natasha kong

Just because some organizations are well served by their site’s blog doesn’t mean that you will be. Clients are buzzed by the blog trend but don’t realize the time, energy and upkeep involved. After much deliberation I finally decided to hang a shingle out and set up my own blog even though I too will struggle with mundane entries, self-gratification and best before dates.

When evaluating whether to set up a blog here are some considerations:

• Don’t feel pressured to post every day but post when you have something of value to say
• Spend some time thinking of the tone of the entries and finding the right person to maintain and write for the blog. Blogs are usually opinion pieces so the best candidate might not be a marketing or PR person, instead you might want to find someone from the public or an expert(s) in your industry who can present a more personable, genuine voice and speak from experience.
• If the person writing your blog is outside of your organization make sure there is a screening process for verification before the content gets published
• A blog is an opportunity to establish a connection with your target audience. Don’t think of it as a one way relationship but look for ways to engage the audience and solicit feedback.
• Quantifying the ROI on a blog is a difficult thing. Charlene Li from Forrester writes about calculating the ROI of a blog – it’s not about the math.

Insteresting stats:

• Only 38 percent of all internet users know what blogs are (Source: January 2005 Pew Research Center survey)
• Only 0.03 percent of the 34.5 million existing blogs are driving sales or getting customers to contact companies (Source: Marketing Sherpa)
• The average reader spends 96 seconds reading the average blog (Source: Living Room!)