Linas Šimonis about Marketing Strategy for CEO

Consultant of Marketing Strategy

  • A Business Blog Should Always Look Like a Business Blog?

    Strategy is what defines a winner in the long term. All these web 2.0 techniques are only tactics. The new and important tactics therefore, but it can vary from business to business. When I say "every business should have a business blog" I do not mean that every business should have an internet site with blog software installed and posts appearing there. What I mean is the mentality of openness, strategy, leadership, stream of useful information. Personally delivered message of the strategy. The new web 2.0 technologies opened a very new way to reach buyers or prospects and it is foolish not to use this channel. But this can be achieved in different ways than a formal business blog. Yes, your business blog can look not exactly like a blog Sometimes conversation with customers can be a little bit different from "real" business blog. Nice example is Red Oxx, a… Read more >>

  • Is Howard Schultz Hired by Starbucks Competitors to Destroy the Starbucks?

    "We secretly have done blind taste tests in Starbucks stores and discovered that Starbucks expensive coffee tastes not better than instant coffee." I can imagine this experiment and campaign from Starbucks competitors. But it was Howard Schultz who sets-up a blind taste tests in Starbucks stores to prove that expensive Starbucks's coffee is not better than instant coffee. This is the dream of every Starbucks competitor. Instant coffee is the antithesis to Starbucks’s strategy The strategy of Starbucks is to be expensive Italian style coffeehouse. This is a wonderful strategy and it brings to Starbucks its fame. The essence of this strategy is to resist all cheap things in coffee. In customers mind, an instant coffee is cheap coffee. Customers think that it is lower quality than espresso and tastes not so good than "real" coffee. So, if Starbucks confesses that their coffee tastes the same or worse than instant… Read more >>

  • Social Media Professionals Are Needed!

    Recently David Meerman Scott wrote about the problem me and many managers and marketers are facing. In blog post entitled When marketing in the Netherlands you need to get Heeves, he pointed to a problem that in different countries there are different leaders in social media platforms. If you want to be successful in such country, you should know local habits very well. Social media professionals are needed! In my consulting practice I work with high-level managers, usually CEOs, on marketing strategy issues in web 2.0 age. Because I am from a small country I understand that if you want to reach broad audience in any non-US area, you should know local habits, preferences. And of course, local language. Yes, the local language, because not everyone in the world speaks English. Who can help understand local issues? Who can help represent companies in those countries? Obvious answer – local social… Read more >>

The Top 7 Flaws of Business Blogs

1. No person.

A business blog is a PERSONAL blog of a company CEO or founder or other high-ranking executive. Do not let the committee to decide what you must write there and do not hire writers to write posts instead of you.

Be personal, include your real photo, bio, let your business blog be the extension of your personality.

2. Too much person.

Another extreme of personality – too much of your person – is as bad as the first one. Remember, this is your BUSINESS blog, not personal diary and all stories about your family, kids, pets, hobbies, political issues are needless except when they are the part of your story about business.

Finding the right balance between anonymity and irrelevance to your business personality is art, but you must master it.

3. Business blog does not fit to the marketing strategy.

Your business blog should spread ideas that express your worldview, your companys difference from competitors, your uniqueness. All marketing strategy should be built around this uniqueness, so your business blog must confirm this one more time.

When you write a post for your business blog, think not about short-term result, but long-term impact on your business. Your marketing strategy is about long-term success, right? So, your business blog is about long-term impact to your readers.

4. Hard selling in your business blog.

Business blog is about information, relationship with audience, knowledge but not about the hard sell of your products. For hard sell you have your company’s site, please leave the business blog for the expression of your worldview.

It’s OK to have some banners and links in your blog pointing to your commercial pages where hard sell occurs, but please, do not even think about writing a post consisting of hard sell of your products.

A better idea is to sell your worldview, your thinking, your values and find prospects who think like you. But pushing hard just throws away your readers and you will not benefit from that.

Your business blog is your idea spreading channel, not the sales channel. Don’t try to sell, share knowledge, promote your wordview instead. Blogging is about sharing, not selling.

5. Censorship of readers comments.

Sure, you should moderate comments and prevent your blog from spam, rudity, personal assaults to you or commentators but you must leave negative comments.

Negative comments are part of your business blog and they are not necessary the bad thing. One reader of my Lithuanian blog once said to me “when I was reading these negative comments I was convinced of your rightness”.

If negativeness is about your product quality, maybe your readers are right and you must pay more attention to your products? To service staff?

Just answer correctly and take action, negative comments can be as valuable as positive. Do not change comments, change your standpoint to them!

6. Posting in the sake of posting.

This flaw arises because of so popular believe that “you must post frequently”. No, you don’t. Don’t write a post because you feel that you must post something on your blog. Write only when you have something useful to your readers, to your brand.

7. Hiring an advertising agency to launch and manage your business blog.

Sorry, but usual advertising agencies don’t understand web 2.0 world. One-way communication is so ingrained in their thinking. Two-way conversation in web 2.0 age makes them so insecure. When it comes to internet, advertising agencies still live in 1.0 world and focuses on esthetics, flash, animation, programming features and pay so little attention to the main feature of web 2.0 – conversation, the two-way communication. Accustomed to advertising world, they still live in advertising age, not web 2.0 age. Sorry, but the old rules don’t work in here.

Comments

  1. I think the level of “personalness” depends a lot on the size of the company. For a large top 500 company, sure you don’t want it to be personal, also the CEO or high exec doesn’t have the time to deal with a blog, even though it is a part of the company.

    For a small mom and pop type of company, or start-up, I don’t think it can be so bad to get more personal. The reason is you are the face of the company, it’s you. If people know that and like your human side you can develop trust and credibility. I don’t think you need to make it a daily journal, but to side track every once in awhile from business related posts and information could be a smart strategy.

  3. Great tips. *Happy Medium* In my field, you find far right and far left. I hate when real estate agents do ‘nothing’ to promote themselves and also when agents find the need to post all their vacation photos of them in bikinis and at the bar…

    Linas, if you could please personally email the 1,000,000 agents in the US and let them know these tips, I’d appreciate it. =)

  4. I also agree with Craig when it comes to a smal mom and pop business.

    I have over 300 clients and yet I use my blog to be more personal. I understand that a blog is not for selling so i use it as a way to communicate and interact with my readers by placing audio, pictures, etc.

    I get more comments (hundreds) when i share personal things about my life and invite my readers to share too.

    Great article Linas.

    Diana Fontanez

  5. Thanks Diana. I am trying to make the company’s blog I manage a little bit more personal. Yes I want to offer good content, but also want them to know the person behind it, because without it they most likely will not come back or use my service.c

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Linas Šimonis about Marketing Strategy for CEO