Everyone’s blogging, so why aren’t you? If you’ve been itching to start your own blog, irrespective of the reason behind it and the expectations, this is probably the best time to start. But before you do, you need to know the complete dynamics of blogging because at the end of the day, you’d want people to read through the content you generate. For these readers to appreciate and follow your blog, there has to be a strategy to bring them there and valuable substance in your writing.
Why Start a Blog?
There are probably two fundamental reasons behind taking an initiative to start a blog. In the first case, you may be trying to market a product or a website or even execute an idea for which you need to communicate and engage with your readers. The second reason is possibly for appreciation or spreading knowledge about a specific niche you’ve mastered.
Even before we get started on understanding these two categories, it is important to realize that blogs are not your PR platforms. Blogs are meant for sharing information and thoughts. They are built to assist your end users or connect with your audience in case you’re doing it for leisure or a social cause.
Blogging to Market a Product/Service
When marketing a product online, a blogging platform is used for:
● Describing what the company or the product does
Once you’ve chosen to go digital, your website describes your brand in its entirety. It is the formal description of what the company does, the products it offers and how they function. But a blog that’s integrated on a website fulfills the aim to get a lot more personal with the user. Here, you can use visuals, conversations and other tools to your advantage for describing products and services at length. It also gives the company a place to express its views using a casual tone or quirky manner, thus humanizing the company as an entity.
● Interacting and engaging with the customer
The blog is also one of the most trusted sources to understand your product in case of any doubts. A person who’s bought something from you or is considered a potential buyer, would rather clear his doubts about your product straight from the horse’s mouth than trust third parties. Therefore, a blog is ideal for interacting and networking with users and would-be clients.
● Gathering feedback to understand the scope of improvement
Since you’ve already had your customers come to your blog for everything they want to ask and know, its a good idea to use this opportunity for testimonials and feedback. It may be wise to request testimonials from customers you’ve served, which most people won’t begrudge because it does not involve long phone calls or tedious emails.
● Building a brand identity
There isn’t a specific thing that builds a brand. It is the cumulative efforts of customer care, problem solving, support availability, general campaigns, gratifications from time to time and a general yearly system for communication that builds a brand. But when you stop to analyze, most of this happens through your blogging strategy. That is the only part that is active and dynamic on your website. The rest is pretty static in terms of content.
Blogging for a Social Cause
Ever since blogging became one of the strongest mediums of communication, social activists started to engage in it by voicing out their thoughts to reach the masses for fundraising purposes. It is the most convenient way through which you can connect emotionally with other people, therefore you’ll see a lot of NGOs taking to the web at a much faster pace.
Blogging for Appreciation
There is a very strong percentage of people who just blog because they feel they are rich with thoughts and ideas and want a way to promote themselves. The basic idea for them is to express and be appreciated. Some do a fab job with the same and get viral. Others feel self satisfied on taking the initiative to write.
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