Fewer companies are blogging these days, according to a new survey from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
Only 37% of Inc. Magazine’s 500 fast-growing companies maintained a blog in 2011, down from 50% in 2010. Among Fortune 500 companies, the 2011 rate was the same as 2010: just 23%.
Why the low numbers?
Once the Wild West of digital marketing, social media is no longer an unfamiliar arena in which companies swing blindly at everything in hopes of hitting something.
But while it’s fantastic that businesses are getting strategic about channel management, there’s still plenty of opportunity for Fortune 500 companies in social media. They’d be wise to think carefully before calling it quits on blogging.
Where does blogging fit in?
A blog is the ideal hub from which to drive the conversations you want to have online. Since it tends to be more time-intensive than micro-media channels like Facebook and Twitter, it’s often the first platform that businesses looking to cut corners throw on the chopping blocks.
It shouldn’t be.
At Banyan Branch, we’ve advised clients not to abandon blogging in favor of [insert flavor of the week here].
We feel strongly that a company blog is more than just another social network, and see blog content as a digital asset.
It enables brands to share authentic stories that compel, inform, guide and entertain their communities.
Yes, it takes time to create content that strengthens relationships and builds lasting brand awareness, but it also helps ensure that we deliver on our clients’ goals for community management, thought leadership, reach and influence.
Your blog is where you tell your story
There’s no better way to communicate a message than through storytelling, and your company blog is a blank canvas that is entirely yours to paint.
Unlike Facebook and other external platforms that own the content you create, your blog is an asset that’s all yours, and with that ownership comes limitless value.
Many companies believe they’ll benefit most from using a blog to pitch products and share press releases, but it’s unlikely that readers are coming to your blog to see what crossed the wire at 6am this morning.
A blog is a vehicle through which to increase search traffic to your website, to shape the niche conversations happening in your industry, to give readers insight into your company culture, and to lend more authority to the posts you make on other channels.
Know what your audience cares about, what will trigger their emotions and elicit their feedback, and write exactly that.
Be consistent and true to your company values and people will come back on their own. Before you know it, they’ll be the ones telling your story.
Written by Allison O’Connor, Content Manager. Follow Banyan Branch on Twitter at @BanyanBranch.