Putting the Focus on B2B Blogging

By Mikal E. Belicove

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

If you're responsible for marketing or businesscommunications at a B2B company and you're still on the fence about incorporatinga blog into your business-aligned communication strategy, this should be ofinterest. HiveFire, a Cambridge, Mass.-based internet marketing softwaresolutions company, has released the results of a marketing research survey thatsuggests many business-to-business companies don't fully grasp thebusiness opportunities associated with blogging. Some, in fact, see it as aresource drain.

But the survey, which was administered to more than 100 B2B marketers this past summer, shows that companies that adopt a robust content marketing strategy inclusive of blogging reap benefits twofold. First, they see a marked improvement in search results. In addition, blogs create the perception that the company is staffed with thought leaders (subject matter experts) in its respective industries. And companies see both of these as critical components in the B2B sales process.

The problem is, only 55.3 percent of the companies surveyed have a corporate or industry blog in place. That leaves a full 44.7 percent who admit they have no self-published content marketing program. That doesn't mean they aren't making big plans. The survey shows that of the companies that don't, nearly 82 percent say they plan to have a blog at some point in the future.

As everyone should know by now, blogging won't do much good if you don't publish unique content on a regular basis. Of the B2B companies surveyed by HiveFire with a blog already in place, only 11 percent publish new material daily, with another 42 percent indicating they publish new blog posts only once a week. Shockingly, approximately 48 percent of those companies surveyed said they might post one new blog entry -- or even less -- per month.

Part of the problem with frequency of posts, according to the HiveFire, is that nobody's really clear at B2B companies about who's best qualified to produce blog-related content. A third of the companies say they rely on the vice president of marketing, while another 32 percent give that task to the online marketing manager. The rest are split among outside contractors, PR staff and other internal resources.

"In many companies, the individuals who can create the most insightful blog content are often outside of marketing," says Pawan Deshpande, CEO of HiveFire. "For example, the best blogger could be the CTO, but these people are very busy."

According to Deshpande, B2B blogging often fails in part because the editorial calendar relies on individuals outside of marketing -- despite marketing being accountable for the upkeep of the blog. "Many B2B marketers start blogs to project their companies as being on top of their industry with fresh content, but instead they end up with stale and out-of-date content."

So what's a B2B company to do? In my professional opinion, B2B executives, like all business organizations, must link their blogging activities to their company's business goals. And the way to do that is by creating a business-aligned communication strategy that clearly identifies the company blog as the primary vehicle for driving dynamic messaging and content distribution. Anything less and a B2B blog -- as well as any business blog -- is destined to stew in mediocrity and do more harm to the business than good.

Wavy Line

Mikal E. Belicove is a market positioning, social media, and management consultant specializing in website usability and business blogging. His latest book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Facebook, is now available at bookstores. 

Editor's Pick

She's Been Coding Since Age 7 and Presented Her Life-Saving App to Tim Cook Last Year. Now 17, She's on Track to Solve Even Bigger Problems.
Lock
I Helped Grow 4 Unicorns Over 10 Years That Generated $18 Billion in Online Revenues. Here's What I've Learned.
Lock
Want to Break Bad Habits and Supercharge Your Business? Use This Technique.
Lock
Don't Have Any Clients But Need Customer Testimonials? Follow These 3 Tricks To Boost Your Rep.
Why Are Some Wines More Expensive Than Others? A Top Winemaker Gives a Full-Bodied Explanation.

Related Topics

Growing a Business

The Best Way to Run a Business Meeting

All too often, meetings run longer than they should and fail to keep attendees engaged. Here's how to run a meeting the right way.

Fundraising

Working Remote? These Are the Biggest Dos and Don'ts of Video Conferencing

As more and more businesses go remote, these are ways to be more effective and efficient on conference calls.

Growing a Business

Subscribers Exclusive Event: Discover How These 2 Founders Turned Their Side Hustle into a Million-Dollar Lifestyle Brand

Learn how you can transform your personal brand into a thriving business empire with co-founders of The Skinny Confidential

Devices

Take Your Social Media Earning Potential Sky-High With This $79.97 Quadcopter

Get this beginner-friendly drone for a great price for Father's Day.

Health & Wellness

Sleep Better, Snore Less, and Stay Cool with This Tech-Packed Pillow, Now $49.99

Let technology help you sleep better with this 8-in-1 cooling pillow.

Leadership

How do You Turn Employees Into Problem-Solvers? Follow This 3-Step Leadership Formula.

As leaders, we need to solve company problems effectively. We often have the urge to fix everything quickly, but is this system of problem-solving really sustainable?