Our recent webinar on business-to-business blogging resulted in more questions than we had time to answer so Mark Schaefer agreed to provide a personal reply on our blog to each question.
For our final installment, we're combining the final two related questions:
Polly: I work for a small division in a large global company. Legal constraints are huge for us. Have you seen organizations getting around this issue by using some kind of disclaimer?
Jill: If you are a law firm how do you get beyond all the legal issues lawyers come up with? I would think strategies for professional services are more challenging?
These are both good questions ... and very serious ones too!
I worked in large corporations for many years and came to appreciate the very valuable contributions of the legal department. In my experience, they are well-meaning, business-oriented professionals who don't deserve the bad rap they often receive
Here is my best advice: If lawyers are raising legal issues, listen to them. They probably know what they're talking about.
Despite whatever your main line of business is, when you blog, you become a publisher. Your blog is a permanent and searchable record that can be used by competitors, litigants, regulators and other people who would wish to do you harm. Your public record is a big deal.
Instead of resisting legal involvement, my advice would be to embrace it. Work together to have a very thorough understanding of what is fair game in terms of content. Together, develop a robust framework everybody can live with. If that framework exists, lawyers should be able to step out of the daily life of the blog and not require approval of every post.
Once these guidelines are in place, codify in it a way so that even if somebody new started working on the blog, a clear understanding of the rules would follow with continuity.
It would probably be useful to touch base with legal on a regular basis to see if anything has changed from their perspective and also to just keep a great professional relationship up with these important folks.
And remember, blog comments and your answers are also part of your publishing effort and fall under the same guidelines.
This is probably not the answer many people want to hear, but I think it is the advice you NEED to hear. Company lawyers keep us out of jail ... so listen to them.
Mark Schaefer is Executive Director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions, college educator and author of the blog {grow}. Mark is a regular guest blogger for MLT Creative's Idea's @ Work blog.
Our recent webinar on business-to-business blogging resulted in more questions than we had time to answer so Mark Schaefer agreed to provide a personal reply on our blog to each question.
Question #7 comes from Jon: So how do you determine the best way to entertain your audience with a blog?
Let's go back a step and review why I mentioned that "entertainment" is an increasingly important factor in corporate blogging.
Like any marketing initiative (and blogging IS a marketing initiative!) the ultimate goal is to be distinctive. And that is becoming difficult in the increasingly crowded space of "content marketing." Everybody is creating blogs, vying for that valuable reader time.
For awhile, just having a blog was enough to be different. But if you are just getting into the space, you need to plan to shake things up a bit to really stand out.
Having a little entertainment value can go a long way, especially within a traditionally staid market. How refreshing would it be to see something really artistic and whimsical come from banking, metals or the chemicals industry? In these buttoned-up segments, just being a little edgy might be enough to grab attention and turn a blog into a destination.
In general, corporate blogs are little more than glorified press releases and that can be mind-numbingly dull. Here's the Schaefer Entertainment Test (SET) ... I have always wanted to be part of an acronym. Produce a blog article. Show it to somebody unfamiliar with your industry. Ask them what they think. If they say (honestly) that it's interesting, you're on the right track.
Now let's really put a little sizzle with that steak! Add video. A slide presentation. A podcast. You probably have some of this stuff hanging around the marketing communications department any way, right? All of these can be easily embedded into a blog post.
Putting some razzle with your dazzle is going to take a little more time, planning and money. What? Somebody told you the social web was free? Well they were wrong weren't they? Expectations for higher quality content and entertainment value will just increase as the novelty wears off. Expect to use professionals and appropriate resources for the social web just as you would any marketing channel.
Mark Schaefer is Executive Director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions, college educator and author of the blog {grow}. Mark is a regular guest blogger for MLT Creative's Idea's @ Work blog.
Our recent webinar on business-to-business blogging resulted in more questions than we had time to answer so Mark Schaefer agreed to provide a personal reply on our blog to each question.
Question #6 comes from Diane: Is your blog likely to be even more trusted if you include other links?
What an interesting question, Diane!
I'm sure you've seen that many blogs have a list of popular blogs called a "blog roll." There are three primary benefits to this:
- It provides a reference for your readers and an insight into what you read.
- It's a nice tip of the hat to blogs of people you like and admire.
- It is likely that these blogs will also provide a courtesy link back to your blog, which directly benefits your search engine results.
I don't have a blog roll on my blog even with these obvious benefits for a simple reason: I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings. I want to honor and celebrate the people in my {grow} community in many ways and don't want anybody excluded or overlooked. So I decided against it even though it would be a good promotional effort for the blog.
I'm not saying I'm right. But it's right for me. Every blogger should consider the valid business reasons for a blog roll.
So let's get to your specific issue of trust. I believe trust has to be earned through your personal, honest and caring interactions every day. I'm not sure links, ads or any other badges on your blog will earn you trust.
