Benefits of a Marketing Plan

Blogging For Your Business

FINDING A PURPOSE• Define clear goals for your blog

• But just like with business itself, if the blog doesn't have clear goals it'll be left flailing with no clear focus or intent.

SET COMPANY GOALS

• THE CORE PURPOSE OF THE BUSINESS• A clear statement of intent• NOT a mission statement or corporate tagline

SET TARGETS

• Set targets for everyone who works with the blog• Use these targets to measure your success

DEFINING GOALS• Always ensure that the goals of the blog line up with the

business purpose of the company

BRAINSTORM

• How to communicate your core purpose?• What can a blog visitor learn from us?• What do they want to learn?• What can WE learn from our customers?• How can we contribute to the bait in our field• How can we establish ourselves as thought leaders?

CREATING A 1-YEAR PLAN• Create a 1-year plan with milestones

• Everyone knows what they are working towards• Everyone knows how to measure success

SET REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS

• You must invest time and money into your blog• Building immediate interests• Newsletter mention• Industry publications• Launch party

• Search-friendly content• Customer testimonials• Answer common questions

• Boost visits through social media• Evaluation and Analysis• Determine what brings people to your blog• Increase that type of content

• Experiment• Triple direct search hits and shares

• Revisit and Reset

STRATEGY

WHERE DOES THE BLOG LIVE?

• Where does your blog live in relation to your other online assets?• Address early in the planning process• Will impact how you handle other online assets

MAP OUT YOUR ONLINE ASSETS

• Make a sketch, use cutouts, etc.• Identify EACH asset• Twitter• Facebook• Intranet• Customer Portal• Main Website

WHO OWNS THE BLOG?• A blog is like a newspaper or magazine

• New Content• Multiple Authors• Contributors• Editorial Hierarchy

EDITORIAL HIERARCHY

• Editor-in-Chief, the de facto owner• Content Manager• Content Editor• Contributor

CREATING EDITORIAL GUIDELINES• Two Key Components:

• List of Editorial Staff• The Principals of Publishing

LIST OF EDITORIAL STAFF

• Clearly indicates key roles and responsibilities

• Will need updating whenever there is a change in editorial staff

THE PRINCIPLES OF PUBLISHING

• Adherence to a strict code of ethics is vitally important• Be open about affiliations• Be factual• Correct your errors

• Set guidelines for type of content• Images• Links• External Content

CONTENT CREATION

CREATING A CONTENT STRATEGY• Finding Your Niche• Researching Your Competition• Re-Define Your Niche if Necessary

FIND YOUR NICHE

• Define key topics• Assign these topics to content

managers and contributors

RESEARCH YOUR COMPETITION

• Do they have a blog or social media presence?• What are they talking about?• What are they not talking about?• KEYWORD SPY - FREE TOOL*

RE-DEFINE YOUR NICHE

• If there is a lot of information out there you may need to re-define

• Google ad words tools• Shows frequently searched keywords and phrases

CONTENT FORMATS AND TYPES• Determining Content Formats and Types now will make

planning and setup easier down the road• Text, Video, Audio?• Use Images Strategically

VIDEO• Quickly becoming as important as text• Hard to index• Consider transcribing content for better

indexing

AUDIO• Recent resurgence• Podcasts can be beneficial to some

businesses• Consider transcribing content for

better indexing

TEXT CONTENT• News Item• Q&A Posts• Tips and Tricks• Tutorials• Discussions

RECRUITING CONTRIBUTORS• Create Ownership and Engagement

• Contributors can identify• Allow staffers to share expert knowledge• Leverage their skills and include them in the planning

process• Identify key contributors• Profile these contributors on your blog• Bio Pages• Encourage contributors to share content

CREATING CONTENT• Write What You Know!• Answer Questions!• Issue Statements on Hot Topics• Quote Other Sources

USING IMAGES• What images can you use on your blog?• How to use images

WHAT IMAGES CAN YOU USE?

• Your Own Images• Taken by staff• Taken by professional

photographers• Images that are licensed for use• Stock images• Photo Sharing• Creative Commons• **LEGAL DISCLAIMER

HOW TO USE IMAGES

• Add an Image Title• Add an Image Description• Add Photographer Caption when

Necessary

USING VIDEO• If you have the resources and talent, videos can easily

become an important asset

VIDEO SERVICES• YouTube• Vimeo• Paid Video Hosting• VideoPress• Viddler• BrightCove

6 TYPES OF CONTENT

GROUP PROJECTS

• ROLES• Editor-in-Chief, the de facto owner• Content Manager• Content Editor• Contributor

GOALS & TARGETS

• What are the goals of UMSL Digital Mindshare?• Who is the audience?• Talking points• Content ideas• Measurements• Technology/Methods• Competition Profile