By Mary Lou Denny
An impactful blog can do several things, from fostering a sense of community around your brand to creating acceptance for a new product. Like a never-ending Web of success, your blog can be a focal point that spreads social media push-through. With the ever-changing utility of the Web, nows a great time to examine your blog and identify opportunities to freshen it up, whether youve been blogging for several months or several years.
One basic but critical thing to keep in mind is pushing through personality. The social network relies on connecting with real human beings. In your blog communications, you can and should be humorous, wise, persuasive, serious and more. These characteristics build a richer connection, whether youre offering advice or lending perspective.
Another way to enhance your brands overall Web presence is by integrating testimonies into your blog that provide clear product or service benefits to your readers. This will feed search engines, bringing results that include such tacit endorsements of your brand and services. Similarly, your blog can highlight noteworthy projects, buzz-worthy media placements, exciting contests, impactful partnerships and ever-important sustainability. More than ever, your green products and practices are a competitive advantage.
Also, blog readers expect to see more than just words, so a vibrant visual experience is always welcome. An engaging visual could be anything from a before and after shot to a YouTube video or a striking infographic. When sharing rich content, remember the opportunity to point readers to more extensive galleries or content on your site or your Facebook fan page.
Create Interest
When creating content, leave readers feeling good and wanting more. In TV, you have cliffhanger season finales. In broadcast news, you have kickersthose short, sweet, human-interest stories designed for a feel-good chuckle. While your great content itself can be a terrific draw, you can help serial readership by ending posts with a flourish that reminds viewers to stay tuned and dont miss out.
Create and sustain interest by focusing on a particular topic, such as how to properly pack a kitchen for storage or tips for keeping a unit mold-free. By announcing the blog series to readers and offering the series schedule, they can check back for the weekly or monthly installment. Through a compelling series, you can attract followers and even convert them to super status to become avid blog readers and active participants in your network.
These super followers are engaged. They will regularly read, comment and link or otherwise share your content. This is a brand builder for current customers who use your products and services. Reach out to these contacts to create more super fans. When you write for your super group, youll be presenting valuable knowledge to a known entity. Continued two-way communication gives you a sense for what they deeply care about and what dialogue will be useful to them, triggering them to keep responding through their interests.
Be an Expert
A content-building strategy is to post excerpts from articles or other blogs. By using excerpts vs. linking away in the middle of your post, you can keep readers on your blog site while showing them youre well-versed in the sphere of your industry. At the same time, you can complement the excerpt with your own take on the facts or opinions youve introduced. This keeps readers locked into your analysis of news and events.
Build your reputation as an industry expert by giving readers a roadmap to all the interesting posts on your blog. Ensure easy navigation with several categories for posts. Everyone will be able to see how many posts are in each category and you can subsequently gauge which posts are most popular. Your archives will demonstrate how you explore timely questions, trends and specific high-interest topics.
End your engagement by asking a question or including a poll. These can provide fascinating, strong messages and generate measurable interaction. Readers are interested to learn what others are saying, and your blog can develop an educational forum for others thoughts and needs.
Mary Lou Denny is executive vice president of Walt Denny Inc., a full-service public-relations, advertising and marketing agency specializing in the home-products arena, digital marketing and social media. For more information, call 630.323.0555, visit www.waltdenny.com .
