A study that is being bandied about talks about the decline in blogging in Inc. 500 companies.
As with most studies, it makes for a great headline and a rather sensational claim. After all, that’s usually what most writing about most anything is about these days. It doesn’t necessarily have to be true but if it gets your attention you’ll read it and think that it could very well be true. It’s not the best but it is the way things generally work.
This mindset has been exacerbated by social media. Don’t worry. This post is not some rant about social media being the beginning OR the end all. It’s neither. It has its rightful place in every strategy. Nothing more and nothing less.
The short burst mentality of Likes, Facebook status updates, 140 character maximum bits of Twitter wisdom and all things social media for the Big 2 has created a problem for businesses but one that can be overcome with some effort.
The problem is that social media is simply too shallow. This is just the truth. 140 characters or a short status update don’t get the job done especially if you are in the B2B space. Even in the B2C space, if you are trying t get an idea across that is more than a coupon or discount, most social media outlets are not suite well to deliver for you. That’s it. End of story.
Want to make an impact with a customer or prospect? Want to help move someone closer to making the decision to purchase from you? Then treat them with respect, show them that you know that they can think in bigger slices than 140 characters AND give them the information they deserve as a prospect or client.
Blogging allows you to do this. Blogging allows you to expand on information. It also offer you the chance to talk too much (guilty as charged on many occasions!). Either way, blogging is essential to Internet and social media marketing success.
First, the search engines (read: Google) like real content. It likes full thoughts and theming. It also has trouble truly understanding social signals for a variety of reasons.
Second, blogging allows you to expand on your thoughts and show thought leadership. DO you really think there are enough tweets on the planet to show thought leadership?
Third, it gives your social media “catch” somewhere to land. When you hook someone in social through clever use of words in a surfacey manner you need to have something more substantial to point them to. This way you can show that your social was clever but it was a way to show what you REALLY know.
There are many more reasons to blog but if the short-list above doesn’t convince you then blogging may not be for you. If that’s the case then success in the online space may not be for you either.
It’s that simple.
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