This document provides an overview of blogging and how it can fit into a company's marketing strategy. It discusses why businesses should have a blog, including that blogs give companies a personality, share expertise, and encourage continuing education. Statistics show that blogs can help acquire customers. The document also covers determining if a blog is needed, setting goals, assigning blog responsibilities, measuring ROI, content planning, tactics, writing strategies, and measuring results. It emphasizes that while starting a blog only does 20% of the work, blogs have the potential to be a successful marketing channel when done right.
1. The Ins and Outs and Ups and Downs
of Blogging
Where Does a Blog Fit
Into Your Marketing
Strategy?
Presented by
Tom Ciesielka
TC Public Relations
www.tcpr.net
4. Content marketing is the discipline of creating
quality branded editorial content across all
media channels and platforms to deliver
engaging relationships, consumer value and
measurable success for brands.
- Content Marketing Association
5. Why? Intuitive
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It gives your business a “personality”
Shares your expertise in your “voice”
Gives readers the “why” behind your business
Has duel marketing purpose with “content”
and public relations
• Encourages your “continuing education”
6. Why? Statistically
• 43% of marketers generated a customer from their blog this year.
Hubspot 2013 State of Inbound Marketing Report
• 82% of marketers who blog on a daily basis acquired a customer
using their blog, as opposed to 57% of marketers who just blog
monthly. Hubspot 2013 State of Inbound Marketing Report
• 86% of B2B small business marketers favor blogs as their most
effective content marketing tactic. B2B Small Business Content
Marketing: 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends – North America
Excerpts from Real Lawyers Have Blogs
http://kevin.lexblog.com/
9. Three Must-Answer Questions
• How can you determine if a blog really is a
missing piece of your marketing puzzle?
• What business result do you desire?
• Who will write, manage, and promote the posts?
12. Measuring a Blog’s ROI
ROI Expressed as a Percentage =
Revenue - Investment
Investment
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Time spent per post
Measure revenue-related activities
Compare to other business development tactics
Fun factor
20. Tactics
• Frequency (?) – As often as there is
something worth writing
• Blog publicity plan
• Blogrolls = alliances
• Link strategically
• When you invest in images, pursue a return
• Guest blogging’s double payback
21. Writing Strategy
• What’s the point?
• Do your posts connect need to marketing
objective?
• Headlines not thesis statements
• Think “living room” not “boardroom”
• Editorial, informational, time-sensitive,
trending topic (pick one, maybe two)
22. Filling the Blank Blog
• Editorial calendar guidelines:
– Features
– Trends
– News
– Surprises
25. Transition Point?
“Arguably, more satisfaction is derived from writing an
in-depth blog, but Twitter allows us to get right to the
point. Is there room for both to co-exist online? … it's
worth taking a look at ... and what [it] means to a
media sphere that's becoming more about headlines
than context.”
Daniel Sieberg CBSNews.com
26. How might your “baby” grow up?
• Discussion and questions
27. Now what?
• It’s where the “right brain” meets the “left
brain” with content marketing
• Started a blog? You’ve done about 20% of the
work to make it successful
• “What do we want? Patience. When do we
want it? NOW!” – Al Franken
• “Small” can be the new “big”