8 Reasons Why You Need to Blog for Business

Blogging for Business

1. Blogging is a great way to engage with your target audience. A blog can provide those who are interested in your company or product with current information. If you are launching a new product line, want to get feedback on a particular issue, or want to share information directly with customers and other stakeholders, a blog is a great platform for those messages. It also presents the opportunity to open up a dialogue with your customers and prospective customers.

2. Blogs offer fresh content that your target audience is looking for. Providing fresh relevant content fulfils the needs of your audience. It also helps to boost the site’s search engine rankings.

3. Blogs create links to other online resources. Blogs attract links from other blogs on related topics.

4. Having a blog allows you to provide thought leadership in your industry. It builds the company’s brand in a powerful way. E.g. Fiskateers, are five brand ambassadors for Fiskars, a manufacturer of crafting tools and supplies. The statement on their blog reads:

“Why do we need brand ambassadors? Because we want to open the lines of communication- to know the people who use our products. You are the ones who keep us in business. And we want to hear what you have to say about current and new products…”

5. Providing a blog that customers can easily access helps to put a human face on your company. E.g. Bob Lutz, the V.C. at General Motors is at the wheel of GM Fastlane blog.

7. Blogs can create a sense of community because they’re so interactive. Blogs and other forms of social media can also connect customers to one another allowing them to form communities based on shared interests. When a customer has a question or concern about a product or a service, they can easily go to the company’s blog and post a comment. It helps to draw the customer back to your site. Customers are more likely to remain a loyal and mention you to their friends.

8. Setting up a blog is free! This is a huge deal for small companies that have limited budgets. For nothing more than the cost of the time it takes to write daily or weekly posts and respond to comments. Small businesses can enjoy the many benefits that a blog can provide for their business.

CNN has ten different blogs on varying topics like politics, business, health, international issues, science and technology and more. They invite users to, “Join the conversation with CNN anchors, correspondents and producers all over the globe.”

Dell is using blogs and other social media sites such as Facebook to reach out to their customers and build their brand.

Kodak has three different blogs: A Thousand Words blog where users can post photos, the Plugged In blog that talks about Kodak products and services, and the Grow Your Biz Blog, which is focused on print communications for businesses.

I went ahead and listed a few more popular corporate blogs for you to check out.

Delta
South West
Monster