Fancy Food Show (2006) Using Blogs To Grow Your Business

© 2006 All rights reserved
July 8, 2006
Marketing On The Web:
What eMail, Blogs and Searches Can Do
Using Blogs To Grow Your Business

Our Game Plan
 What is a blog?
 Why should you care?
 Biz blog benefits
 Blogs as a marketing tactic
 Success a la Delicious
Destinations
 Discussion Guide
 Resources

What is a blog?

Is this your perception of blogs?
Teen Diaries
Cat Blogs
Photos
Politics
Geek Blogs
Silly Stuff .. 2nd most popular
219 links from 20,223 sites

Drinking The Kool-aid
An online journal which produces fame without
wealth for pajama-clad scribes, known as
bloggers, who write so well they don’t need
editors and survive by eating ramen noodles and
Tang powder from a spoon.
Heard it from: Scrappleface blog
[Courtesy link]

Blog - A Continuous Conversation
A weblog is kind of a
continual tour, with a
human guide who you
get to know.
There are many guides to choose
from, each develops an
audience, and there's also
camaraderie and politics
between the people who run
weblogs, they point to each
other, in all kinds of
structures, graphs, loops, etc.
Heard it from: Dave Winer
http://newhome.weblogs.com/historyOfWeblogs
[Courtesy Link]

Anatomy of a Blog
Post
Video
Delivery Options
Value-add
Blog Title
Title Tag

Anatomy of a Blog
BlogRoll
Archive Category
Unique URL
Links/Content From Other Blogs
Post

A Website - even the best websites are usually static
information that is difficult to update and with no
ability to generate p2p (person-to-person interaction)
conversations.
How Does A Blog Differ…
Coffee Cakes – http://www.coffeecakes.com
Big Y Foods - http://www.bigy.com/
Paul’s Catering - http://www.paulscatering.nl/

A Chat Room: A blog maintains a searchable history and
is indexes by search engines, unlike most chat rooms.
Only a designated author can start a new topic
A Listserv: A blog does not require email distribution,
unlike most listserves.
A Bulletin Board: A blog is easy to read, unlike most
bulletin boards. Only a designated author can start a
new topic.
How Does a Blog Differ

The Essence of Blogging
 People Talking to People
 People Listening to People
 People Interacting with People
Within the environment of a website

Why should you care?

Blame It On The Web
Web 1.0 - Information
Web 2.0 - Easy Connectivity
Social Computing
User Participation

http://finding-balance.blogspot.com/2006/05/healthy-tasty-dessert.html
People Are Talking … About You
comment

How Big Is This Puppy?
Tracking as of June 18, 2006 - 44.9 million blogs

Biz blog benefits

Corner Store Relationships
People like to do business with people they like.
“People-based relationships and performance will continue to be
the most important formula for success.” Lorraine Tribe, Quest Personnel
Markets are Conversations … Cluetrain Manifesto
Markets Are People

A Baker’s Dozen Biz Blog Benefits
1. Creates and maintains
relationships
2. Increases awareness
3. Increases traffic to
website
4. Positions as an innovator
5. Adds customer touch
points
6. Lifts search engine
rankings
7. Builds brand awareness

A Baker’s Dozen Biz Blog Benefits
8. Provides cost effective viral marketing
9. Offers less disruptive marketing messaging
10. Provides unique way to distribute content
11. Engages people with similar interests
(community)
12. Provides opportunity for value added content
13. Humanizes your company

"Here people understand me. If you keep reading a
person, you get to know them.“
“Person like yourself or your peer” is seen as
the most credible spokesperson about a
company ...”
2006 Annual Edelman
Trust Barometer

Half Dozen What Blogs Are Not
1. Blatant self-promotion
2. Press releases
3. Corporate “talk”
4. Online brochures
5. Alone in the wilderness
6. Smoke and mirrors

Blogs as a marketing strategy

A blog without a strategic direction …
... is a me-too play toy.

Blog Marketing Challenges
 Time & resources
 Blog strategy – integrate
into your overall
marketing plan
 Corporate (blogger)
guidelines
 Comment (reader) policy
 Blogs are a culture

Reinforce Brand To Target Segments
Lesson Learned: Understand
internal limitations/resources

Customer Feedback
Lessons Learned: Informal, inexpensive marketing research.
Caution: Consumer generated media is one data point in a research strategy.

CEO asks, “Where is the $ (value)?”
Lessons Learned: Without a strategy it’s difficult to evaluate success.
??????Mystery Blog ????????

Blogs Are a Culture
Bloggers exert influence –
but approach with caution.
http://www.restaurantgirl.com/restaurantgirl/

Blogger Relations: Wal-Mart & Edelman
Lesson Learned: Transparency is the name of this game.

Corner Grocery Store Relationships
Lessons Learned: Set expectations
Heard it on: hyku.com
http://www.wholefoods.com/blogs/jm/
Blog Link

A Little Self-promotion
http://cheesaholics.blogs.com/cheesaholics_anonymous/
Lessons Learned: Self-promotion
woven into rich, value-added
contentcreates greater credibility.
Content
Services

Search Optimization
Lessons Learned: Google loves blogs ..
but a little SEO strategy can help too!

Extending A Brand
http://www.jamieoliver.com/diary/
Lessons Learned: Integrate mediums and strategies
Podcast
eMail

Blog Brands
http://www.amateurgourmet.com/
Lessons Learned: Creative Consumer Generated Content =
Fame & Fortune
Ads on blogs
BlogAds –
$200/week

Marketing Perspective
“The 4 Ps of Blogging”
Point | Passion | Personality | Perseverance
C-Generation – people who create and consume their own content
while building community.
Thanks to Rick Short, Indium Corp. and Sher Taton, IBM

Success a la Delicious Destinations
The Blogosphere is like playing jazz. You have to know the notes
before you can change the tune.

