Don Parsons On Tech

If you ask several people for a definition for what a “blog” is, many people responding will have a hard time coming up with a good comprehensive definition. Most of them will instead describe blogs as “online diaries or journals”. Although blogs are frequently used in that way, I would compare that to describing an automobile as “something you use to visit your friends”. I would argue that both can be used for much more.

According to Wikipedia, a blog is a type of website where entries are made in reverse chronological order. It further adds that:

“Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on photographs (photoblog), videos (vlog), or audio (podcasting)…” - Wikipedia: Blog

One factor that has significantly contributed to blogging popularity has been the emergence of tools that have made it easy to post web content without getting into conventional web development. In most cases, people can focus on writing content, without having to deal with HTML. Finished content can be posted to the web without dealing with FTP utilities. Existing pages on the website automatically link into newly added pages. In many respects, those blogging tools are to publishing information online what word processing or desktop publishing software has been to the printed page. Now that word processing is available, we do not limit ourselves to writing letters to friends and family.

So the question that small business owners may have is “How can blogging offer any value to my business?” The answer is that if used correctly, blogging tools and technologies can be used as a part of your businesses marketing strategy. The remainder of this article discusses how this can be done.

According to Brian Norris in his “4 A’s of Marketing“, there are four stages for effective marketing, which include:

1. Analyze: identify the qualified target audience of potential users or buyers, and determine their desires / needs
2. Attention: capture the attention of the targeted audience
3. Accept: provide information designed to get the target audience to accept the concepts or propositions being offered via the marketing effort
4. Action: convert members of the target audience into actual consumers by getting them to take the desired action (buy, rent, subscribe, join…)

There are several ways in which blogging can be used to help with the Attention, Accept, and Action Marketing stages listed above.

Using Blogging to Attract Attention

Blogging can help attract attention in many ways, some of them include:

• SEO: Including as much content across the website as possible is one of the points that many Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts consider in getting a website to rank in natural search results. With more content, you stand a better chance of being found across a broader range of keyword phrases. Granted, there is more to SEO than just including content… Several aspects of how the content is included in your website is also important factors in ranking. Including a blog in your business website does give you the opportunity to add a never ending stream of content over time. Search engines such as Google and Yahoo show preference to websites that are not stagnant. The more relevant the content on the website, the greater your chances that your website will be found.
• Syndication: Most blogging solutions automatically publish an RSS feed that contain summaries of the recently published blog entries on the website. These feeds can be syndicated to other websites, blog search, or aggregate services. People that otherwise might not find your website may find summaries of your blog entries on other websites, and each of those summaries contain a link to the full blog entry on your website. By clicking on those links to read the full article, they browse to your website. Assuming your visitors like your content, they can subscribe to your RSS feed with RSS Reader software to be able to keep up with your on-going blog entries.
• Blogosphere Linking and Social Netowrking: Frequently blog entries are comments on points made in other blogs. These comments typically contain links to the blog entry that prompted the comment in the first place. As a result, even though individuals may not find your blog directly, they may browse to your blog from another blog. Some of the very best blogs I have found on topics I am interested in I stumbled upon in this way.

To get the full value of blogging in this marketing stage, the content you offer should contain genuine added-value information. If you just post a lot of search engine optimized text, you likely won’t get much for your efforts.
Real-World Example: Steelpixel LLC was a web development and website hosting service that started publishing the Web 2.0 Show podcast in mid-2005. Information regarding topics related to Web 2.0 is an interest of mine, so I started listening to this podcast regularly. NOTE: This podcast successfully attracted my attention to Steelpixel, and their services. Steelpixel started their particular podcast because their services are targeted at an audience that is interested in making Web 2.0 style services available on the Internet.

Using Blogging to Build Acceptance

No matter what line of business you are in, there are some number of others out there that are your direct competitors. To get new customers, you need to give potential customers reason to believe that your business, or the solution you offer, is the best choice. One of the best ways to do this is to make information available that:

• demonstrates that your business is highly qualified within it’s line of business
• explains to potential customers how your solution is superior to competing solutions
• help potential customers understand the added value of features that are unique to your solution
• demonstrate the ethics and philosophies that your business live by
• demonstrate how your solution can be used to meet your target audience needs, or to help solve their problems

When this is done well, potential customers will gain confidence in your ability to serve their needs. They will likely gain greater trust with your business, increasing the likelihood that they will be willing to take a chance on you. You may also make them aware of solutions they were not aware they needed.

Real-World Example: Continuing with the Web 2.0 Show example… Although when I started listening to the Web 2.0 Show, I was not in need of new hosting services, later there came a point when I did need to find a new provider. I evaluated approximate 40 possible hosting providers, and I included Steelpixel in the list of candidates because I knew of them from the Web 2.0 Show. Details that I picked up from their podcast gave me confidence that Steelpixel was one of the strongest candidates.

Using Blogging to Prompt Action

Many of the articles that you include in your blog should be logically related to specific solutions you offer. For example, some blog entries can include “How To” instruction that include your solution as a part of the process. Links to the purchase page on your website can be included in those articles.

Other entries may address resolving common problems, while including links to your solutions that facilitates solving those problems.

Some blog entries may offer limited time specials, or discuss your newly released solutions.

Real-World Example: Continuing with the Web 2.0 Show example… Most of the Web 2.0 Show episodes did not talk about Steelpixel services at all, but they did mention their name on every episode. However, one specific episode did focus on Steelpixel services. It turned out that the information included in that episode played a key role in motivating me to select their service over the other final candidate services.

Conclusions

There are many ways in which a business can market their solutions. There are few marketing options that allow businesses to reach as many people, that can be targeted as accurately, and that costs as little as what can be done with blogging on the Internet. As with all other methods for marketing, blogging does not guarantee success. For one thing, there are aspects of the technique used that factor into how effective this form of marketing will be. Blogging for marketing purposes should be a specific portion of a larger marketing strategy. There are very few cases in which blogging should be the entire marketing effort.