I think this is also an interesting question from a corporate perspective -- would there be an advantage to having a blog roll on a company blog? Honestly I can't remember ever seeing a blog roll on a company blog. But why not? Maybe include customers and business partners ... or is that too risky? What do you think?
Mark Schaefer is Executive Director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions, college educator and author of the blog {grow}. Mark is a regular guest blogger for MLT Creative's Idea's @ Work blog.
Our recent webinar on business-to-business blogging resulted in more questions than we had time to answer so Mark Schaefer agreed to provide a personal reply on our blog to each question.Question #5 comes from Barbara: How can you measure the impact of a blog?
Like any marketing initiative, measurement is important. As my teacher and mentor Peter Drucker used to tell his students, "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it." And blogging is no different.
The good news is that measurement is normally very easy on the web. In fact the real trick might be choosing the correct metrics.
There are hundreds of potential financial and non-financial indicators out there, but there is only one question you need to know to pick the right one: What behavior am I trying to drive?
This is a deceptively simple but powerful place to start. Here is a great example of this concept in action. Walgreen's has been a stellar financial performer and much of that has been attributed to its focus on one metric: Net profit per customer visit. Behavior they are driving? Spend more money with Walgreens!
Think about the impact of that one metric -- it would influence the store location and lay-out, product placement, product choices, advertising strategy, branding strategy, pricing decisions ... literally every design, distribution and marketing decision could be made to drive that single metric ever upwards.
So you can see how powerful and critically important choosing the correct metric can be, for your marketing effort, and your blog. I could literally fill several blog posts with ideas of possible metrics but a good place to start -- after you define your goal, of course -- is Google Analytics. This is a free tool available to every website and blog that can give you amazing insight about who is visiting your blog, when, from where, and how long they hang out there. But that's just a start. There are probably as many measurement platforms as there are ways to measure!
You can also look at blog-specific metrics that might indicate engagement and reader interest such as blog visitors, subscriptions, tweets, comments, and results from blog polls. And while we're at it, blogs can also have an impact on internal audiences too, so you might want to think about that.
But in any event, the answer to your question begins with the answer to another question: What behavior are you trying to influence?
Mark Schaefer is Executive Director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions, college educator and author of the blog {grow}. Mark is a regular guest blogger for MLT Creative's Idea's @ Work blog.
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Our recent webinar on business-to-business blogging resulted in more questions than we had time to answer so Mark Schaefer agreed to provide a personal reply on our blog to each question.Question #4 comes from Neil: Do you recommend starting slow with blogging? What is a good way to initially scope if resources and strategy is unsure?
Neil, this is an excellent question and one that I hear often.
Let's break it down into two parts: starting out with 1) a strategy and 2) resources.
Over time, your "voice" on your blog will evolve as you gain confidence and receive feedback from your audience. However, you should start out with some initial strategy -- an idea of your purpose, a view of what you're trying to achieve and the needs of your target audience. If you keep switching directions, you will end up confusing your readers, losing them, and wasting a lot of time.
So whether you start slow or fast, have a vision of what you are trying to achieve. It will change over time and it should as you grow and learn.
As far as resources, there is no absolute answer, but in the "start slow" scenario, let's plan to allocate 4 hours per blog post. This would assume about 2.5 hours to write and edit a 400-500 word article and find an appropriate piece of accompanying art, and another 1.5 hours for internal approvals, external promotion, responding to reader comments and handling any initial technical issues.
This is a generous time allocation that will improve as your blogging skills improve.
I do think it is a smart idea to start slow, find your voice, receive some feedback, and have some quick wins you can promote to the boss. Just keep in mind that to really receive business benefits, you will need to blog with some regularity at some point.
Mark Schaefer is Executive Director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions, college educator and author of the blog {grow}. Mark is a regular guest blogger for MLT Creative's Idea's @ Work blog.
Our recent webinar on B2B blogging resulted in more questions than we had time to answer so we'll provide a reply on our blog to each question.
Question #3 comes from Don: What's the optimal length of a blog? How long is too long?
Don, this is a great question. and believe it or not it can be an emotional one!
I recently got into a heated debate with a dear friend who insisted people would read her novel-length blog posts because they were so interesting. I disagreed. Maybe they were just not that interesting to me! In any event, here are a few thoughts on the ultimate length for a great blog.
Look at the data -- All the research shows that people have shorter attention spans and read less. I think it is foolish to ignore these trends. Get in, make your point, get out.
Be respectful -- I think most of the time blogs run too long it indulges the WRITER, not the READER. Many bloggers have long ago made their point and just keep babbling to satisfy themselves or glorify their points. Most of the time long blogs just don't respect a reader's precious time.
Listen to Mark -- (Twain that is!) Twain once said in a letter, "I'm sorry I didn't have more time to make this shorter." It does take more time to write well, and with brevity. I typically go back and cut at least one-third out of each rough draft. Sometimes I even take out what I consider to be great points if it doesn't move the story along. Spend the time, and have the courage, to be brief.
