What makes a business blog successful?

Submitted by Corey Smith on Thu, 05/29/2008 - 04:52

Businesses who blog can take a few different approaches to how the blog can be presented. If you are going to follow a business' blog, what type of posts would get you to continue to follow that blog?

Option 1 (Fact Based Information):

An informational blog that provides keys bits of information relating to products and services they sell.

Option 2 (Industry Opinions):

An informational blog that provides opinion on topics surrounding their industry and topics that might interest their target market but not necessarily be related to products they sell.

Option 3 (One Big Sales Pitch):

Every post relates to a product they sell with a call to action like "click here to learn more about this product."

Option 4 (A Little of This... A little of That):

A general opinion blog from someone in the company. Wouldn't be too unlike a blog you would find on MySpace... just random thoughts and personal commentary.

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So, what do you think? Which is the best option for a business blog?



Corey Smith is the president of Tribute Media a web development firm providing high performing, industry specific websites. He is a businessman, writer, technology fanatic, graphic designer and web developer. His greatest passion is teaching, consulting and speaking.

You can find him on Twitter, FaceBook, FriendFeed, and LinkedIn.

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Submitted by Justin Beller (not verified) on Thu, 05/29/2008 - 08:56.
I'll take some of option 1 and some of option 2. Depending on the day or my mood, one more than the other. What doesn't make a good blog is when a company uses it to push out their press releases. I know of a local company that does that, and that's all they use it for. I'm afraid they don't really understand what a blog is and how it can be used to engage their customers.

Submitted by Curtis N. Bingham (not verified) on Thu, 05/29/2008 - 12:44.
Clearly NOT number 3, and NOT one big press release like Justin mentioned. I've found that the blog isn't too different from an electronic newsletter in that people are interested in a mix of product information and industry trends. If you can answer the question, "How is the customer better off for having read your blog?" you'll probably have a good answer as to what the right mix might be....

Submitted by Ken Stewart (not verified) on Thu, 05/29/2008 - 15:25.
I would have to agree with both Justin and Curtis. However, I lean more towards option 2, with enough mix of option 1 to make it valid and not just purely editorial. However, I like following people... that is it's the person's ideas I'm interested in. If an author or authority leaves a company I may still subscribe to the company's blog, but I will almost assuredly follow the author whever they land.

Submitted by Justin Foster (not verified) on Thu, 05/29/2008 - 16:34.
I think the best use of business blogging is transparency. A blog is a great way to create a "blogumentary" of a business - inside info, unvarnished news, etc. For what it is worth, I strongly oppose a "faceless" business blog. The CEO should be blogging - and anyone else in the company that wants to. Also, it is not a function of the marketing or communication department. It is everyone's job to communicate!

Submitted by Greg Walters (not verified) on Fri, 05/30/2008 - 04:53.
I for one, have no idea which is the best mix. I started "blogging" late. March 2, 2008. My intent was to create content that was: 1. All my opinion and reflections 2. Within the realm of my expertise 3. Interesting to me and my friends 4. Possibly interesting to my clients Today, these four reasons have changed into three : 1. All my opinion and reflections 2. Within the realm of my expertise and about the industry 3. Interesting to me and my readers One interesting spin off of my blogging is that I now create a blog for each of my clients. On this blog I post updates on projects, training, orders, and studies. All information specifically relating to my relationship with my client. I email a link out to the end users after each implementation, interview or when I receive their business card. I recommend they subscribe via email. This has turned out to be a very good thing - CIO's to end users check out all the projects going on in all the departments. They can see the training schedule and upcoming events. I have progress reports on Managed Print Studies and the results. I restrict the search capabilities for the blog, so it does not show up on any Google searches and the content is informational - no opinions and no"Direct Marketing" or Selling - although we all know, everything is "Selling", everything.
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