The business blog can take many forms and support many objectives. That’s part of the beauty of using a blog for business purposes. But sometimes the many uses of a business blog can overwhelm aspiring bloggers, making it hard to decide on a particular blogging strategy.
If you have been meaning to start your own business blog, but you’re not sure how to start, consider one of the following five strategies.
1. Instructional Business Blogs
Instructional blogs are extremely popular, and they come in many flavors. If you can teach your audience about a subject that’s important to them, you have what it takes to develop a popular instructional blog. For example, if a company sells accounting software, it might develop an instructional blog to teach readers about accounting methods, technologies and best practices. This would help the company develop readership and interaction, while also educating readers toward its products.
2. Controversial Business Blog
Controversial blogs can bring in a big readership. But the trick here is to avoid being controversial just for the sake of controversy. Some companies / niches are naturally controversial, and their business blogs are an extension of this. For example, a business that sells political merchandise (shirts, stickers, etc.) could use a blog to generate legitimate controversy of a political nature. This could help generate buzz, readership, and sales.
3. Entertaining Business Blogs
People love to be entertained, and some companies are able to tap into this for business-related purposes. For almost every product or service, there’s an audience who finds it entertaining. This is especially the case with the hobby industry and niche products / services that have a devoted (almost “cultish”) following. In such industries, a company might use its blog to educate as well as entertain its audience.
4. Behind-the-Scenes Business Blog
This approach to business blogging gives your customers and readers a behind-the-scenes look at your products and services (and to a certain extent, your company itself). When done well, this business blog strategy can help the company foster trust among its key audience. When readers learn about the people behind the company, and how they go about their work, they are more apt to trust the company on a whole.
Microsoft is probably the best example of this. For many years, Microsoft has had a perception problem with both consumers and the media. In the past, many people have viewed it as a secretive and soulless company bent on world domination at any cost. In more recent years, this perception has begun to soften. Many current and former insiders of Microsoft have attributed much of this perception shift to the company’s various blogging campaigns. Suddenly, the public gets to know the people behind Microsoft products. And trust begins to grow where there was a real lack of it before.
5. High-Value Business Blogs
Naturally, people are naturally attracted to things of value. We seek value constantly in both our personal and professional lives. As such, a business blog that offers value in some form will eventually attract readers. Those readers will become advocates of the blog, happy to share its value with friends or colleagues.
Value comes in many forms. Information can be valuable, if it helps us perform a task, save money, live a better life, etc. The greater this value, the more people it will attract. So a business blog that helps its audience succeed in some way has great potential for growth and popularity.
Conclusion
There are many ways a business blog can support your company’s goals. The blogging strategies listed above only scratch the surface. What ideas and strategies can you come up with? How might you use your business blog to turn strangers into readers, and readers into customers? There is no limit to the possibilities.
