BLOGGING 101

Lois Paul and Partners
WHAT’S THE VALUE OF BLOGGING?


Add personal voice to the brand



Establish thought leadership



Build an engaged community



Communicate with customers, partners, and prospects



Humanize the brand by adding a face to the company



Support business communications initiatives
OBJECTIVES
Establish thought leadership and
educate the market
Increase brand visibility and
awareness

Increase SEO via inbound and
outbound links
Build relationships with
influencers and customers
Lead the conversation and become
a trusted source of information
Humanize the brand by fostering
the “voice” of company
experts, customers and influencers
Drive demand and leads
CONTENT GUIDELINES


Suggested Blog Length. Posts are typically 400-500 words. While most
blog posts tend to be in a block-paragraph format, there are other
different approaches you can experiment with.



Linking. Include links in every post to provide context to your points
(especially when referencing and citing statistics or other content). Link to
other bloggers as this is a way to engage in dialogue.



Headlines are important. Attention spans are shrinking rapidly – write
your posts with this in mind, starting with the headline. Try writing
headlines as questions, using the words “How” and “Why.”



Leverage video and photos. This can include:
graphs, charts, screenshots, photos, etc. Remember to credit the source.



Writing a corporate blog? Practice professionalism and business
etiquette when commenting on something. Check spelling and grammar!
CONVERSATION GUIDELINES


Start a conversation. Avoid marketing-speak or sounding like a press
release. It is also important to pose questions to readers. Engage the
audience, don’t just present.



Be authentic. Authenticity is the foundation of trust. Your posts should
reflect genuine opinions based on personal and/or professional
experience, and language should flow naturally.



Controversial Posts. These topics attract attention but bloggers should
never disparage the competition or write for the sake of controversy.



Current Events. Comment on other industry blogs or share your
viewpoint around a current event or industry trend, providing added-value
commentary to engage readers in conversation.



Maintain a thick skin. Don’t write a blog post unless you can answer all
questions -- good and bad -- professionally, quickly, and nicely.
CONVERSION GUIDELINES


Evergreen Topics. In order to give your posts a longer shelf life, try
writing blog posts that readers can bookmark and turn to for guidance
and helpful references.



Case Studies. Consider writing blog posts about client projects, success
stories, award-winning work and other case studies in order to increase
brand visibility and lead generation.



Write for them, not for you. Readers are interested in hearing what you
have to say; especially in terms of the challenges they face and how you
are equipping/could equip them to overcome those challenges.
BLOGGING APPROACHES
Industry Insight.
Commentary on industry
topic “of the moment”

Technical Drill Downs.
Technology
features, “under the
covers”

How-To.
Step-by-step on how
to tackle specific
challenges

Personal to Industry.
Share personal
experience that can be
related an issue in the
industry/market

Guest Blogging.
Great way to build
relationships with
clients, prospects and
influencers

Detractor Blogging.
Take a viewpoint that
opposes another blogger
for a constructive online
debate

Link Blogging.
Share links to
articles/posts you’ve
found informative

List Blogging.
"11 Business Tactics You
Should Know“

Event Blogging.
Share highlights or
recap an industry event

Survey Blogging.
Ask question(s) related
to an issue for an
industry pulse

Video Blogging.
Use video in place of
text as primary content

Feature Blogging.
Develop an in-depth
feature around a topic
or person

Response Blogging.
Respond to influencer
posts with cross-linking

Blog Series.
Explore a topic by
dedicating a post to
each major aspect

Lpp blogger guidelines and best practices

  • 1.
  • 2.
    WHAT’S THE VALUEOF BLOGGING?  Add personal voice to the brand  Establish thought leadership  Build an engaged community  Communicate with customers, partners, and prospects  Humanize the brand by adding a face to the company  Support business communications initiatives
  • 3.
    OBJECTIVES Establish thought leadershipand educate the market Increase brand visibility and awareness Increase SEO via inbound and outbound links Build relationships with influencers and customers Lead the conversation and become a trusted source of information Humanize the brand by fostering the “voice” of company experts, customers and influencers Drive demand and leads
  • 4.
    CONTENT GUIDELINES  Suggested BlogLength. Posts are typically 400-500 words. While most blog posts tend to be in a block-paragraph format, there are other different approaches you can experiment with.  Linking. Include links in every post to provide context to your points (especially when referencing and citing statistics or other content). Link to other bloggers as this is a way to engage in dialogue.  Headlines are important. Attention spans are shrinking rapidly – write your posts with this in mind, starting with the headline. Try writing headlines as questions, using the words “How” and “Why.”  Leverage video and photos. This can include: graphs, charts, screenshots, photos, etc. Remember to credit the source.  Writing a corporate blog? Practice professionalism and business etiquette when commenting on something. Check spelling and grammar!
  • 5.
    CONVERSATION GUIDELINES  Start aconversation. Avoid marketing-speak or sounding like a press release. It is also important to pose questions to readers. Engage the audience, don’t just present.  Be authentic. Authenticity is the foundation of trust. Your posts should reflect genuine opinions based on personal and/or professional experience, and language should flow naturally.  Controversial Posts. These topics attract attention but bloggers should never disparage the competition or write for the sake of controversy.  Current Events. Comment on other industry blogs or share your viewpoint around a current event or industry trend, providing added-value commentary to engage readers in conversation.  Maintain a thick skin. Don’t write a blog post unless you can answer all questions -- good and bad -- professionally, quickly, and nicely.
  • 6.
    CONVERSION GUIDELINES  Evergreen Topics.In order to give your posts a longer shelf life, try writing blog posts that readers can bookmark and turn to for guidance and helpful references.  Case Studies. Consider writing blog posts about client projects, success stories, award-winning work and other case studies in order to increase brand visibility and lead generation.  Write for them, not for you. Readers are interested in hearing what you have to say; especially in terms of the challenges they face and how you are equipping/could equip them to overcome those challenges.
  • 7.
    BLOGGING APPROACHES Industry Insight. Commentaryon industry topic “of the moment” Technical Drill Downs. Technology features, “under the covers” How-To. Step-by-step on how to tackle specific challenges Personal to Industry. Share personal experience that can be related an issue in the industry/market Guest Blogging. Great way to build relationships with clients, prospects and influencers Detractor Blogging. Take a viewpoint that opposes another blogger for a constructive online debate Link Blogging. Share links to articles/posts you’ve found informative List Blogging. "11 Business Tactics You Should Know“ Event Blogging. Share highlights or recap an industry event Survey Blogging. Ask question(s) related to an issue for an industry pulse Video Blogging. Use video in place of text as primary content Feature Blogging. Develop an in-depth feature around a topic or person Response Blogging. Respond to influencer posts with cross-linking Blog Series. Explore a topic by dedicating a post to each major aspect