A Character Blog Story
&
With T. Alexander

The Blog That Launched
The Character Blog Debate

Gaping Void Presents T. Alexander
The Beyond Lame Award

The Strategy
Reinforce and build brand awareness
 Encourage informal customer
communication and interaction with
the brand in a fun, informal
environment
 Provide value-added content about
food, culture, travel and wines
 Build on T. Alexander established
brand icon
 Increase awareness for
GourmetStation brand
 Increase search rankings

Success Metrics
Drive Traffic to Website
 Traffic increased 30%
 Approximately 4.6% came from blog
Drive Traffic to Blog
 Click throughs to blog from website
average monthly 15.5%
“… there was no negative feedback
from customers
--and that's the feedback I'm most
concerned about.“
Donna Lynes Miller

Blogosphere Debate
Nay Yea

Media Buzz

Gaping Void Send Kudos

Let’s Give Donna The Last Word
If a retail brand executes marketing strategies,
whether blog or otherwise, from a
strategically sound, honest and
straightforward perspective, there is little
risk.
If a retailer wants to try a blog and they keep those
3 criteria in mind, there are very little risks.
Donna Lynes-Miller,
CEO Founder
Gourmet Station

How to get started

Is Your Company Read To Write Blogs?
Your Answers To Two Questions –
Must Be “Yes”
First Question: Will your company culture support a blog
strategy?
Second Question: Will blogs help solve or support a
business challenge or marketing strategy?

The Whisper Strategy:
Entrée Into the Blogosphere
1. Subscribe to a news reader
2. Identify and read blogs
3. Monitor the blogosphere
4. Join the conversation

Develop A Blog Strategy
 Define your blog’s purpose
 What business challenge or marketing
strategy can a blog support within your
organization?
 Develop goals & objects
 Establish success metrics
 Develop your blog strategy
 Develop blog marketing strategy

Blog Best Practices
1. Title and title tag
 Descriptive
 Optimized for organic search
2. Posts in reversed chronological
order
3. About me page – credibility
4. Social networking/community
building
 Comments
 Trackbacks
 Linking strategy
5. Blogroll
 Dr. Pho spends about an hour/day.
 Feels worth the investment.
 Patients benefit from doctor’s perspective.
 It’s cathartic. I’m listening. I hear you.

Discussion Guide

Discussion Guide
Challenges
1. What benefits do you think your company would
derive from a blog strategy?
2. What are your concerns about starting a company
blog?
3. What will be your management’s questions?
4. Why you feel your company is ready or not ready to
develop a blog/social media strategy?

Discussion Guide
Strategy
1. What is the main focus of the blog?
2. Who is your audience for the blog?
3. Is the context and content relevant and of value
to your target audience? How do you know?

Discussion Guide
Structure
1. What type of a blog will you consider?
 Single author or multiple author? Why?
2. How will you identify blog authors/s?
 What skills should a blogger have?
3. What are the author/s’ responsibilities?
 Type of content
 Frequency of posting
 Linking strategies
4. What type of blog platform is best for your
organization?
 Internally or externally hosted

Resources

To Market To Market
if you make it they will not come unless you tell them
1. Blogger relationships
2. Linking
3. Blog roll
4. Search optimization
5. Comments, trackbacks .. to other blogs
6. Tags
7. Pings
8. Directories
9. Traditional marketing

Success Metrics
 New business
opportunities
 Traditional media
 Links – to/from
 Comments
 Conversions i.e.,
email, white papers
 Buzzzzzz, viral
marketing
 Search rankings
 Image, branding
 Customer service
 Visitors
 Page views
 Trackbacks
 Lead
capture/business
opportunities

Top 5 Strategies
To Combat Negative Comments
5. Turn off comments
4. Monitor comments
3. Develop a comment policy
Include a link on the nav bar and above the
comment window
2. Delete comments that do not meet your
guidelines
1. Show em what you’re made of!
Use negative comments – those that
express legit problems – as examples how
you handle customer concerns

Finding Blogs
 www.blogher.org
 http://marketing.corante.
com/
 www.businessblogconsulti
ng.com
 www.marketingprofs.com
 www.blogcritics.org
 www.b5media.com
 www.bloglines.com
 www.technorati.com
 http://a9.com
 www.feedster.com
 www.icerocket.com
 http://blogsearch.googl
e.com/
 Search engines with “
key words “
 Read blog-rolls!

Blog Tools
Hosted Solutions
 www.blogger.com—free/fee www.blogharbor.com
 www.typepad.com—fee
Non Hosted Solutions
 www.wordpress.com—free
 www.sixapart.com –fee
Comparison chart:
 http://www.ojr.org/ojr/images/
blog_software_comparison.cfm

News Aggregators
 www.bloglines.com—free
 www.newsgater.com—free/fee
 www.feeddemon.com—fee
 www.yahoo.com - my page – free
 www.pluck.com - free

Partings Thought …
There's a free market of ideas out there. And I'd
rather be driving the dialogue than be run over by
it.
Jonathan Schwartz, Sun Micro systems

~for more marketing ideas
or information about blogs/social media~
Bloomberg Marketing
~strategic marketing & blog consultancy~
www.bloombergmarketing.com
www.divamarketingblog.com
www.bloggerstories.com
770.496.1711

Fancy Food Show (2006) Using Blogs To Grow Your Business

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