A recurrent question amongst the businesses that I advice when they are looking to start a blog or to revitalize their blog is who should they hire to write the content. I am often asked, when confront with this dilemma, should you look for people with social media skills but little knowledge of your industry, or people who knows the topic and teach them social media? My response has changed over the years.
And here is why I am leaning towards prioritizing social media skills first.
Blogging and social media have mature. Both are far more complex than it used to be. Businesses can’t afford anymore to do beginner’s mistakes. If you ask me the question, chances are that you don’t have the human resources to properly train that person. In my opinion, your ideal candidate should be a long time blogger, someone with a proven record that shows that he/she has what it takes to blog successfully.
Your blog will get lot of competition to catch the attention of readers. The competition comes not only from other blogs but from all the digital platforms that offer amazing content to your targeted audience. Which means that you need to produce content that will bring value to the readers or that will entertain them. To do that, you need the right mindset. Frankly, based on my experience, it is extremely hard to do for a business. This is why I suggest that you forget the usual suspects and to consider hiring outside your company. Whatever you do, aim for a blogger who will create content that will resonate with the targeted audience.
There is more to blogging than writing a compelling post. After that, you will need to attract readers through many social media platforms. The way to attract loyal readers is more subtle and labour-intensive than simply pushing your post on Twitter and Facebook. To navigate between the grey areas of what to do and to tap into the power of the social media, you need to engage and connect with potential readers in a meaningful and authentic way.
How do you address the knowledge gap with your industry?
Start slow. Give the time to your new blogger to get to know who your customers are, to identify the key stories and the true influencers. Even at this early stage, that person should be able to get results and deliver quality content to your audience.
Let others do the talking by interviewing experts and customers that have inspiring stories and useful tips to share.
Ask your blogger to explore how your company could collaborate with prominent bloggers. Plan in your budget how much you will pay these bloggers for their time, their expertise and their level of influence.
After a few months of being immerse with your industry, let the editor stirs the blog editorial to what he/she feels will bring your blog to the next level.
Food for thought
Before you think about launching a blog, ask yourself a few questions. Why are doing it? Can your business can afford to be patient and consistent? Rome wasn’t build in a day. The same can be said about any remarkable blog. If you are not there consistently and for the long run, a blog will probably not deliver what you expect.
If you do it, establish right from the start a few realistic, meaningful and measurable metrics to follow and judge your blog rate of success. Otherwise, it would not be fair to your company nor the blogger that you hire.
