blog strategy for business associations
DESCRIPTION
A look at the benefits, purpose, and strategy behind business association blogging. This is a slightly updated version of a presentation given to the Blue Ash Business Association in January 2014.TRANSCRIPT
A LOOK @ BUSINESS ASSOCIATION BLOGS
Understanding How They Can be Effective & Drive Business Goals
Leveraging Business Association Blogs| BABA| 1/9/2014
Blue Ash
New Year
2014
1
Crafting Something Tasty From Many
Voices
Presented to Blue Ash Business Association (Cincinnati Area) - Jan. 9, 2014
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 2
ITEMS TO DISCUSS www.KirstenMeyer.com
The presentation will be followed by a brief Q&A
02
03
04
05
Similar Blogs: Inventory of Resources, Purpose & Opportunities
Writing a Blog Post: Technical Considerations
Being Seen: Visibility & Promotion
Hidden Dangers: Do’s and Don’ts
Why Blog? The Role of Content 01
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 3
ABOUT KM STRATEGIC www.KirstenMeyer.com
QUALITY CONTENT
BLOGS
DOWNLOADABLE OFFERS
ONSITE TEXT
SOCIAL MEDIA
WHITEPAPERS
GETS RESULTS
BRAND AWARENESS
CUSTOMER LOYALTY
HIGH QUALITY LEADS
WEBSITE TRAFFIC
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
LEAD NURTURING
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 4
BENEFITS OF BLOGGING www.KirstenMeyer.com
1. SERVE INFO ON-DEMAND
2. HELP BRAND VISIBILITY
3. THOUGHT LEADERSHIP, EXPERTISE & TRUST
4. SEO BENEFIT
Visitors
Leads
MQL
SQL
5. FEEDS THE SALES FUNNEL
6. LOWER COST PER LEAD FOR INBOUND VS. OUTBOUND MARKETING
($346 VS. $135) (HUBSPOT) GOAL
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 5
BENEFITS OF BLOGGING www.KirstenMeyer.com
THE GREATER YOUR REPERTOIRE OF ONLINE CONTENT, THE GREATER YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT.
HOW DOES BLOGGING DO ALL THAT?
• EACH POST IS A NEW PAGE OF CONTENT.
• EACH PAGE OF
CONTENT IS A NEW OPPORTUNITY TO BE FOUND.
Good Content
Being Found
Being Clicked
More Perceived
Value
More Time on
Page
Builds Trust
Views Other Pages
Return Visits
Social Shares
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 6
DELIVERING GOOD CONTENT www.KirstenMeyer.com
Quality content increases the likelihood of occurrence at each step towards ranking in organic search results
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 7
DEFINING GOALS www.KirstenMeyer.com
In order to deliver quality content, you must define your target.
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 8
DEFINING QUALITY CONTENT www.KirstenMeyer.com
Quality content is:
-Created with your target audience in mind.
-Interesting enough to make someone want to read it.
-Well written and formatted enough to be read.
-Findable.
-Likeable.
-Useful.
-Relevant.
-Shareable.
What is the Purpose of Your Biz. Association Blog?
For Example: 1)To drive membership
2)To boost membership participation
3)To gain exposure to members and member businesses
4)To increase organic search ranking for the Biz. Association
If you don’t identify goals, you will struggle to get buy-in or consistency.
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 9
DEFINING QUALITY CONTENT www.KirstenMeyer.com
Why a Business Association Blog?
• A unique opportunity to extract benefit from an online “marketing co-op,” where everyone contributes, and everyone reaps a share of the rewards.
• To generate online exposure, leads, and business opportunities (for members, member businesses, and the organization).
• For smaller biz without resources to maintain their own business blog, a biz association blog can potentially tap into greater online exposure with less investment.
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 10
DEFINING QUALITY CONTENT www.KirstenMeyer.com
Why NOT a Business Association Blog?
• If there is not sufficient interest/ bandwidth/ resources to maintain.
• If there is no overall driving goal.
• If people are going to do it halfway and put forth a poor image.
• If the only real audience is each other.
• In such cases, email or social media (such as a LinkedIn group) may be a preferable platform (less time required and allows more casual sharing).
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 11
EXAMINING SIMILAR BLOGS www.KirstenMeyer.com
WHAT DO OTHER BUSINESS ASSOCIATION BLOGS LOOK LIKE? LOOKING AT BLOGS OF TOP-RANKING BIZ. ASSOCIATIONS
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 12
EXAMINING SIMILAR BLOGS www.KirstenMeyer.com
Garbage vs. Art? How is the array of different voices presented?
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EXAMINING SIMILAR BLOGS www.KirstenMeyer.com
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS: 1. WRITTEN FOR OTHER MEMBERS.
2. MISSED OPPORTUNITIES.
3. NO BLOG CONTINUITY.
4. UNCLEAR BLOG TITLES.
5. POSTS TOO BRIEF.
6. GRAPHICS = GOOD FREE MARKETING.
7. POSTING 1X/MO. DISCOURAGES VISITORS.
8. FAILURE TO SPOTLIGHT BIZ & PERSONALITY
9. QUESTIONABLE VALUE
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EXAMINING SIMILAR BLOGS www.KirstenMeyer.com
EXAMPLE 1 (BLOG-LEVEL): POST TITLES
• THE ART OF HEALTHY LIVING
• VOLUNTEERISM ALIVE & WELL IN
WESTERN CONNECTICUT
• SECRETS FOR HEALTHY LIVING
• OMG WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE
• HOW DO REPAIR SHOPS COME UP WITH AN ESTIMATE?
