Three Benefits Of Blogging For Business

For all the fanfare and data that supports the relevance and benefits of blogging for business, I still often find myself in conversations where someone will say something like, “Where did you see that on some blog or something?” The implication is that they are less likely to trust the information due to the source being a blog. It actually amazes each time this still happens when you consider the numbers of these popular blogs:

• Pete Cashmore’s Mashable has 1,728,109 Twitter followers
• Michael Arrington’s Tech Crunch has Twitter 1,146,493 Twitter followers
• Arrianna Huffington’s Huffington Post 336,914 Twitter followers

These days are long gone. The credibility and reliability of blogs as compared to the traditional media sources is unquestionable. But the fact remains, there are many people who don’t trust blogs (or bloggers) and just plain don’t see the value in blogs for business. If one of those people happens to be your boss, as I mentioned in point #3 of Five Things Every B2B Marketer Should Know About Social Media, you are in for the fight of your life.

The next time you are working to convince your boss of the benefits of blogging for business, focus your conversation on these three benefits:

1. Thought leadership – Brian Carroll wrote a great post back in February, Using thought leadership tactics for lead generation, that remains very relevant today. Sharing your company’s views on the market, the economy, and your approach to business and the market, all provide members of your industry with useful information to do their jobs. When successfully implemented, using thought leadership as an inbound marketing tactic leads your prospects and customers turn to you when they need help. Why? Through your thought leadeship content, you have become a helpful, trusted voice.

A word of caution – you can’t fake thought leadership and be careful not to get caught in the SEO trap. Thought leadership content only builds trust if it is useful information that helps people to do their jobs or builds their knowledge. If you find you are spending more time stuffing keywords into your thought leadership posts than you are actually writing them, your readers will see right through that and they’ll have no reason to build a lasting relationship with as a content producer.

2. “Sharability” – When was the last time someone retweeted a corporate brochure or a datasheet? Ever? Blog content by its nature is easily shared, not only by you, but more importantly, by your readers who find it valuable. The act of “sharing” your post whether it be in the form of a tweet or an email, not only extends your reach and but also serves as a form of recommendation or validation from the reader. They are basically putting their stamp of approval on it and are marketing it for you. How can your boss argue with that?

3. Engagement – While is it true the ratio of readers to commenters on blogs is very high (and this is never more evident then when you are first starting out), the fact remains a blog provides a channel to begin engaging in a dialogue OUTSIDE OF THE SALES CYCLE. Yes, while everything you are doing with your blog will be geared toward influencing the readers’ perception of your company, brand, and products, a blog comment from a reader is just that – a comment on your opinion, a differing view, a similar one, an expansion of an idea. It’s begins a conversation – respond.

Note: It’s NOT an invitation to call them and SELL them. I repeat, it’s NOT! It is a opportunity to engage and interact WITH them and learn about them WITHOUT selling them directly. This is very important and a point you will need to be ready to defend – sure a few marketing pitches will be accepted by your readers after you have earned their trust – but if you get this wrong and over sell…not only won’t you have engaged commenters, you likely won’t have any readers either.

Thought leadership, “sharability”, engagement – that’s your mantra, will it convince your boss  of the benefits of blogging for business? Why or why not? Love to hear your comments.

Author: Jeremy Victor | Website | Twitter

Jeremy's the founder of Make Good Media and Editor In Chief of B2Bbloggers.com. B2Bbloggers.com is a B2B Marketing online magazine discussing the evolution of B2B marketing. Topics include content marketing, B2B social media, demand generation, marketing automation, and more. Sign up. Get all the articles via email.