During the year, your company blog is like the “Cha Cha Slide” by DJ Casper – a song like the Electric Slide often played at wedding and high school dances. Just as the song frequently challenges dancers to change directions and dance styles, your blog does the same. New posts appear frequently, and topics are changed quickly — keeping readers interested in what’s coming next.
But this all changes at the end of the calendar year. With Christmas falling on a Wednesday this year, and many people away from work for days at a time, is it better to evoke “Silent Night” instead? Are you wondering if it would be a waste of effort to post a blog or two during the holiday week? It depends on what your goals are for your blog.
Keeping followers
If you post frequently several times a week all year long, your followers will notice if you take the holiday off. If they visit your blog and find out that there’s nothing happening, there’s a chance you could lose some of them. In this case, you had better do the “Cha Cha Slide” and skip past the part of the song where DJ Casper yells out “freeze!”However, if most of your followers have signed up for an RSS feed and check out your blog when they receive an email notification, you’ll most likely still have them following you when you begin posting again. In this case, you can enjoy singing “Silent Night” while drinking eggnog by a crackling fire.
Providing quality information
Blogs are not always designed to attract followers. Sometimes they’re designed to provide online searchers with valuable information by answering questions keyed into the search tool. Now, if the topic of the blog is timely – i.e., what’s the best food to leave out for Santa’s reindeer? – you had better “go to the left, take it back y’all and clap your hands”as directed by the song to get your blog posted before Christmas Eve. But if the information you provide is valuable at any time of year, consider pouring yourself another glass of eggnog.
Branded messaging
Let’s face it, we’re inundated with commercial messaging during the holidays – and you’ve probably already used your blog once or twice to push a brand or service offered by your company. The holiday week might be a good time to back away from campaigning, which your customers might appreciate. Twenty percent of U.S. consumers reported that too frequent advertising or promotional messages would result in them not using the product, according to a survey commissioned by mobile marketing company Upstream.
For that reason alone, it’s a good idea to stop the promotional blogging. However, you don’t need to go “Silent Night” necessarily. Consider throwing a fun blog in – one that will have your readers wanting to join you in the “Cha Cha Slide.” Present some New Year’s resolutions in a fun and witty way just to keep the spirit of the season going strong in your blog.
