How to Make the Most of Your Corporate Blogs

It’s extremely valuable for businesses to understand what the "social" in social media really means, and where its power lies, before launching any social media tactic. The social phenomenon is all about people. People are less influenced by brand and aren’t trusting institutions anymore. As the collapse of the advertising industry is showing us, people are tired of businesses trying to sell products through interruption.
So, how should businesses put the “social” in their marketing plans? Consider creating widespread employee and constituent blog content expressly for search. It humanizes an organization, thus making it more relatable to consumers.

Appearing in the organic results of a search engine page is a great opportunity for businesses to be seen by potential customers where they'll be appreciated. As with any marketing initiative, when your prospect expresses a need or problem, you need to wave your arms with the solution.
In order to accomplish this in search marketing, you must deliver relevant, human blog content that talks about customers’ problems and how you solve those problems effectively. This is the perfect opportunity for blogging; use their language.
Matt Cutts, head of Goggle's Web spam team, has simple advice for anyone targeting search: "Think about what people are going to type, and talk about that."
It seems so simple, but it's incredibly powerful. Here are four simple steps for corporate marketers to drive success for blogging strategies:
·    Research the keywords that drive your business.
·    Create titled, individual blogs, and target those keywords.
·    Encourage all of your employees to create content.
·    Solicit customer feedback and reviews.
Thinking strategically
Getting the most out of your corporate blog requires you to think about blogging in a tangible, measurable way. With that being said, blogging’s first corporate benefit is search. Search traffic is the only traffic that can be controlled. Think about the three sources of blog traffic: direct navigation (people who type in the URL or RSS); referrals (people who find blogs because others have linked to them); and search engine queries.
The best you can do on the first two sources is hope that with good content people will navigate to you, or that other sites might link to you. Search, however, is absolutely 100 percent in your control. If you title blogs with keywords, you know what your prospects are searching for. And if you create relevant content about those terms, you stand a very good chance of influencing not only your ranking, but your traffic. Multiply that over many blogs, and you create a legitimate and appreciated search traffic machine.
The great thing about business blogging as an online marketing strategy is that it makes the customers/searchers really happy. They find the page that exactly matches the ways they're thinking about the problems — which are their search phrases — populated with stories on how people have solved similar problems for similar people all day long. The net result is low bounce rates, an increase in readership and, most importantly, high conversions.

Who are you targeting? It doesn't necessarily only have to be Gen Y consumers, Riley said in her report, since more people from older generations take part in social media every day. Still, marketers should target specific audiences to avoid sounding too generic.
2. How does your target audience use social media? Make your campaign revolve around consumers' behaviors and not simply your company's objectives. Older generations use social media differently than younger ones; find out how, and plan accordingly.
3. How should you come across? Sound "genuine" in your social marketing campaign, Riley advised, and not "cooler" than normal. Make your brand sound more personal than in other channels by making consumers' experiences consistent.
4. What do you want to achieve? Don't just launch a social media campaign because your competitors are doing it or your agency wants you to do it. Figure out your company's goals first. If you're rebranding, for instance, social media may be the way to go. Riley pointed to the viral videos Dove recently produced as a model to follow.
5. Are you ready for a long engagement? If you have consumers download a widget, they'll expect greater interaction from you over a lengthier period of time than with a commercial or banner ad. So Riley suggested using site analytics tools, surveys or user-generated content analysis to gauge consumers' social interaction with your brand. Incorporate fresh content for a lengthy time period to encourage ongoing interaction.
There’s a new way to turn these networks into net revenue, however, and it's based on a “five forces” framework. Understanding and then managing these five interdependent forces — which include me-driven, peer-driven, trust-driven, time-driven and cause-driven forces — help anchor the development of an effective social strategy. The following are the five forces explained in detail:
Me-driven
People often use social networks to display and extend their interests, or to assume alternate personas. Users decide with whom they interact, what conversations they want to join and what information they want displayed. These communities are about the people and relationships they foster, not about advertisers. Pull, not push, is the name of the game. 
Peer-driven
Peers drive users to stay connected within their social networks. It’s also those peer-driven interactions that increasingly drive decisions. For marketers, knowing who has the influence in a social network is critical. Otherwise, advertisers are likely to find that efforts to engage the community will be as effective as mass mailings — with the added risk of bad viral reactions.
Trust-driven
Social networking blurs the line between what’s public and what’s private. The notion of trust in social networks operates on two levels: trust in the platform itself to protect the community and trust in its members that comprise the platform. But brands must earn the trust of the network before they can earn sales from its members.
Time-driven
The time trade-offs that people make between different social networks are a function of the interactions they wish to have, their needs at specific times and their interests. Competing for time and attention means that relevance is now the name of the game. Users need returns on their time the same way that marketers need ROI on their marketing dollars.
Cause-driven
Social networks have become platforms for advancing social change, and have changed the paradigm from charity-to-person to person-to-charity. For marketers, the key is to care about what your audience cares about so it, in turn, will care about you. The interest from advertisers, however, must be genuine because these communities can sniff out a commercial pitch faster than you can say “bad PR.”
Making the five forces work for your brand
Good marketing always has been about building a relationship with the customer. In many ways, social networks are the opportunity that marketers have dreamed of for decades: a chance to build relationships with a ready-made community of people who are open about who they are and what they like.
But social networks aren’t yours to control. And neither is your message. Ceding control is necessary to build credibility and prove the authenticity that's critical to being “friended” by these communities. Social networks are vibrant ecosystems that haven’t invited you in. Earning their trust and building relationships must come before the sales pitch. Heed that advice, and you’ll find that in the end both your company and your bottom line will be “friended” by them even more.






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