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EXAMINING SIMILAR BLOGS www.KirstenMeyer.com
EXAMPLE 2 (BLOG-LEVEL): POST TITLES
• 101 REASONS TO LOVE BALTIMORE RIGHT NOW
• HELP FEED LOCAL FAMILIES IN NEED
• BEST OF BALTIMORE- BALTIMORE CITY PAPER BENEFIT FOR THE ROOSEVELT RECREATION CENTER
• SCHOOL OF ROCK BALTIMORE’S “ULTIMATE SUMMER” SHOW
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 16
EXAMINING BLOG POSTS www.KirstenMeyer.com
EXAMPLE:
This is a blog
post that wants to
be a social media
post!
| Idea is the key ...| My presentation Title will goes here| 15/08/2012 17
EXAMINING BLOG POSTS www.KirstenMeyer.com
EXAMPLE:
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 18
EXAMINING BLOG POSTS www.KirstenMeyer.com
EXAMPLE:
The point of this post
is hidden in the third
paragraph; you’d never
know!
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 19
EXAMINING BLOG POSTS www.KirstenMeyer.com
EXAMPLE:
Kenton: Please
let us know
when you figure
out what else is
great about your
town. You left
us hanging!
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 20
BLOG LEVEL STRATEGY www.KirstenMeyer.com
TO DO:
BLOG “GAME PLAN” DEDICATE EDITOR & LEAD PROMOTION CREATE A SCHEDULE
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BLOG LEVEL STRATEGY www.KirstenMeyer.com
TO DO:
• LOOK AT OTHER BLOGS- WHAT DO YOU LIKE?
• WHO DO YOU WANT TO ATTRACT?
• WHAT ACTION DO YOU WANT THEM TO TAKE?
• WHAT CONTENT WILL THEY BE LOOKING FOR?
• HOW CAN YOU CREATE A COHESIVE PICTURE FROM YOUR ARRAY OF VOICES?
• WILL ONE PERSON POST, EDIT, FORMAT?
• HOW OFTEN WILL BLOGS BE POSTED?
• HOW WILL THEY BE DISSEMINATED?
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 22
BLOG LEVEL STRATEGY www.KirstenMeyer.com
SAMPLE BLOG “GAME PLAN” FOR JANUARY: • “BILL” WILL BE EDITOR • “KARY” WILL LEAD PROMOTION
JAN TOPICS (2X/WEEK): 1. RENTING BUSINESS SPACE IN CINCINNATI: 5 TIPS 2. CINCY SMALL BIZ CORNER: HR FAQS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES 3. BEST BUSINESS SIGNAGE IN BLUE ASH (PHOTO COLLAGE) 4. BUSINESS EVENT PLANNING RESOURCES IN CINCINNATI 5. 5 MINUTES WITH AN URBAN FARMER IN CINCINNATI (VIDEO) 6. CINCY SMALL BIZ CORNER: BANKING TIPS FOR STARTUPS 7. BLUE ASH BUSINESSES TOP CINCINNATI'S “BEST OF” 2013 LIST 8. CINCY SMALL BIZ CORNER: MARKETING TIPS FOR LAWYERS 9. STARTING A BUSINESS IN OHIO? DON’T OVERLOOK THESE 6 TIPS
FOR EACH POST, ATTACH A DATE, A WRITER, AN INTERVIEWEE(S) IF APPLICABLE, & A TARGET AUDIENCE
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 23
SECTION 3: TECHNICAL www.KirstenMeyer.com
TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS
WRITING A BLOG POST:
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 24
BLOG TITLE CONSTRUCTION www.KirstenMeyer.com
A GOOD TITLE:
• IS COMPELLING
• USES A KEYWORD
• HAS A SINGLE TOPIC
• CLEARLY EXPRESSES THE TOPIC
• 8 WORDS / 70 CHARACTERS
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 25
BLOG FORMAT www.KirstenMeyer.com
FORMAT FOR CONSUMPTION
• Bullets
• Length 400-1000 words
• Images
• Headline
• Font types
• Whitespace
• Subheaders
• Numbers
• Signature blurb
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 26
BLOG FORMAT www.KirstenMeyer.com
NOT AN ESSAY
FOR SCHOOL
A+ paper, wrong
format for blog
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 27
www.KirstenMeyer.com
Essentially
same content;
re-formated
for a blog
post
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 28
www.KirstenMeyer.com
Note page
components:
• shareability
• digestability
• scanability
•whitespace
• offers
• graphics
• subheaders
• links
• citations
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 29
BLOG FORMAT www.KirstenMeyer.com
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 30
SECTION 4: BEING SEEN www.KirstenMeyer.com
VISIBILITY & PROMOTION
1. KEYWORDS & META DATA 2. LINKS 3. SOCIAL MEDIA 4. EMAIL 5. PROMOTE SUBSCRIPTIONS 6. PROMOTE ON MEMBER WEBSITES
GET YOUR BLOG SEEN:
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| BABA| 1/9/2014 31
BLOG PROMOTION www.KirstenMeyer.com
WHAT DO YOU MEAN, ‘META DATA’?
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 32
BLOG DO’S & DON’TS www.KirstenMeyer.com
COOKING UP THE WRONG KIND OF FIRE:
HIDDEN DANGERS
• Subscribe/Unsubscribes • Duplicate Content • Regrettable Content or Tone • Attribution • FTC Guideline Disclosure • Trolling in Comments • XML Code in Formatting
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 33
RECAP: KEY POINTS www.KirstenMeyer.com
Use Blog-level
and Post-level strategy.
Create quality content
with your user in mind,
and create it as often as possible.
Constantly promote and share. Read others’ blogs &
participate in the conversation.
Leveraging Business Association Blogs | BABA| 1/9/2014 34
Blue Ash
2014
THANK YOU ! FOR COMING Get in touch by phone, email, or online at:
(+1) 714.454.6647
www.KirstenMeyer.com
New Year