Marketing & Blogs

One of the challenges I have had to face with E-Marketing is how to build a message that people want to read. We know that the length of the message should be limited and the images should be catchy but is the reader really getting anything out of the message itself?

One of the methods I have found to be successful is using a blog in conjunction with E-Marketing. Based on personal experience I saw a substantial increase in the number of page views on the blog after launching an E-Marketing campaign that pointed the reader to the blog. In my research, I found that most people view a blog as informational, whereas the corporate web site is viewed to sell you something. People tend to let their guard down a little bit as they see the blog as informational; and less of a sales pitch.

This allows you to accomplish your first objective, get the reader to execute the call to action. If the call to action is to have them view the blog and read the article and learn more about the company then this becomes a great tandem to be successful.

Of course the real objective is not accomplished unless you can convert the reader into a sales prospect. So the Blog needs to have carefully placed touch points to promote your products. The E-Marketing to the Blog will increase brand awareness but it does not guarantee that the reader will take the next call to action.

So how you do go about this? First do not try to write blog articles that are entirely about your product, company or any other hard sales approach. The articles should be relevant to your industry so that the right audience can take away valuable information if they read the blog. You should have a soft pitch at the end of the article and you should have carefully orchestrated ads on the Blog (just like they would see if you had Google ads on the site).

The key here is to remember that people buy because they have a need; the need is different for each company in both requirements and timing. If you can build a readership base of your blog with valuable information that keeps readers coming back on their own, the end result will be that the prospect will contact you when his need becomes strong enough to make your product a top priority. Acquire enough readers and you will have a steady stream of hot prospects!

Frank Toscano is a 15+ year specialist in cloud based services focusing on Product Management, Marketing and Security within the Cloud. He has worked for EasyLink Services and Premiere Global Services in a global role providing hosted services to Fortune 1000 clients. He is currently seeking employment with a cloud based provider in a senior level Product/Marketing role.