Why You Need a Company Blog: building a community that increases revenue

There are a number of reasons why your business needs a company blog. Blogs are an excellent way to bring your company, employees, customers, and prospects together.
Social networking has always been an important part of running a successful business in the real world; so why should it be any different on the web?

A Company Blog allow you to:

• inform clients of new products and promotions
• allow your clients to express their opinions
• provide a forum for prospects to ask questions
• let your employees publicly address questions and concerns
• create a sense of community that brings everyone together

The importance of a company blog

A company that operates mostly off the web runs a chance of coming off cold non-human, nebulous, and potentially transient. Even if you are a brick and mortar establishment your web clients may not know it. None of these elements are positive when it comes to marketing! The simple fact is that anyone can put a picture of a building with happy helpful employees diligently working to satisfy their customers. A picture may be worth a thousand words; but, none of them can replace the actual words of past customers and knowledgeable employees.
The truth is, we are all a bit old fashioned and will always have more faith and comfort in dealing with actual people in an actual building or a place that has been recommended by a neighbour, friend or colleague. Even an extremely unforgiving return policy can not take the place of a smile or a handshake from an employee at a local shop.
The virtual world that is created in a company blog fosters a real sense of community through the interactions of its members. Your blog can be an excellent marketing tool as well as a great place for its members to speak candidly about what is on their minds. Not only can you use it to let them know about what your company has to offer; but it can be used as an excellent tool for market research.
The blog is an excellent place to find out what prospects are looking for as well as what you can do to better meet the needs of your clients. In a sense, your company blog is an ongoing survey that gathers information related to your clients concerns and needs as well as those of prospective customers. A blog is also a great place to test out new ideas and concepts. So long as you have members, you will have a motivated and relevant focus group at your fingertips.
A company blog is a great way market your products, engage in market research, answer questions, address concerns, and, above all, create a sense of community.