Clayton chamber blogging feb13-kolbeco

A Social Media Presentation by KolbeCoBlogging

Scott Kolbe, KolbeCoCory Sielfleisch, KolbeCo

Twitter: @skolbe @corysielfleischFacebook: facebook.com/kolbeco

Who are we?How can you find us?

What is blogging

A blog is…

• A place to collaborate

• A place to share ideas

• A space for thoughts

Why blog?

• 57% of companies with a blog have acquired a customer from their blog

• 77% of internet users read blogs

• Blogging creates

connections between people and companies. Connections bring more website traffic.

•

Blogging for B2B:

• Best way to keep content on your website fresh • Positions yourself as a thought leader • Added value for your prospects (informative posts)• Easier to be found on niche topics/products

Blogging for B2C:

• Highlight promotions

• Engage with your target

• B2C companies that blog generate 88% more leads per month

• Have fun! Don’t be boring!

SEO benefits:

• Keywords in blogs drive traffic from search engines

• Blog title is key

• On average, companies that blog receive 434% more indexed pages

• It updates your site with fresh content

• SEO tools make it easy

WordPress:• 49% of top blogs

• Design options- Standard template - Modify templates - Pure custom

• Customization

• Used by large entities

How do you drive engagement?

• Interesting content

• Contest

• Teach people how to do things themselves

• Respond to comments

• Participate in social media, forums & blogs

B2B

• Show your know!

• Case studies

• Don’t sell—tell!

• Answer FAQ’s

B2C

• Reviews

• Industry news

• Top tips

• Answer: Why do I care?

• How to tips

Sharing posts

• Share on social platforms- Facebook- Twitter - LinkedIn

• Reddit • Posterous (Bought by Twitter)• StumbleUpon

Designing a theme • Modify template headers/images

• Custom design in Photoshop

• Design for the web

• Will need a Developer

• Many tools (eCommerce, rotating images, contact forms, SPAM)

• Free Plugins

• Paid Plugins

More features: Plugins/Licensing

• Permission based

• Labeling

• Increase engagement

• Blogs with images get 94% total views

Include images

• Explain what the page is about • Shows up in the top left corner of the browser

• 70 character maximum

• Good keywords mixed in

Title bars

• Like the Title Bar only geared to search engines.

• Be honest with keywords.

Meta tags

• Choose a voice and stick with it!

• Keep it casual

• 1st person

• Style should reflect the brand voice

• Consistency is key (Once a week minimum)

Writing style

• Don’t create a keyword farm

• All original content, do not copy and paste

• Again… don’t be boring!

• Have fun and be passionate – be inspired

Content is king

• Content should be informative

• Not a sales pitch—give the readers what they want!

• Think of it as a conversation, not shouting from the mountain top.

Don’t just promote yourself

• Why do it?

• Code of Ethics, Disclosing Payment

• Why are you having to pay (Brand or Product Issues)

Paying for Posts

• Take a negative and turn it into a positive

• Determine the misbehavior

• Acknowledge mistakes—don’t hide

Handling comments

• Video drives traffic

• Embed on page

• More interactive

• Show your personality

Video blogging

• Monitor regularly

• Tools - Akismet

• When to delete

• When to respond

Dealing with spam

• Keep up with competitors

• Find inspiration

• Find out what people are saying

• Market research

Google Alerts

• See what people are doing on your site

• How long they are staying

• How they find your site

• Free and powerful tool

Google Analytics

• What is your goal?

• Who is your target?

• Don’t be afraid

• How are you going to do it (time commitment)

Strategy (Where to Start)

• Social platforms: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook (promote posts)

• Do your research on the writer (read their stuff!)

• Contact them directly

How to engage a blogger?

• Offer a sample product

• Share an industry trend

• Develop a relationship

• Comment on their post

How to get a blogger to review a product?

• Disclose free samples

• Disclose if you got paid to write something

• Don’t use intellectual property without permission

Journalism: Code of Ethics

• Know what they plan to cover

• Know who they have already interviewed

• You most likely will NOT be able to read the story prior

Bill of Rights in an interview

Questions?