The Hot Dogs Adopt-a-thon wasn’t your average business promotion. The first-time Animal Foundation event featured pick-your-price adoption fees and more than 250 dogs who needed homes.
Meghan Scheibe needed a way to get the word out. The foundation had just relaunched its website, and Scheibe, the shelter’s marketing and public
relations manager, had a blog she could press into service to engage the pet-loving community.
Zach Miles.
The approach worked. One hundred forty animals found homes that day, including 127 dogs.
Since that June 2013 event, the foundation’s blog has featured dozens more posts written by animal experts sharing the benefits and pitfalls of adoption and animal fostering, lists of breed traits, safety tips and more.
The blog offers the foundation — a nonprofit organization that includes a shelter, adoption center, spay-and-neuter clinic and low-cost surgery center — a way to engage with the community.
“We want to be a community resource for people who have pets or who are looking to get one,” Scheibe said. “We want to provide people an opportunity to engage and learn more about everything we do.”
Tips for getting your blog off the ground
Don’t have a blog yet? Here’s what you need to get started.
• Find your voice. Before you start publishing, decide on the tone of your blog. Do you sell life insurance and want a serious tone to put your customers at ease? Or does your brand market to teens who enjoy jokes and memes?
• Choose talking points. Figure out what your brand can speak about to gain credibility. SBE’s five talking points are food, drink, art, design and travel, and the blog aims to serve as a “lifestyle guide” for customers.
Once you’ve decided on topics, create an editorial calendar and write sample posts to show stakeholders. Plan how often you’ll post and who your writers will be.
• Reach out and partner. Create a social plan. Build partnerships with industry leaders who can promote your brand.
SBE, for example, works with guest bloggers, such as chef Jose Andres, who have a large number of social media followers. A post authored by an industry leader or recognizable name and shared to their followers can go viral, increasing visibility of your brand dramatically and bringing an avalanche of hits to your site.
Whether your business is a pet-adoption nonprofit, a boutique hotel or a mom-and-pop pizza shop, a blog can be an inexpensive tool to give you a voice and help you get the word out about what you do.
Lauren Levin is vice president of integrated marketing at SBE, the parent of company of SLS Las Vegas. Levin started SBE’s blog in March, several months before SLS opened. The results have been positive, she said.
“Think of the blog as a central piece of your brand,” Levin said. “Be engaging, and your readers will feel a part of that brand.”
Zach Miles is executive director of economic development and technology transfer at UNLV’s Division of Research and Economic Development. Miles has worked with more than 100 startups over more than a decade. He has seen blogs successfully test market fit, push promotions and build brand recognition.
“You can engage a huge community quickly,” said Miles, who also works as director of the Nevada Small Business Development Center at UNLV. “You can use a blog to be a sounding board for ideas, a low-cost research-and-development tool that lets you pivot quickly.”
Here are seven tips for business blogging.
Don’t spam
“It’s an absolute no-no to always talk about yourself,” Levin said.
SBE’s blog is about more than hotel promotions. For example, writers have examined Art Basel, a Miami Beach art event (SBE has a hotel there) and top Las Vegas karaoke bars (none of which is in SLS).
Be a little zany
“You can drive a lot more buzz if you’re ‘out there’ as far as your voice, but make sure you’re not aggressive,” Miles said. “You don’t want to bring antagonism to your site.”
In a world where click-bait is king, a catchy headline can make engagement soar. But you don’t want to risk the integrity of your brand for a few extra shares.
Be consistent
Having a blog (and keeping busy on social media) lets customers know your lights are on. Not only can regular blogging drive search engine optimization, it can build a regular audience who return to your site because they know something new will be available.
Levin posts five or six times a week, or more if there’s a big event to promote.
Talk about what you know
If you sell skateboards, talk about the best skating
spots in your city. Use your expertise to your advantage. If you’re feeling ambitious, forge partnerships with known industry experts and get them to guest post.
Test your ideas
Use your blog to test new products. Blogging, combined with social media, is a perfect format for low-cost research and development. Float new ideas or products to see how your followers respond.
Short and sweet
Blogging is not a long-form essay. You want to be entertaining but also make your point before your reader clicks away. Goal No. 1: Make your post interesting enough that people share it on social media.
“Your blog needs to be easy to engage with,” Miles said. “Think about the most memorable interactions you have in a day.”
Blog like you text, Miles suggested.
“People get their point across quickly in an amusing, engaging way,” he said.
Show, don’t tell
People love something to look at. Photos on Facebook receive 53 percent more likes than text alone, a 2012 study by Hubspot found. So include photos, memes, gifs and videos in your blog posts.
A picture can get your message across in seconds. Reading text requires a much longer investment.