While we have all heard why if you’re a company you need a Twitter account and a Facebook group page, one thing that sometimes gets overshadowed is having a company blog. While Twitter and Facebook can create interest within your community, blogs take it a step further and give companies the chance to not only create interest, but more importantly, create buzz.
Interest Versus Buzz
So what is the difference? If you look up the definitions, interest is defined as “a sense of concern with and curiosity about someone or something.” Compare that with the definition of buzz, which is commonly defined as “a sense of excitement,” buzz is dynamic in that it can make something go viral.
For every marketing and advertising campaign, one of the best things that can happen is that it goes viral. By having something go viral, or have the ability to spread rapidly, you increase the visibility of your product or campaign. With the blog, it not only provides a platform for you to mold and create your own viral marketing campaign, but it gives you the chance to do so in a platform that you control. Unlike platforms like Twitter and Facebook, you are not bound to a certain number of words or friends. You can create what you want and how you want it.
Complimentary Tools: Facebook, Twitter, & Your Blog
A good way to view a company blog is to view it as the central hub for your marketing campaigns. From your blog, you can share news, content and products. Using other social tools like Facebook and Twitter, you can then share it with others. In a way, all three of these tools are considered complimentary and when used all together, can bring out the best results.
An important thing to remember is that you shouldn’t just use your company blog as a way to generate content. Your Facebook group page for example can be used to generate conversation through “questions of the day,” and your Twitter account can also be used to ask people what they want. The right balance is to create a system where each platform compliments each other.
It’s Not For Everyone
While it was mentioned earlier that a company blog can be considered to be the central hub, some may ask what they should do if a blog just isn’t for them. For example, a manufacturer of horse shoe parts might not necessarily need a blog. In situations like this, a company needs to identify there own individual needs and then decide upon which platform would serve them best. For example, for companies that want a better way to handle customer service, Twitter might work best, and for others that are looking for a way to share video content, YouTube. Every companies situation is unique and it is their responsibility to find out which will help them best.
Joseph is the Director of Marketing at Viralogy.com & works in social media & sports consulting. Read more about him at http://JosephAYi.com
Tags: Blogging, community, Social Media, Strategy, the right way
