Playing off of our B2B to P2P initiative once again, let’s focus on the art and business advantages of blogging. Blogging offers your organization an outlet to present a more amiable and intimate approach to a wide array of subjects pertaining to your organization, the products and services you provide, and the culture adopted in and around the workplace. The blogging platform allows you to develop your voice and use the medium as a means to both educate and entertain your audience.
Speaking of educating… eCoast is hosting a webinar on blogging and how blogging can help those in the B2B marketplace close more sales. Check out the details here.
A blog’s feel is far looser than what is representative of standard web copy found within an organizations actual website. With equal parts flair and tact in mind, you can reach subscribers aplenty – including clients and prospective customers – far and wide with your blog. If you can actively engage with your subscriber community and instill in them a sense of excitement when your next entry hits their inbox, and the floodgates open for new and inspiring conversation, you know you’re on the right track.
Here are the four Ps of B2B blogging in a P2P world:
Passionate:
You know your business better than anyone else, right? You’re passionate about it (and if you’re not you may want to rethink your career choice) and you’re up for the challenge of getting other people just as excited about the subject(s) as you are.
Make it happen. Let your passion shine through within the content of your writing. Blogging allows you to really let it flow. What is it about X that really gets your blood pumping? Why is it so important that others should take time out of their lives to take notice? How do you pitch your stance to your customers and prospective clients? Think of your blog as a conversation you’d have with someone in real life. How does the conversation go in your head? Put it to print and allow the entire world an opportunity to chime in and keep that conversation going.
Personable:
Blogging in the B2B world is the ideal platform to flex your P2P (People to People) muscles. In your standard everyday web copy you can’t stray too far from defined corporate rules which simply don’t have a ton of wiggle room to let your voice really shine through. Creating content for the company blog allows you to reach people on a personal level. It allows people to connect with you; the voice permeating from the submissions to the blog. Perhaps there are multiple voices – multiple people submitting content. Brilliant! The more the merrier. You want to connect with people on a personal level. They want to know that your organization is a living, breathing entity with interesting personalities taking up employ within its walls. People connect with people. It’s very hard with people to connect with a wall. Or a robot. Or an order form. A personable blog will help you close more sales because people are looking for a company that not only offers a superb product (which you’ve already displayed in the Passionate portion of the four Ps), there also looking for personality. People they can engage with and feel a kinship with.
Poignant:
The best blogs are ones that educate your audience, but also offer you a chance to learn something about said audience as well. Offer your expert knowledge and observations in the content you publish to the company blog. People want to be wowed. People want to nod their head in wonderment and agreement. In poignancy you’ll often find sales. If you know what you’re saying and how to say it, people will read into the fact that your expertise is something that is just as valuable as the products and services you are offering. Crafting educated and entertaining prose will keep your clients and prospective customers knocking on the door for a long, long time.
Playful:
The bottom line with B2B blogging in a P2P world is the idea that you need to have, and exude, fun. People can read the datasheets and other formal documentation to learn the specs and, quite often trigger a signal to their brain that this material is better served as a means to fall into a trance-fueled comma. The purpose of the blog is to stray away from the corporate verbiage and venture into a world where people are conversing with people. They want to find a connection. They want to get in on a conversation. They want to offer their two-cents, or ask a question. A blog is a great vehicle driving such folk to the desired goal they seek. It feels more real. It’s more down to earth. It’s your chance to be infinitely more creative through cleverly crafted prose, to “best of” lists, to crafty real-life product comparisons. Have fun writing your blog and people will have fun reading it. If everyone’s coming back, you’re doing something right. Once you find that balance and the traffic continually and consistently checks in, the sales will follow.
Join eCoast on February 8th for an informative webinar on how and why blogging can work for you.
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