Grabbing the attention of today’s clientele gets harder and harder by the day. To meet this challenge, companies looking to intrigue potential clients with their products or services are finding new and compelling ways of taking the consumable directly to the consumer.
Businesses seeking to boost traffic to their websites will benefit from the incorporation of social media posts and blogs into their messaging strategies, especially in a world in which organizations can capitalize on the attention they draw through such methods as search engine optimization (SEO).
However, it’s not enough to stick a name, a logo, and a tagline on empty negative space. The most effective blog posts include to-the-point references to what the business does, how it does it, and how its operations stand out from other organizations in the industry and in the area.
What can blog posts do?
Imagine a company makes its money by specializing in the distribution of liquid nitrogen gas via trucking and cross-country freight. This industry seems convoluted and unapproachable on its face – not the best jumping off point, even if it manages to get eyes on one of its ads. To demystify its work to the wider public, the company might generate relatable articles or videos.
The company, like any organization, must not neglect the importance of multimedia in attracting attention, especially in an age where high quality videos can help potential clients understand your point of view better than an article might. A thirty-second clip of the president of the company recounting the founding of the company could tell the audience about the struggles the owners undertook to build the company from the ground up.
Instead of outputting a wall of text about the natural gas boom and the chemical nuances of transporting liquid natural gas, the company might personalize its work by creating a blog post about the daily routines of one of their truckers. The company can create a short video or article about the long hours and other experiences that truckers go through to deliver natural gas to the company’s business partners across the country.
Such a post not only draws the reader into a relatable aspect of the company’s operations, but it will also introduce the reader to other information that is made available on the company’s website, thereby introducing them to the ways in which they benefit by becoming the organization’s client.
Where do I post?
Indeed, the addition of a new name to your Rolodex starts with a single click.
But such clicks can be hard to come by if one simply writes a couple of paragraphs and places them in an unreachable corner of the World Wide Web. Placement also matters. Without good placement, no one will be able to access your content, regardless of its quality.
In her Forbes article on promoting blog posts, Lilach Bullock emphasized the importance of calibrating your blog post to the kind of social media with which you will engage in order to maximize clicks.
Bullock says, “Each social network is different and their users have different expectations. Whenever you share a blog post, in order to maximize your results, try optimizing your updates for each social network in turn – and that means everything, the text update and the imagery used to promote it.”
This means that a fuzzy, too-large picture of an intricate diagram of a specialty truck axle won’t keep Twitter users interested what that gas transporting company might offer.
Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, and WordPress all present opportunities for companies to exploit user-friendly interfaces to generate posts, which in turn will generate attention that will feed your bottom line. The types of posts common to theses sites are:
Twitter – Pithy, concise, and eye-catching
Example: “Gas isn’t just found at the pump. Click to find out how it ships.”
Facebook – Slightly longer; generally focused on new happenings in your company
Example:
Congrats to Bill on his promotion to Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications here at LNG, Inc.! We are so excited that he has decided to begin his fifteenth year with us by heading up the branch of our organization that represents us to our clients and our business partners. Here’s to many more years of growth and success!
- LNG Management
Blogger – Quite long; perfect for explaining a part of your business, such as its founding or recent hurdles it has overcome, in lengthy detail
WordPress – Similar to those found in Blogger, but with more choices for page design
How often do I post?
Next, Bullock discusses the importance of regularly updating whichever outlets or outlets your company selects. The production and distribution of new content at a brisk pace guarantees the attraction of more eyes to your pages.
Bullock recommends, “On Twitter, you can do this more frequently (once every few days, for example), while on other social networks (like Facebook or LinkedIn) you can re-share it once a week or every few weeks, depending on how much you normally post.
Twitter tends to regular upkeep, especially in the event that a product or service within your industry begins to trend due to the popularity of a news story about the product or service, or due to a related certain event. In these instances, it is crucial that the pace of content generating increases to attract as much attention as possible during that window of time.
Maintaining blog posts and ensuring that potential clients find out more about your product or service might mean that someone on your marketing or communications team dedicates a little more time to overseeing your social media outlets.
If your team is just starting out in your industry and cannot afford the extra staffing, don’t worry. Blogging requires the expertise of your industry and a willingness to communicate that expertise to anyone who will listen. Anyone on your staff with such expertise – and the willingness to share that expertise – should be more than sufficient.
What else do I do with my posts?
In addition to sharing your posts on the major social networking sites, Bullock also recommends sending your articles or updates off to niche industry blogs that keep track of business news in your sector of the economy. Software makers might send posts to Wired.com or Gizmodo. LNG, Inc might send its updates to a blog dedicated to understand more about America’s energy resources.
And don’t just scavenge for new clientele without keeping your previous clients in mid. Make sure that those who already benefit from your products or services receive regular updates as well. One way of doing this is by tacking the posts onto emailed newsletters, a source for new and old clients to learn more about the company.
These updates remind clients that they are appreciated and that the conversation around the improvement of products or services does not stop after the first purchase. Your company will certainly benefit from the resulting feedback, as new clients become regular customers who are enamored with new updates to your services or stock.
Conclusion
In short, blogging not only enhances the size of your potential audience more than a run-of-the-mill ad, but it also might help you to streamline your elevator pitch for members of that audience who are not familiar with your work. The constant updates to your social media profiles and the need to apply concision to your messaging methods will hone your missions statements, updates, and stated goals into captivating headlines for neophytes and old hands.