500 is magic -- I love blog articles that are less than 500 words. If you write well, you can comfortably tell a great story or make a meaningful point in that length. My advice? Shoot for "under 500."
Earning more -- There are certain blogs that I read no matter the length. But these bloggers are established, brilliant and have EARNED the right to pontificate at whatever length is needed to cover their points. If you are just starting out, I believe it is more important to build an audience through short, punchy prose than test them with an intellectual treatise.
Just for the record this post was about 400 words. I think it worked out well. What are your thoughts on blog length?
Mark Schaefer is Executive Director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions, college educator and author of the blog {grow}. Mark is a regular guest blogger for MLT Creative's Idea's @ Work blog.
Our recent webinar on corporate blogging resulted in more questions than we had time to answer so we'll provide a personal reply on our blog to each question over the next few days.
Question #2 comes from Michelle:
I hate the blog I started for our company now. It has become completely disconnected from our strategy as I've found my voice and learned about blogging, tagging, SEO, organization, etc. Even the name of the blog is no longer connected to what we're doing! I want to just start over, but my partner disagrees. Would you start over?
Mark Schaefer: If your blog is as bad as you say, I'm wondering why you have continued it this long? I mean, the blog didn't go off strategy -- you did, right? The blog doesn't write itself. So why can't you get yourself back on track?
As a company's strategy changes over time, the blog should change too. My own blog has evolved and adapted over a period of time as I've found my voice. I mean changing isn't hard to do. You just start writing about something else. If your blog sucks, just un-suck it.
Even if you change the name of the blog, the URL will be the same so people who were coming to the blog even when it was bad can still arrive safely at your landing spot.
So what's keeping you from nuking the thing? I don't see a downside. I have a hunch the real issue isn't the direction of the blog, it's agreeing about the direction of your company with your partner. Perhaps he doesn't think it is off-strategy. In that case you might have bigger problems than the blog!
As I said in the webinar, everything starts with strategy. If you and your partner can agree about the strategy of the company, the direction of the blog should flow right with it.
Martine Hunter: I can relate to your frustration, Michelle. Changing your blog URL does affect its built-up SEO; however, if getting found with your current look and disjointed content turns off visitors or prospects, perhaps a change is warranted.
Questions to ask yourself:
- Is a new strategic direction and focus worth the temporary loss of page rank?
- Can you resuse/edit/refresh old blog posts with new knowledge of your company's building/changing keyword list?
- Would a new blog title better address your purpose, ongoing content and future blog topics?
- Are there limitations or restrictions to your blog that you'd like to change or upgrade?
- Do your readers and/or subscribers have similar reactions to your blog?
If you answered yes to these any of these questions, maybe it's time to look at redo. Think of it as revamping, not starting over. Plan the launch of the new blog. Do some research on perspective titles. Build out your editorial calendar for the first three months. Invite guest bloggers who mirror your strategic vision. Announce it in a big way and keep up the the content, especially for the first six months. Good luck!
Martine Hunter
is the creative director of inbound marketing with the Atlanta advertising agency, MLT Creative, which specializes in B2B marketing. She holds the Inbound Marketing professional certification and serves the Atlanta chapter of the Business Marketing Association as a member of the board of directors.
Mark Schaefer is Executive Director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions, college educator and author of the blog {grow}. Mark is a regular guest blogger for MLT Creative's Idea's @ Work blog.
This month we are pleased to have Mark Schaefer, B2B marketing expert share his thoughts and expertise on blogging in our upcoming webinar.
Do a search on B2B blogging best practices. Go ahead I'll wait ...
What did you find? Probably nothing, at least nothing of any substance. Isn't it amazing that a strategic marketing initiative that is so vital has been ignored for so long?
I'm happy to say that will be changing April 14.
MLT Creative has asked me to kick off a series of webinars with a fast-paced session on "B2B Blogging: Best Practices and Blunders."
This is not going to be like any webinar you've attended before. We'll be offering fresh perspectives based on the latest research and best practices, including:
• The practical commercial benefits of blogging
• Six ways to use your blog as an effective sales agent
• The biggest mistakes you've probably never considered
• The secret sauce to boost your B2B blog
And here's the word you've been waiting for. It's FREE! You probably just said aloud "Wow. What a deal. How can it get better than that?"
Believe it or not it can! Every webinar registrant will also receive a free eBook on B2B blogging, the first of two eBooks on blogging I'm creating for MLT Creative.
Now it's time to register. All the details will appear before your eyes when you click HERE!
Mark Schaefer has spent more than 28 years in B2B sales, marketing and new product development with global Fortune 100 companies and is a popular authority on social media marketing. He is a respected college educator, business consultant and author of the blog {grow} found at www.businessesGROW.com/blog.