Last November outrage poured into the streets as consumers rushed to their local grocery stores filling their carts with any Hostess name-brand item they could find. Why? Hostess filed for Chapter 11 and their famed line of dessert treats were no longer being produced.
The masses rushed to get what they thought would be their last taste of a favorite cream-filled treat but recent developments have revived the Hostess brand bringing back one of America’s most storied snacks – Twinkies.
Twinkies and other Hostess products returned to shelves on Monday including: CupCakes, Donettes, Zingers, HoHos and Ding Dongs. Hostess and anyone with a sweet tooth can thank private equity firms Apollo Global Management and Metropoulous & Co. for striking a $410 million deal with Hostess Brands reviving their line of rich desserts.
But what does this have to do with your blog?
A number of factors led to the need for Hostess to file for bankruptcy just like how the lack of time, people and know-how may have diminished your blog’s online presence.
Excuses or not, people get busy, responsibilities slip through the cracks and projects are neglected. Look at your blog. If the last post was published more than two months ago it’s time to revive what you started and get back on track.
Your initial motivation to create a blog was backed by solid industry research in addition to the overwhelming traffic and leads many other blogs have received. If it wasn’t, here are a few stats to reassure your need to rekindle your blog:
- 81 percent of United States consumers trust information and advice read on blogs
- B2B marketers who maintain a blog receive 67 percent more leads than others without a blog
- 23 percent of the entire Internet is devoted to social media sites or blogs
- 71 percent of business bloggers say having a blog increased their visibility within their industries
- 78 percent of Chief Marketing Officers believe creating custom content to post on company websites is the future of marketing
Convinced? If so it’s important to follow a few steps before blindly posting a new topic. You’ve forgotten about your blog for this long so taking another week to correctly position yourself will pay dividends.
- Reconnect with social connections you’ve left on the wayside. See if they’ve stayed in the game and are utilizing any new techniques you can learn from. It’s also helpful to reconnect so they know your resources are once again available to them – it’s a two-way street.
- Do some internal investigating and determine what value you can bring to the blogosphere. This starts with what industry you’re in and incorporates the type of brand image you want to portray – will you post helpful how-to videos and write-ups, informative reports, quirky/fun pictures, videos and links or updates on products, company sponsorships and upcoming events.
- Analyze the latest trends in social media, news and within your industry. This will provide plenty of information on the types of blogs and stories people are most frequently engaging with, which will help you craft an initial editorial calendar for your blog. An editorial calendar allows you to have several topics ready to go at a moment’s notice.
Create a calendar you can follow for the first month but also be flexible and publish posts on timely news stories when appropriate. Doing so garners more traffic and consistently positions you and your business as a thought leader in your industry.
Blogging plays a vital role in the overall impact that content marketing can achieve for your company. Learn more about how Brandpoint’s content marketing team can provide your business with higher traffic and quality leads.
