How to Encourage Your Company to Write Blogs?

We’re all being told that 'Content is King'.  Bill Gates said in 1996, “Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet, just as it was in broadcasting”. 

 

Every business has to produce business blogs to create entry points for business websites, increase exposure and build relationships with consumers, increase brand loyalty and get on the radar screen of influencers. 

 

Business blogging is very much a long-term marketing strategy.  It can help us to build our all-important brand, boost word-of-mouth marketing, and grow our business for years to come. It's this type of organic growth based on relationships and trust with our audience that leads to brand loyalty and a business that can withstand macro- and micro-environmental problems for years to come.  (More).

The bottom line is, if we aren’t talking to our target audience, another business will be. 

But the problem faced by every single Marketer in the year 2013 is "how do I encourage my colleagues to write blogs and provide that all important original content?"

I work for DSCallards.  We are a group of highly intelligent software developers and Business Intelligence consultants.  Between us, we hold a wealth of invaluable knowledge and experience on a plethora of subject areas.  The problem I’m faced with, however, is how do I get this knowledge onto paper and maximise its value to provide DSCallards with that all important competitive edge?

The answer is surprisingly simple!

At our September 2012 Company Day I presented my ‘Feeding the Social Beast’ challenge to my colleagues and tried to get their buy-in by explaining how by working together as a team we really could use this knowledge to drive our business forward.   

We also launched the 'DSCallards Blogometer' and I began my quest on nurturing my peers to let go of their little gems of knowledge and share them with the world wide web.

Once I’d published the articles on our company blog, I then systematically tweeted the content and included it in company e-newsletters.  We have a screen in our reception and I regularly updated the chart to show the company who the leaders were.  The board caused lots of buzz and fun around the office and everyone was keen to see the updates.

The response was incredible!  We increased hits to our blogsite from a mediocre 200 a month to over 2,000.  What’s more, it keeps rising!  We know that this is a long-term marketing strategy that we all have to work hard at, but the results really do speak for themselves.

We’re now into our second ‘DSCallards Blogothon’.  It started today and so far I’ve received three excellent blogs from our Sales and Development teams.  I’ve extended this quarter’s competition to include an inter-departmental prize as well as an individual running total.

This seems to be well received, so watch this space and I’ll let you know in a couple of months how it progresses and how it helps in our quest to become thought leaders in our chosen markets.

Written by:  Adriane Gillies, Marketing Manager, DSCallards

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