As more customers turn to the internet as their source of information on brands, more companies are following them there and making sure they still have some influence over their clients. One of the best strategies that companies/businesses can adopt is corporate blogging.

As an Inbound marketing  strategy, corporate blogging is a sure approach to increase engagement with your clients. Unlike the traditional marketing methods – outward marketing which were mostly about a company screaming on top of their voice about themselves, inbound marketing is more about interacting with the client.

Using Corporate Blogging as a Listening Tool

In order to be successful in using corporate blogging as an inbound marketing tool, you have to be willing to listen more to your clients. And this is one of the reasons why a corporate blog can not be used as an advertising or a promotional tool.

Once you have decided to embrace inbound marketing, you can not continue to talk at your clients like in outbound marketing. You have to be prepared to pay more attention to conversations  going on the web relating to your business interests.

These conversations do not have to be centered on your company or brand directly, but as long as they are about services or products in your niche then you need to pay attention. Use corporate blogging to join the conversation by providing your insights and draw the conversation to your backyard. Encourage readers to leave comments or their take on every blog post you post.

This will provide you with the perfect opportunity to listen to what your current and prospective clients are saying about your products or services, every time they leave comments on your blog articles. Once you have these comments, ensure that you reply to each and be tactful about it. The last thing you want to do is be abrasive, sound ignorant or insensitive when giving feedback to your readers comments.

Keep The Conversation Going Through Corporate Blogging

As I mentioned earlier there has to be a complete change to the rules of engagement in inbound marketing, you were only used to telling clients – actually it was more like being in your clients face on TV, print media or billboards whether they wanted it or not.

In inbound marketing, your clients have a choice to listen to you or just turn you off, which am sure is not what you want to happen. So learn to develop relationships and the best way to accomplish this is by corporate blogging about issues in your niche market which your clients are interested in.

Just like in developing a human to human relationship, you have to think of corporate blogging the same way. You have to be courteous and observe the right decorum whether you are joining conversations or starting one. Just like no one likes to have a conversation with a snob, a know it all or nose in the air, self-absorbed person, the same rules apply in inbound marketing.

To keep conversations going, create trust by being a constant source of information to your clients and encourage them to speak their mind on issues you have brought out in your corporate blog. Also join in conversations by commenting on other blogs in your area of expertise.

This will not only gain you trust but also reward you by recognizing you as thought leader in your industry but only if you are using corporate blogging as engagement tool centered on your clients’ needs.

Are there corporate blogs you like reading? What is it about them that keeps you going back for more? Lets engage in the comment section.

 

 

Written by: 

Pauline is the CEO at Allen Cole, also consults for iWork and Elite Writers Hub. She works with small and medium size organizations to increase their visibility online through corporate blogging, content creation, website development and social media engagement.