When encouraging our clients to get more involved with social media, the most common question/concern is regarding blog content. How much? How often? How long? Who writes it? Allow questions and comments? Allow guest writers?
These are all legitimate questions and should be asked—and answered. The only disconcerting part about the answer is that there is not a standard one that works for everyone. Every industry, every company, every blog, every person is different, and those differences should be reflected in your blog. Allow me to address a couple of the questions and give some non-definitive answers.
How much? If we’re talking dollars, a blog can be free. They are relatively easy to set up and you can write them on your own. However, that requires a time commitment, one that not everyone is able to make—that’s where outside help (and dollar signs) come in.
How often? We encourage most of our clients to post once or twice a week, though some are more active and a small handful are less active. The key is not to use up all your material early in a flurry of activity and then run dry. Pace yourself.
How long? We keep our blog at about 300 words. They obviously can be longer or shorter, but in this case, the old cliché “less is more” is usually spot on.
Who writes it? If you love to write, or have a limited budget—write away. Please be sure if you do, that you have a third party proof it. You don’t want to embarrass yourself, or your company, with a post riddled with errors. You can obviously hire someone to write, as many of our clients hire us.
Allow questions and comments? Completely up to you. Do you want to encourage interaction? Are you willing to respond to each post? Are you willing to accept less than flattering posts from frustrated clients, or ex-clients?
Allow guest writers? Usually a good idea. Spices things up, generate new content and takes some pressure of you.
Ok, I‘m over 300 words now and Danny has asked me to keep it at 300!