Does my B2B company need one or two blogs?
Originally published in TheInteractiveConceit.com on 2015-05-14
I was recently reached by a B2B company that wanted to start two blogs: one focused on the business side of their services and a second one showing off their technical abilities. Should they separate these two ideas in different blogs or should they include both types of posts in one only blog?
There was a logic to their plan. Having a business-focused blog would allow them to highlight the economic value of their solutions, while publishing highly technical content would allow them to showcase their talent and build a name within a geekier audience. But I was not that sure about this approach, not because it was not a good approach, but because I did not feel it was the best approach for this specific company.
To reach my own conclusion, I took into account the following:
- What does the company want to achieve with this blog or blogs?
- Who do they want to read their blog and who is likely to read it?
- What do their readers and customers value?
- How are readers likely to arrive at their blog?
- Who in the company is going to be involved in producing content and how frequently are they going to publish new content?
What do you want to achieve with this blog or blogs?
As everything we do in business, the best strategy will depend, among other factors, on your goals. Usually, a B2B company will have a blog for two main purposes: branding and generating leads. Other purposes may include building an email database, engaging in conversations with their target audience to learn about their preferences, for SEO positioning...
The company I was consulting for had the goal of branding themselves as experts in their field, but they also planned to tackle lead generation soon.
Who do you want to read your blog and who is likely to read it?
The key to most communication strategies lies in conciliating the publisher's objectives with the audience's. No matter how close these objectives are, they will always differ in this: one is trying to sell something for the highest price, while the other is trying to obtain the most for the lowest price and, if possible, for free.
This clash of interests can be approached by focusing mainly on the common ground, while taking our audience only from time to time to our side and, preferably, going to their side too. It is important not to tire our audience by taking care only of our objectives because they will not come back.
Having that in mind, a publisher must think about who he wants to be reading his contents as well as who is likely to do so. That way, he can balance his efforts and weigh the benefits and costs of pursuing his ideal audience versus obtaining something from the audience he is capable of reaching.
What do your readers and customers value?
Once you have determined who is your target audience, try to understand what they value. Take into account that readers are likely to shift what they value and, more importantly, you can shift their interests as you move them down the purchase funnel. Readers at the top of the funnel —those far from facing the purchase decision— will value information that they can use like how to's, guides and templates. Readers at the bottom of the funnel will be interested in any kind of information that will help them decide whether your company is the right provider for them.
How are readers likely to arrive at your blog?
Think about how readers are going to reach your blog. Once you have a recurring audience, they may visit your blog a few times a week, but until then, your readers are likely to arrive at your blog through search engines. First-time visitors, most of all, are likely to be carrying out long-tail searches when they see your site among Google's results. If this is the case, publishing about several topics will not obstruct the readers' experience.
Who in your company is going to be involved in producing content and how frequently are you going to publish new content?
Last of all, but by all means not to be omitted, a publisher has to think about its publishing capabilities. Take into account that the more blogs you run, the more money and time you will need to invest, even if by adding a blog you do not plan to increase the amount of content you publish. If you do not want to overload your team, I would avoid having more than one blog, unless it is clear by considering the factors considered above that objectives and audiences cannot be approached jointly.