Build Buzz Quickly

4 tips for launching a successful business blog

Launching a blog for your business is an exciting way to generate continual buzz and to boost your word-of-mouth marketing efforts. Blogs are a more personal, conversational way to communicate with your customers, and they help foster customer loyalty. Through helpful, entertaining posts, you can start and maintain conversations with customers about your business and position yourself as an industry expert. Here are four ways to help your business blog reach its full potential:

• Build buzz. Blog posts are a great way for your company to spread the word about new products or services. Just be sure to include a direct link to the products page on your website. Consumers want to be educated before making a buying decision. Also, use your blog to announce an upcoming sale or promotion — this is one of the best tactics for generating repeat visits. For example, kitchenwares retailer Williams-Sonoma offers a free knife-sharpening session with a manufacturer's expert as a promotional way to get traffic to their stores and make more sales.
• Highlight customer stories. Including stories in your blog about happy customers will not only inspire your readers, but also ensure that they feel valued. As an added bonus, the people you highlight will most likely share the entry with their friends and family, leading to even more traffic to your website. For example, if you run a home furnishings business, when you highlight a specific customer who raved about some of your bath accessories, that person is sure to forward your blog to others and refer them to you.
• Offer practical advice. Use your blog as a forum for answering some of your customers' most pressing questions or providing important insight on the uses of your products. This tactic will make your readers feel appreciated and spark a two-way conversation. For example, if you sell water heaters, you can advise customers about the best machine settings to optimize performance and function of home hot-water systems.
• Encourage buzz. Include a link in your blog that will easily allow readers to share the posts they like most. Give them the option to re-post your blog on their Facebook or Twitter account or through email. The more they share and talk about your business blog, the more successful your blog will be.