Businesses of all sizes are beginning to realize the advantage
of blogging and what that activity can mean for their
businesses.
Despite still being in its infancy, compared to other more
mature marketing technologies, blogs are already significantly
affecting businesses. That's because, used and designed properly
a blog can help you manage your website and leverage your
existing content for better business visibility.
One of the best things about using a blog with your business is
that it can be used in a variety of applications. Started as a
simple personal journaling web application, a blog quickly
mature and evolve into a business and marketing tool that some
of us can't live without.
So what can a blog do for your business?
1) Keep in touch with prospects and customers. Keep the
interaction flowing and let them know you better. Demonstrate
that there is a human behind your business, instead of a static
website.
2) Position yourself as an expert in your niche. Regularly post
about business events, share thoughts, new innovations or even
provide customer service.
3) Capture leads. Engage them with content, delivered regularly
through blogs, RSS feeds and e-mail.
4) Generate revenue. Selling advertising space, products,
services, or build relationship and pre-sell. You to cash in
your content by participating in contextual advertising program
like Google AdSense, Yahoo! Publisher Network and others.
5) Boost business productivity. Used internally for
communication, project management, or just a personal place to
throw ideas at.
Standalone conventional websites used to adequately deliver
information, but nowadays customers want more than that. We live
in an information age where there is enormous amount of data
being generated every single second. That has meant that
end-users (clients) are beginning to shift their information
consumption habit. As a result, they now demand more control
over the medium, and they prefer to choose when and what
information they're going to process.
As part of the shift, consumer generated media is set to take on
older web models, especially as consumers also want to
participate in the market, not just as passive readers.
That's why having a blog on your website can be a very good idea.
If customers are familiar with your product they may want to
share what they think with others at your blog. On the other
hand, if they're unfamiliar with your product, they may want to
hear more about what you have to offer from others.
In other words, the idea is to help them know your product
better, and hopefully decide on your product when it comes time
to buy.
One of the interesting things about using a blog, is that it
forces people to become participatory. You find that you have no
choice but to jump into the conversation. And remember, if you
don't allow people to have a say and talk on your blog, that
doesn't mean it's the end of the conversation since they can
just as easily start their own blog or leave comments on other
people's blogs.
Instead of just sitting and watching, customers want to have a
conversation, where they can tell you directly what they think
about a product or service that you offer. That can be scary,
but it's also valuable feedback.
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