Corporate Blogging - Should You Be Jumping on the Bandwagon?

Over the past decade, blogs have become part of our everyday lives, you're reading this on a blog created for a university module assignment and clearly it is having an impact. New blogs are created everyday, each with increasing views and blog searches, its no wonder that companies have joined the blogosphere. 

But why? What's the point?

Google famously announced its withdrawal from China on their corporate blog, instead of a more traditional press release and since then, corporate blogging has grown year on year. 

Corporate blogging has created an open platform for industry opinions and topics to be discussed easily with stakeholders. The community created on blogs can have a huge impact on others and become somewhere for shared ideas and opinions without prejudice and without causing alarm.

What can you gain?

Lou Hoffman, CEO of The Hoffman Agency has a valid point in saying that a blog gives a company a face, creates a community and gives the opportunity for an organisation to have a personality. Having an open platform to share and discuss industry issues, news or opinions can be very beneficial. Blogs, similar to a social media marketing strategy, can lead stakeholders toward your corporate website and increase potential customer numbers. Although time consuming, and possibly costly to introduce, blogs can only be a good thing for companies. Unlike a corporate website, a blog is interactive and usually informal (even the corporate ones!) allowing your company to be seen as less of a brand and more of a personality.

And who doesn't want that? Every business has its own personality, and a corporate blog is the best way to share that with the world! 

A business blog is the window into your company, your voice and your chance to have a chat with your industry, clients and potential customers too. On top of that, its views and link clicks can be easily analysed and understood using analytic software. There is a paperless trail that measures how your blog is stacking up and knowing what's working and what's not will allow you to focus attention where its needed. 

Some famously brilliant corporate blogs are listed below, should you be interested in seeing some of the best! 

Playstation

Disney Parks

BBC The Editors Blog

& Flickr

And some further reading if you're interested in this subject:
21 Benefits of Business Blogging and 22 Tips
The Benefits of Corporate Blogging
Corporate Blogging

The Common Pinterest Mistakes - Are You Making Them?

Having stumbled upon this article discussing how Pinterest makes use of sharing, using and linking information it's clear that organisations aren't using Pinterest correctly and  nor are they gaining the best benefits from it. 

When you're pinning as a corporation are you making the common mistakes? 
This 8 part list should help you to become a future pinning pro! 

1. Make the most of your profile.
Fill your profile to your hearts content with all your businesses info,  the more information you give the better. Remember to have a clear and recognisable logo, and to ensure your username is the company's full name too.

2. Link It Up
Forgetting to link your corporate website, facebook and twitter is a big mistake. If they're following your boards, they'll want to follow you on other social media sites too!

3. Pinterest for Businesses
Not having your page set up as a proper 'business' page. Without it you can't use Pinterest Analytics, so click here and get that sorted ASAP. Once you've done that, let people know your business is on Pinterest, post your profile to your other social media sites and add the Pinterest logo onto your website too. Enabling rich pins will allow real-time pricing to accompany any images pinned from your website. 

4. Mixing Business with Pleasure
There's a time and a place for combining those worlds, and Pinterest isn't it. Have a quick check to ensure you're not mixing personal boards with business boards. If you are, your best bet is two separate accounts!

5. Making Connections 
Following the right accounts is essential. Aim to follow other Pinterest Business accounts and local businesses to encourage engagement. Following similar companies and interest-boards will supply you with new inspiration and ideas daily!

6. Pin the right materials. 
Images should be no bigger that 554x5000 pixels. All links should be in working order and relevant to the image. When re-pinning, also ensure the caption is appropriate. Check your pins! Make sure items are being pinned to boards with appropriate title, and keep them categorised correctly!

7. Missing out on the Pin It! button.
In short, you need it! It makes life so simple and sits subtly in your browser bar. Pin things when you come across them rather than re-pinning from other's boards. So simple, yet so handy.

& LASTLY...

8. Enjoy it!
Make the most of #hastags (but don't over do it!). Post from various reliable sources (not solely your corporate website/blog). Create new boards, adding new inspiration and information for your customers. And always, keep it fresh by pinning often and appropriately. 


Further Reading. 
Should you want to know more about the wonders of Pinterest as a digital marketing tool, I suggest the following blog posts and articles: 

Pinterest for Business
12 Mistakes You Are Making on Pinterest
5 Pinterest Mistakes Businesses Should Avoid

& if you want to copy from the organisations who already 'pin perfectly', this article will help you out there too. 

Happy Pinning! 

Tips and Advice for Businesses on Social Media Sites

This article had sparked some interest into how to be on social media sites successfully as a company. Having researched further, here are some pocket-size tips to being social-media savvy!

1. Choose a primary platform.
Facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest or any of the other dozens of social media sites all do different things for your company. But don't dive into all of them, start with a core profile or account on one and build up a following before you move on to the next.

2. Align your accounts.
Once you've built up and introduced a new platform, make sure they are linked. Can your facebook page be found from your twitter and vice versa?  The likelihood is that if a customer follows you on one platform, they'll want to follow you on others so let them find you!

3. Integration is key.
Integrating your social media with your  marketing campaigns and strategies will be key to the success of the efforts you're putting in (Burrus, 2010). These combined create a strong corporate image for your customers.

4. Accessibility.
Ensure that everybody can access your social media profiles and accounts. Having sites like Facebook blocked on corporate PC's will cause a problem with allowing the company to share and interact with readers.

5. Be active and interesting.
Use your new profiles to develop relationships and communicate with stakeholders of your company. Keeping your content fresh and regular will entice readers and customers. BUT, nobody talks to the boring local in the pub, so don't be a boring profile. Listen to your customers and engage with them, find out what they would like to hear and talk about and develop content to meet these topics.

6. Make mistakes and stay humble.
Don't be trapped into over-paying for a fantabulous new account, start it off and don't be afraid to make mistakes, however, the grammar police on twitter are a force to be reckoned with so spell-check those 160 characters! Learn about the platform first, on twitter - what do hashtags really do? On facebook - should I share links or images?

7. Honesty is the best policy.
Respect the rules of the game and be honest. Steer away from mis-leading information and improper links. Always try to be the 'nicest' guy on the platform, with manners and decorum and you'll soon see you're follower numbers increasing daily.

Further Reading:

Want more info? Some more advice? The following articles and posts should lead you in the right direction!
 

Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media.

Don't let social media get in the way of running your business

How social media can influence markets

The social media bible
Interactive or Reactive Social Media Marketing? 
 

References:
Burrus, D. (2010) An integrated social media strategy. Campaigns & Elections Inc. 32.11.