At Paramore | the digital agency, we deal with a lot of companies who want to get into social media marketing, increase their SEO presence and basically "Do all that digital marketing stuff." One important aspect that always comes up is should the question, "Should our company start a blog?" It's a very tough question to answer in one sitting. There are definite benefits to blogging (i.e. SEO improvements, enticing content for fans, content to share on social networks, etc), but there are many pitfalls to take into account as well. In this white paper, we delve into the necessary elements and pitfalls that come with the idea of corporate blogging and see whether or not you should start a blog or stick to other avenues of social content. Enjoy!

1. Business Blogging
Elements of Success and Common Pitfalls
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2. INTRODUCTION
Should you be blogging? There are many positives to starting, writing and maintaining a blog for a brand or
website, but the answer to that question lies well beyond the possible SEO, authority and traffic increases. The real
answer comes down to whether or not you have the time and resources to keep your blog updated and
maintained. There are many success stories about corporations starting blogs and driving enormous amounts of
traffic to their website and even driving sales (88% of active blog readers say they trust information they read in
blogs) 1. Often though, companies don’t take into account the time and content commitment of blogging and hurt
their online reputation by hosting a mediocre blog.
This white paper will look at the necessary elements of a successful business blog and examine some of the
dangers and pitfalls in creating a blog and then failing to maintain it. Any action that has the potential for great gain
also has the potential for detriments, and blogging is no different. When run correctly, a blog can give a brand an
appealing, human voice, increase the SEO, traffic and authority of the brand’s online presence and occupy the
mindspace of customers on a more regular basis. When run poorly, a business blog can give the impression a
brand is lazy, disorganized, or worse, unknowledgeable in their field. An ineffective blog can also be a huge waste
of money for a company, and nobody wants that.
ELEME NTS OF A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS BLOG
Let’s look at some of the most important elements that make up successful business blogs.
1. Posting Often and Regularly - The most important word to focus on in this element is “regularly.” Posting often
will mean different things for different brands. Sites like Mashable.com or HuffingtonPost.com can easily post
upwards of 7-8 times per day; meanwhile for a site dedicated to steam engine repair, often may mean posting
twice a week. In any case, it’s important to find a schedule that keeps you in front of your audience and stick to
it.
All industries are constantly evolving, which is true for your industry as well, so finding things to write about on a
bi-weekly basis shouldn’t be an issue. If you can write new, quality content on a daily basis, that’s fantastic. At
the very least you should be committed to writing a new blog post once a week.
1 http://www.brafton.com/news/study-blog-marketing-impacts-purchase-decisions-800486825
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3. 2. Understanding of Customer Needs - Successful business blogs understand why their customers would need
to continue reading their content. They provide unique information, answer questions or solve problems. The
blog run by Sweet Leaf Tea 2 not only provides information about accomplishments, but also takes time to
showcase employee teammates (called “Tea Mates”) and their interests, giving a human connection to the
brand.
When blogs set out to answer questions and solve problems for their customers they have a built-in and
immediate connection to their audience. The basis behind marketing and selling is the creation of a good or
service that solves some need for a lot of people and your business blog should find ways to solve needs as
well. The Citrix blog, “Work Shifting 3,” helps people in business when they are on the move. Citrix actually
downplays their involvement in the blog in order to focus on the needs of the readers, thereby creating a blog
that is bigger than the specific brand could be alone.
2 http://sweetleafteablog.com/
3 http://workshifting.com/
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4. 3. Focused Focus- You can’t be all things to all readers and blogs that try end up being nothing but forgotten.
What is your company’s focus? Who are the main groups of people your business wants to be talking to?
Keeping the answers to those questions in mind when creating and writing your blog will help you focus in on
your readers and bring out content that speaks directly to the people you want to speak with.
Remember: As a business blogger, it is not about you, it’s about your audience.
4. Calls To Action - You’re writing your blog for a reason and that reason is because you want your audience to do
something (or a variety of things). Never underestimate the power of simply asking. Studies have shown in
multiple scenarios that proving good information and then asking for the desired action, generates better results
than simply hoping the action will be taken 4. Insert Call to Action (CTA) buttons on your blog that say “Download
Now” or “Join Our Mailing List.” Include some sort of call to action in each blog post, even if it’s as simple as
asking for people to comment on the post or give their thoughts on an issue.
5. Entertainment - People’s attention spans are short online. The average blog reader will stay on any particular
blog about 96 seconds 5. That doesn’t give you a large window to educate and retain them unless you give them
something incredibly interesting or entertaining to read and interact with. Find new ways to present content by
including pictures and videos (discussed next) or use guest writers or cartoons to grab people’s attention.
Hubspot.com is well-known for including comics and fun staff-made videos from time to time to show a lighter,
more entertaining side to the brand.
