Using a Blog for Marketing

Over the past few years, I've encouraged a few of my clients who wanted to create a stronger online presence to start a blog.

Here's a few tips from MarketingProfs.com:

Blogging Boo-Boos

By now, it's pretty clear to most people what works in the blogosphere—and what doesn't. Not everyone, however, has caught on. Accordingly, Frank Days used a post at Tangyslice to discuss the functions a blog simply won't serve. To help these extremely late adopters, Days provided a list of what not to do with your company's blog.

Here are several marketing functions that can't be blogged, no matter how hard you try:

• A direct-response program. While it's okay to discuss various aspects of your business, as they relate to the topic at hand, beware the slippery slope to overt sales pitches. "Few things shut down a blog's conversations faster than 'act before Friday...' or some other type of offer," he notes.
• An alternative to email marketing. In a similar way, resist the urge to use a blog as channel for messages that belong in your email program. "Just because your house email list is losing its pop doesn't mean you can blindly move your promotions to your blog," he argues.
• A press release. As an official announcement from your company to the media, a press release speaks in the formal, third person voice—and hampers dialogue in the casual atmosphere of a blog. "[E]ffective blogging works in the first and second person as you would in a conversation," he says. "This also invites comments, both positive and negative."

The Po!nt: Ignore Days's advice at your own peril. You won't get a citation from the blogging police—but you'll almost certainly lose readers.

Source: Tangyslice. Click here for the full post.

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