BACK TO HOME

BLOG SAMPLE

Business Blogging – An Innovative Tool for Online Marketing

Blogging for Business

Blogging, the latest buzzword in the business fraternity, is finally being taken seriously as an effective marketing and public relations tool. From professionals to non-profit organisations to corporates, blogs are being used extensively for business promotion.


Blogs- A Reality Check

As of today, all predictions suggesting that the popularity of business blogs is a short-term fad have been proven wrong. The consistently growing size and the evolving nature of the blogosphere have established beyond doubt that blogs are here to stay.

A close look at few of the research reports on blogging substantiates this fact and indicates the future of blogging:

· The Blogosphere is over 100 times bigger than it was just 3 years ago. (Source -State of the Blogosphere report by David Sifry, CEO of Technorati)

· Today, the blogosphere is doubling in size every 200 days. (Source -State of the Blogosphere report by David Sifry, CEO of Technorati)

· Traffic to blogs in the first quarter of 2005 had increased by 45 percent from the same time previous year! (Source- Report by Pew Internet and American Life Project)

· About 175,000 new weblogs are created each day, which means that on average, there are more than two blogs created each second of each day. (Source -State of the Blogosphere report by David Sifry, CEO of Technorati)

· Total posting volume of the blogosphere continues to rise, showing about 1.6 Million postings per day, or about 18.6 posts per second. (Source -State of the Blogosphere report by David Sifry, CEO of Technorati)

· Blog readers are 11 percent more likely than the average Internet user to have incomes of or greater than $75,000. (Source- Report by Pew Internet and American Life Project)

· Blog readers tend to make more online purchases. (Source- Report by Pew Internet and American Life Project)

Business Blogging - Value Proposition

Blogs have emerged as a powerful marketing tool for businesses across industry verticals. A well-written and updated blog can have a positive impact on any company’s sales revenue. Reason being, the value proposition of a business blog by far surpasses the resource investment it calls for.

The rising popularity of business blogging can be attributed to the fact that:

· Search Engines prefer blogs – Search engines prefer web pages that are rich in content, links and are updated regularly. All of these are defining features of blogs. Also, blogs use tags to facilitate searches within the blog sites, and search engines tend to pick up these tags very quickly. Thus, blogs are indexed faster and this drives more traffic to the company’s website.

· Blogs establish credibility- Blogs can establish credibility for a business if informative content on relevant topics are posted regularly.

· Blogs build trust with prospects and clients- As an instant communication forum; blogs allow open dialogue with clients and prospect and in the long run play a crucial role in building trust.

· Blogs enhance website stickiness– People enjoy fresh, interesting, and relevant content. A well-maintained blog ensures repeat visits to the linked website.

· Blogs attract media attention – These days more and more journalists look at blogs to get a feel of the latest buzz. Regular posting on industry-related articles can help a business generate free media coverage.

ONLINE MARKETING USING BLOGS AND RSS FEEDS

Blog/ Online Community:

If you are going to find SUCCESS with Internet Marketing, you have to stay on top of the most effective trends in web marketing and also fully take advantage of them. The world of Internet sales and search engine ranking is unbelievably competitive. It is not enough to submit your web site to the search engines, you have to fight to reach the top and then fight even harder to maintain your position as top dog! The reality is, this can only be done with the very best web marketing tools and the most effective methods.

BLOG Marketing:

Blogging is the latest innovation to take the web by storm. According to a blog tracking firm there are currently 14 million blogs with 80,000 more being added every day. And 30 percent of all 50 million internet users are blog readers. In short, a lot of people are reading and writing blogs.

So just what is a blog and why should you care? Basically, the word "blog" is short for web log, a frequently updated web-based journal that's intended for general public consumption. So what do people write about? Anything from personal stories (from the mundane to the bizarre) to theme-centered creations (finance, politics, parenthood) to businesses (philosophies; updates; branding methods) to...you name it!

Here are some additional advantages for businesses that blog:

Word-of-mouse. Because so many people have access to electronic forms of communication, it's easy for information to spread quickly. If you have a great new product, an innovative idea or an exciting marketing strategy, you can be sure your blog readers will pass it along via e-mail to others who will pass it along, too. Soon, your marketing message has reached hundreds if not thousands or millions of people.

Speed. If something goes wrong or if you have quick-breaking news, a blog can get the word--or your response--out immediately, much faster than any other form of media.

Awareness and loyalty. Purchasers of your product can read about it, post comments and engage in discussion. You can respond. Others can comment. This personal communication can create an open, honest, trust-building dialog that will make consumers more aware, more willing to try your products and more loyal to your brand.

Feedback. Businesses can find out immediately what people think of their company, products and ideas. But be warned: This takes a thick skin, as all feedback is not positive. But if you're really willing to listen, this information can be invaluable. Better yet, feedback can be generated quickly--over days, if not hours. A blog can act like a never-ending focus group that gives a company great insights into their consumers' thoughts, likes and actions.

Community halo-effect. Overall, most bloggers are friendly, helpful (by linking to each other's sites), and eager to cooperate to make the blogosphere--the collective group of blogs--a better place. By simply being an active part of the culture, you get the benefit of the doubt and your product becomes one that bloggers will consider purchasing.

RSS Marketing:

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It's a new way for people to publish and distribute their content ie news, headlines, newsletters, articles etc. It's a Web content syndication format. An RSS file is written in a simple language called XML. It is a lot like HTML, only simpler. An XML file contains the information (Title, Description and Link URL) that your audience will receive through a RSS reader.

Syndication means you don't have to visit each site individually to see what's new -- you simply scan headlines or brief article summaries and click to read the full text.

Benefits of RSS Marketing:

•	RSS is dynamic. When a publisher changes content, consumers know it instantly.
•	Review a large number of sites in a very short time ie you can review 20 headlines then choose which one to read.
•	Distributes content to consumers who might be too afraid to subscribe to your ezine - they can remain anonymous and don't need to subscribe or unsubscribe.
•	Bypass spam filters, firewalls, and avoid getting viruses. Consumers opt-in to receive RSS feeds.
•	Can replace or be an additional channel to distribute content besides using email to send your newsletter or ezine.
•	Allow consumers to see some of the producer's content without needing to visit the site.
•	Provides fresh content for your web site - by adding RSS to your web site you can automatically publish other people's content.
•	Increase search engine rankings - search engines love web sites that provide fresh content on a continuous basis. ie adding an article feed will provide that fresh content.
•	Save time - instead of browsing multiple sites to find information of interest, syndicated content can be delivered directly through your RSS Reader. You scan the headline that interests you, then click to go directly to the source. FOR DETAILS PLEASE CONTACT Arvind Sen Sr. Research Analyst Mobile: +91 9891915255, +91 9999960073 E-Mail: arvind@contentindia.com BLOG SAMPLE