“A blog is a valuable addition to anyone’s e-marketing strategy,” says Tara Turkington, head honcho at Flow Communications.
“It’s the place where a blogger delves deeper into the static content that makes up a website, to create associated marketing content that encourages dialogue and interaction in the digital space. It’s the platform that brings a human element into the e-marketing mix,” she adds.
Blogs that are updated often with well-written and interesting content will help grow online loyalty for a brand. Increased brand loyalty, and more followers and fans, all translate into increased offline support.
So what are key blogging guidelines for writers to follow?
To maintain a high-quality blog means updating it regularly with interesting entries, that solicit feedback from readers and inspire online conversation (always build in comment functionality on blogs).
Good blog posts are well written and informative. Great blog posts are made up of more than just words – think video, illustrations and photos – and leave the reader with something to think about.
Keep it personal
Not where content is concerned, but tone. Write the blog as if you were writing to an old friend. Include funny comments and quirky observations. When you read it back to yourself, make sure the tone is conversational.
Practical tip: write about ‘me’, ‘I’ and ‘you’. Share personal insights and understanding of topics. Write as if you are with the reader, in person.
Have a voice
Cultivate a personality behind the blog by including words and phrases that highlight aspects of the writer’s character.
Practical tip: who is the person who updates the blog? What is their personality? What do they feel strongly about? The answers to these questions will inform the blog “voice”.
Be interested (and interesting)
Write blog entries about things that interest you. If part of the e-marketing strategy is to write blogs about cupcakes and you hate cupcakes, then find an element of cupcakes that does interest you. Perhaps the icing, or the ingredients?
Practical tip: if you don’t like what you are writing about, your readers will pick it up. That equates to a wasted opportunity. Write about what inspires you, and the words will flow.
Keep it rich
Start blog entries with the juiciest bit of information, the most important part of what it is you’re going to write about. Do this, and capture your reader’s attention immediately. Then include video and image content.
Practical tip: include direct quotes where possible; it adds a layer of credible content to your blog. Also ask for feedback, and include polls and surveys in your blog where possible. Avoid clichés when you can use fresh writing aligned to your personality and voice. Instead of writing “it rained cats and dogs”, rather use “it rained petals and potpourri”.
Short, sweet and now is best
The object of a blog is to tell a story, share an idea and engage with the reader. Do this by keeping the entry short and to the point. Nobody wants to read a rambling rant, set in the past, which crawls from one indistinct point to another.
Practical tip: keep blog entries short – 500 words max. Write in the present tense to keep the reader involved and interested. Keep sentences and paragraphs short. And use the active voice, not the passive voice. Rather use “I watered the garden today”, as opposed to “Yesterday, the garden was watered by me.”
Bad blogger: don’t do this
- Don’t be rude or offensive (about anything)
- Don’t be unkind or uncomplimentary about sex, age, race, religion, nationality or just about anything else
- Watch out for spelling and grammatical errors
- Plagiarism (of ideas or content) is a no-no
- Boring entries should be deleted
- Swear words are not cool
As a final foolproofing, apply the “Universal Granny Rule”. Re-read your blog entry and ask yourself whether your granny would understand and enjoy the blog. Is there jargon that she wouldn’t understand? If so, get rid of it.
Writers at Flow submit entries (and maintain blogs) for a number of clients. Some of these include: