Organise and develop your content before you start
It’s no good having a blog with no content. In fact, there’s no such thing as a blog with no content. Sit down with the team or part of you business that’s going to be responsible for the blog. In this instance, the more people who get involved, the better. Have a brainstorming session where each person can suggest ideas for postings – including photos, videos and podcasts as well as writing. Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb. Blogs are less formal, more about personality. Is someone doing a charity run? That’s worth mentioning. Is there a new team, or someone who’s just started the development of a new product. Does someone have a great suggestion for a contest? Get all you ideas in a list.
Assigning the work
Ideally, your blog isn’t created by one person, but by a team of people. The goal is to interact with people, not lecture or badger. This is definitely easier if there’s more than one person creating content. At the next meeting or through an email round robin, start assigning ideas and deadlines. And don’t forget to use the keywords connected with your site or service areas. Remind everyone that posts shouldn’t be full of jargon. You’re talking to customers after all. Assign someone the task of proofreading everything, and make sure you’ve developed a sign off procedure. Is there a camera in the business? Can you borrow one? Pictures make a difference.
Thinking agency
For many businesses, it’s more practical and effective to hire an external agency to manage and develop a blog. And it’s easy to see why. Blogs need to be regularly updated and the need time from the development perspective, too. So sit down with your team and decide on a wish list. What do you want your blog to achieve? How is it part of your wider marketing strategy? What do you think is most important about connecting with your customers right now? How far does the blog have to reach? UK customers? International?
If you need help with a blog, or developing the strategy that will help you get started in social media, get in touch with us at Marketing Zone. We’re always interested in new conversations, we’ve been a blogging agency for quite some time.