It’s been said time and time again by just about every social media guru out there. If you adopt ONE form of social media, start a company blog. (Don’t worry…I’ll bug you about the other ones later.) Launching and maintaining a blog is especially important small business owners, as you’re trying to not only build awareness for company, but also create a deeper connection with your current and potential customers that will hopefully lead to brand loyalty.

What’s the purpose of a blog?

Establishing the purpose of your blog, and identifying what it is you hope to achieve with a blog is the first step. Ask yourself these questions to help draw out your purpose:

• Will your blog simply be a place to keep customers in the loop regarding upcoming in-store events?
• Will it establish credibility in your corner of the market?
• Will it be a platform to keep your readers informed not only about your company but your industry as a whole?
• Will it be a two-way feedback and communication tool? If you ask for feedback, are you in the position to implement customer suggestions/requests?

It’s very possible that your blog will achieve a little of everything mentioned above. What’s important is that you establish your blog’s purpose to keep it on track, and incorporate some level of strategy in how it’s formatted, what content you’ll speak to, how often it will be updated, etc.  Ask yourself these questions prior to even thinking about drafting your introductory post.

The Look and Feel of Your Blog

When it comes to design, you don’t need an elaborate blog. Certainly, it should be clean, consistently formatted and easy to navigate. If you don’t have access to an incredibly skilled designer, no sweat. The personality and tone of your blog can easily be established with your content. Bells and whistles don’t make the blog; content does.

The nice thing about a blog is that it’s a more informal space designed to really establish a connection with your readers. Generally speaking, a blog is a place to showcase your unique perspective, position your business as an authority and color your brand with some personality. This applies whether you’re a brick-and-mortar mom-and-pop shop, franchise owner, multi-location chain store or even a home-office service provider. The true mark of a good blog is one that is authentic, consistently fresh and contains value-rich content that will genuinely help your reader.

Just Because You Can, Does That Mean You Should?

There are lots of benefits to launching a blog, including generating valuable customer feedback, establishing an informal “no pressure” direct line of direct, enhancing SEO (search engines love link-heavy blogs), the ability to share news on the fly, etc.

Clearly, business blogs are a lifeline between you and your customers. Really, it just boils down to whether you’re a good blogger candidate or not. Blogs take lots of nurturing and attention if they’re really going to be successful, so take a look below to see where you factor on the list, and really take a moment before diving in to assess your level of preparedness:

You SHOULD launch a blog if:

• You want to drive traffic to your website
• You sell products/services
• You have a knowledgeable staff (or other contributors) that can help author entries
• You can carve out at least 30 minutes at least two to three times a week to keep your blog consistently fresh
• You genuinely want to break down the barrier between you and your customers
• You genuinely want to provide information that will educate your customers
• You have a desire to create more transparency in the merchant/customer relationship
• You’re ready to not only talk, but listen to what your customers have to say – this one is a win-win when done well
• You have news to share and don’t want to rely solely on the media and your other marketing practices to share that news
• You can keep up with the industry pulse, meaning your entries will be relevant, top-of-mind and valuable to your readers

You should NOT launch a blog if:

• You’re already stretched for time and have no one else to pitch in with ideas and entries
• Nothing is more frightening to you than the thought of penning your own entries
• You tend to drop new hobbies/activities soon after starting
• You’re likely to consistently push blog writing to the bottom of your to-do list – it has to be a priority

Please keep in mind, this list only touches the surface, but most of the important factors have been captured. So, are you considering launching a blog for your business? If it’s been slow moving, what’s holding up the process? If you have a blog, have you noticed any difference in terms of buzz, store traffic, sales, etc? Let us know!

P.S. If you do decide that you’re ready to kick things off, we’re happy to help.

Tags: blogging for business, business blog, customer communication, customer feedback, merchant blog, reasons to launch a blog, Social Media