4 http://www.copyblogger.com/social-media-call-to-action/
5 http://www.problogger.net/archives/2005/03/17/how-long-do-your-readers-stay-at-your-blog-length-of-stay-statistics/
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5. 6. Multiple Types of Rich Media - Just like in other areas of online media, blogs that use multiple types of rich
media (i.e., photos, videos, Slideshare, Infographics, etc.) bring more to the table and grab more attention than
those that stick to merely text. Southwest Airline’s blog, “Nuts About Southwest6,” is a great example of a blog
that mixes up the types of media it uses to engage its readers. They use written articles, videos, photos, polls
and surveys and more to capture the attention of all interested parties that make their way to the Southwest
blog page. They usually lead off each blog post with an image to draw in the reader, which is a tactic that should
be used by all business blogs.
6 http://www.blogsouthwest.com/
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6. 7. Social Elements - Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and your blog’s RSS feed should all be in your arsenal of
possible avenues to continue the relationship with your readers. Giving your readers obvious and simple ways
to share the great content you’re putting out will benefit your blog in areas of traffic and new visitors. Include the
social sharing buttons at the bottom of each post and at the top of most pages so your readers have no chance
of missing them.
BLOGGING PITFALLS
A lot of work and time goes into creating a quality blog for your brand or company. There are many pitfalls that can
become immediate dangers to business blogs though. These are the most pressing and immediate ones lurking
for almost every business blog on the Internet.
1. Time Management - The decision to commit to a company blog is not one that should be made lightly. A
corporate blog is not a one-time thought; it is a long-term commitment to ongoing communication with
customers, prospects, employees, partners and the press. There is a considerable time and personnel need
when starting a company blog. Outside of simply finding people to write posts for the blog, you have to take
into account the time necessary for coming up with a posting schedule, editing chain of command and
deciding who’s in charge of keeping track of the writing, editing and posting deadlines.
As with many other things, there is a “honeymoon period” when it comes to blogging. During the first couple of
months, it is easy to find interesting content to push out to your audience, the buy-in from corporate is in full-
swing and writing about the company and the brand is exciting. After a while, the reality of the commitment sets
in and it is easy to let the maintenance of the blog slip as people miss deadlines and it becomes harder to find
content for posts. This is the time when it is important to have a strict posting schedule and a mindset to stick to
it. A poorly-maintained blog comes off lazy to people who may find it online. In addition, the SEO benefits of
having constant content on your site will quickly start to dwindle and the blog will become a waste of time,
personnel and money.
2. Sell, Sell, Sell - One easy pitfall to stumble on with any corporate blog is the habit of only selling. Allow the
tactics presented before of answering customer questions and solving problems to do the heavy lifting of
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7. generating trust and interest among your readers. You should already have CTAs built into your posts and
buttons visible on the site, so there’s no need for every post on the blog to be a targeted sales pitch. As soon as
your readers feel they are constantly being sold to on your blog, they will pay as little attention to them as they
do television commercials and magazine ads.
3. Negative Comments - If you’ve done your research and looked at other blogs in your vertical, you’ve probably
noticed negative comments on posts here and there. One fear many companies have about starting a company
blog is the possibility of people responding negatively to posts and news. When deciding to start a blog,
understanding that there will be negative comments is something that must be accepted and planned for rather
than feared and avoided. It’s going to happen. The best way to handle disparaging comments is to have a
process pre-defined that will help you respond and react rationally and logically. See what others have
complained about on competitor blogs and go into it prepared to act with professionalism and tact.
4. No Fun - If you want your readers to have fun while reading your blog, strive to have fun while writing it. You
should have a specifically defined voice for the blog (even multi-authored blogs) and make sure every aspect of
that voice comes through in your writing. It’s easy for corporate blogs to believe they cannot show a human side
or emotions in their writing, but some of the best corporate blogs out there truly capture the heart and soul of
the organization and brand (i.e., Disney7, My Starbucks Idea 8, Patagonia 9, etc.).
FINAL THOUGHTS
So, is blogging an important practice? Yes. Should your company or brand jump right in and start one? It depends.
There are a lot of benefits that come along with running a successful corporate blog (niche authority, website
traffic, SEO improvements, etc.), but the brands that truly achieve those benefits are the ones that understand the
time commitments and necessary elements and dedicate themselves to the job of writing and creating content.
It sounds easy to just “start up a blog thing” and get into the game when all your competitors are doing it, but it
really comes down to your motivations as a company and how much time you’re willing to put towards the effort.
For some companies, it may be safer and more cost-efficient to sidestep those pitfalls and focus on other areas of
growth and customer conversation. For companies willing and ready to step into the blogging world, get ready and
strap in because it’s a wild ride that will take you to some awesome new places.
7 http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/
8 http://mystarbucksidea.force.com/apex/ideaHome
9 http://www.thecleanestline.com/
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