As bloggers we obviously think of our readers first and foremost as our audience….ok maybe my fellow canine aren’t the best readers but their wonderful owners. Through tools like google analytics we learn some basic stuff about them (where they live and when they are not out walking and playing with us dogs and reading stuff online). Through the comments they leave on our blogs and other social media we learn more about their likes, dislikes and attitudes on things (hopefully important stuff like favourite dogtreats to make). All very valuable and depending on why you blog these may be things you use to help shape the style, content and voice of your blog.
Well this morning mum was reading a piece by Jeff Goodby in the advertising journal B&T and thought a few points might be interesting to bloggers. Why she thought it was relevant…. While our readers are our primary audience, if you are a commercial blogger than their is a secondary audience of those that you sell to. Here are a few things we took from the Goodby article and what it means to bloggers:
1. Experience Level: Mum agrees with Goodby that their is a level of inexperience out their in the marketing industry both in regards to traditional skills but also digital skills. Digital is also a relatively low risk media choice… Less financial investment and lower reach than more traditional media… So a nice job for the junior person on the team to do. The watch out for this is that things will still quite often need to be approved by a senior person and than can mean changes.
2. Persistence : yep selling an idea for a tired and tested media route like TV takes time… So guess what… With an unknown quantity like digital and blogging this can take even more time. If the suits in the big ad agency need persistence than we need even more.
3. Know what matters to your readers: as Goodby says, aligning to a movement can be a powerful way to sell an idea. What are the things that your readers care about, more meaningful than just a tag topic , and which clients could this matter to?
4. Try to understand their underlying business issue or need: another downside of junior people often working on digital campaigns is that they don’t really understand what the business issue is. Asking them, and anyone more senior that you have access to, as much as you can about their business may help you get to the REAL opportunity. This is also concerning when bloggers often have to go through the PR agency who know even less about the business. The more information you can ask the better and then don’t be afraid to suggest Y rather than X if you think it will better address the issue or maximise the opportunity. Having repeat clients and creating a relationship with the client and PR agency is often a great way for a commercial blogger to achieve an income stream and also nice for your readers if they like the product or service that the client produces or delivers. Well most sane people only repeat an activity if it delivers results… and to deliver results you need to understand the issue or the opportunity you are addressing.
Hope this makes more sense than running around chasing your tail… well ok I am sometimes a fan of this activity…. but as a human I guess climbing the ladder to a successful blog would be more your style….
Hope you have enjoyed today’s Marketing Monday and love to hear your thoughts on what you learnt from the article.
Bodhi
1st World Dog 