How to Write Corporate Blogs People Actually Want to Read

Does that headline sound like an oxymoron? Tack ‘corporate’ onto anything and it can suck the air out of the room. Corporate + blog lends an image of dry, formal, sterile information that people skim over. There seems to be a general consensus that most blogs are trite, deadly boring or both.

But not all corporate blogs are like that. And if they are, they don’t have to be.

We compiled a list of “best blog attributes” after visiting and revisiting our favorite company blogs and taking note of some standout qualities. We found six common factors they all share, and want to know: are you sharing these too?

Is Your Corporate Blog Engaging?

The corporate blogs that miss the mark and are boring are suffering due to the fact that the people writing it or overseeing it don’t really understand its function: to educate and offer information and also to connect with the company’s audience.

Connection is big. Reading a blog is infinitely more enjoyable when the audience feels like it’s personal, like the author of the post made a sincere effort to communicate information that is helpful.

One of the best and most simple ways to engage your reader in conversation is to talk to them. Directly! Use ‘you’, ‘your’, etc.

Are You Getting Feedback?

Paul Boag points out that the reason the majority of corporate blogs fail is that they fail to have a two way street: “They focus on telling readers how great their products and services are. Rarely do they ask for feedback or ask questions. In fact is is not unusual for companies to disable comments for fear of criticism.”

The best blogs welcome feedback through comments, he says. “It is a superb opportunity to get free feedback from your customers, something many organisations pay market researchers for.”

Are You Promoting?

Without promotion, no one will know about the content on your blog (even if it’s the very best in the world). Promotion helps you gain exposure and reels in the people who will eventually become your paying customers.

Whether it’s on LinkedIn or Facebook or Twitter, whether it’s free or paid for, you need to utilize this platform. No offense, but you are bonkers if you don’t.

Are You Emailing?

Corey Dilling, Marketing Manager at Unbounce says “Email marketing consistently generated 80-90% of our landing page traffic when we launch a new campaign, piece of content or product feature. Email allows us to engage our audience in a creative, personalized way that blog posts or tweets can’t.”

Are You Pooling Your Resources?

You have individuals in your organization who have a specific set of skills and unique, valuable experiences. Make contributors out of employees that have diverse backgrounds and skill sets—this allows you to tap into the complete intellect of the company, instead of just one group. Plus, the burden won’t always fall on one person, which can create bottleneck scenarios due to unexpected illness or paid time off.

Does Your Blog Have a Voice?

Liz Ryan at Forbes declares that you absolutely, without a question must develop your own voice: “make it clear what you envision for the blog. You can’t play it safe or your content will suck, and no one will read it.

You have to develop your own voice, and you’ll do that by writing all the time. You won’t get outside yourself and judge your writing. You’ll just keep writing.

Not everything you write will be suitable for publication, or at least not right away.