to go viral.

The nature of the blog entries should not be promotional. A powerful blog is one that attracts subscribers; it is not a location for promotion. Remember, everyone else is not nearly as excited about your product as you are. For example, posting an entry about your latest furniture specials is not the same as posting an article about the benefits of office furniture design on productivity. Substitute promotional content with content that creates value for subscribers, promotes your industry (rather than specific products or services) and establishes your company as an industry leader. 

But what benefit will your company gain from the blog? A blog humanises your brand. It is usually more informal in tone than articles used for websites, so it adds an individual touch that encourages person-to-person contact through the sharing of ideas and comments. 

By creating this public interaction with the brand, your customers feel as though they are getting more value. Through a blog, a company encourages communication, which allows the public to feel as though they have a stake in the company by being provided with a platform to air their ideas, complaints, compliments and general thoughts.

Further, the non-promotional information provided in the blog leads people to feel that it adds significant worth and thus avoids the resentment now associated with traditional advertising. 

Finally, a blog can directly generate sales by having related call-to-actions directing users to landing pages, which potentially convert to these users to leads.

All is Connected

Your social media presence is intrinsically connected to your blog. Your Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn accounts feed your blog traffic and vice versa, but both the blog and your social media presence ultimately feed your website and thus your product or service. 

A persistent major worry for companies thinking of starting a blog is how to maintain the huge amount of writing that constantly needs to be generated. For more information read our article How Much of Your Content Development Should be Outsourced?

Your blog is the centre point of your content creation. Through the blog, potential customers are exposed to your quality, value-adding content that brings worth to your company.

Related Articles

Having a Blog is Crucial

Content Marketing 101: 12 Steps to Creating a Powerhouse Blog

Content Marketing 101: Marketing your blog

Sound Idea Digital is a full digital marketing agency. For more information, contact 012 66 44 227 or email to info@soundidea.co.za

Carina Claassens is a Writer for Sound Idea Digital l carina@soundidea.co.za l @SoundIdea lwww.soundidea.co.za

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