The Science of Marketing

Each day in marketing, we stand at a crossroads and make choices. What messages will we tout? Which programs are we going to deploy? Who are our most important contacts and how can we strengthen our relationships with them? We are well equipped to make most of these decisions, because they’re the same ones we’ve been making our entire careers. But when it comes to the relatively new medium of the business blog, marketers can find themselves in uncharted territory, wondering what choices need to made and how to go about making them. What follows is my compilation of the fundamental questions that need to be asked to drive better business blogging, and some color that may help guide you toward the answers that are right for your company.

1. Why does your company even need a blog?

Blogs provide many benefits to a business, but focusing on them all can be a lost cause. Instead, decide on what you want to get out of your blog and use that motivation to build a road map that takes you there. Here are some of the top reasons to create a business blog.

• Drive traffic to your company’s web site
• Connect with other blogs and their readership
• Claim a leadership position on important issues
• Generate targeted content to engage prospects and partners
• Put a face on the company and its executives
• Provide an outlet for company news
• Everyone else is doing it

2. Who and what is your blog all about?

There are well over a hundred million blogs out there, so why would someone want to read yours? Assuming you want to build a loyal base, it is important to define and stick to a narrow coverage area that talks to the concerns of the audience you want to attract, and jibes with your company’s expertise. Even still, there are bound to be other blogs out there that already hit your audience on your topic. To separate your company’s blog from the pack, establish a unique slant on the topic at hand that readers can’t find anywhere else. Then choose a "voice" for your blog that gives it a personality all its own. As you begin creating content for your blog, be sure that each new post is consistent with the focus and tone you define. It is this consistency of content and tone that provides the foundation for a long term relationship with your audience.

3. When should you post?

A consistency of content and tone is important in building reader loyalty. So too is the frequency and rhythm with which you post. If readers take the time to visit your blog or subscribe to your RSS feed, they expect to be rewarded with a fresh post for their trouble. So decide on how many entries you can realistically write per week or month and stick to it. And establish a rhythm for your blog posts, trying to add fresh content on the same day(s) of the week at around the same time. In addition to satisfying your readership, adding new content frequently and rhythmically can catapult your blog to the top of search engine rankings.

4. How should you engage the blogosphere?

The real power of the blogs is not how they work on their own, but how they work together to create new online conversations. So as part of your strategy, consider what role your business’ blog will play in the overall conversation and, by all means, be social. This means searching for blogs that complement yours, adding them to your blogroll and reading them regularly. It also means commenting on other blogs where your company can add value, and encouraging comments from readers on your blog. Comments make the blogosphere go ’round, generating new ideas, driving traffic between blogs and creating fresh content for readers and search engines alike.

5. Where does your corporate web site fit in?

Perhaps the most frequent question marketers ask when it comes to blogging is how a blog should work with a corporate web site, if at all. There are several schools of thought on this subject, ranging from the belief that blogs will merge with and eventually obsolete web sites to the steadfast view that the two should be segregated entirely and forever. I believe the two can coexist peacefully, provided each serves a unique and well defined purpose. Just decide what role your blog plays in the mix (see #1), and be sure there is no overlap with your web site. Also, think before you link, weighing how much cross pollination between your company’s blog and web site is right for you. It is perfectly acceptable to use blog entries to bolster a solution page on your web site, or link from a blog entry to an author’s biography in your "About us" section. Just avoid shameless self promotion on your blog. Deal?

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