Blogs Can Monetize Through Connection
As a successful content distribution platform, blogs need to be about transparency and trust. Blogs need to engage their readers with unique, quality content. Monetization of blogs comes more in the form of trust than dollars.
The promise of a unique experience
A challenge to blogging as it enters the Monetization Phase is that, to a degree, traditional blog functionality is being replaced by Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. But maintaining one’s own space (corporate or personal) is important — your blog is a place to cut out all the noise that’s on those other sites.
In the future, blogs will be a source of news, but also of humanity. Whereas Twitter and Facebook enable their users to get immediate feedback on their content, dedicated, quality blogs reward dedicated, quality readers. It’s like RSS — an audience has to be dedicated to visit your blog, because they are leaving their own personal space and entering yours. The result is a more dedicated, engaged, quality audience. The challenge in attracting that audience is to make sure that your blog offers something that people want, that they value, that is worth their time, and something they can’t get elsewhere.
Who’s doing it right?
What makes blogging such a great platform is the freedom to attract such a niche audience and truly own the content you create.
Southwest Airlines' blog produces excellent, engaging content. Sales and marketing are only indirect results of this engagement.
One of my favorite brands in the social media space is Southwest Air. Their blog, Nuts About Southwest, consolidates all of their social media activities into one space and offers varied content written by employees themselves and not the faceless “Admin.”
What truly comes across in reading their posts is a dedication to the work Southwest does. Not every post is focused on promoting airline service, but some do. Others are PR. Still others are simple ruminations on the charming destinations you can travel to on Southwest. But the quality of the content and honesty of the authors reach well beyond simple marketing and influence readers in a much deeper way.
By sharing an honest, human side, Southwest has created a very strong personality on the web … and lets their corporate site sell airline tickets. In fact, the site itself proclaims that “Nuts about Southwest is all about our Employees, Customers, airplanes, and airports.” All this honesty and engagement endears Southwest to its readers as a trustworthy company.
How the personal blogger can benefit from this model
So you’re not selling seats on an airplane — most bloggers aren’t, at least, not the ones I’m reading. How can they benefit from the kind of trust and engagement that Southwest employs? I recall the controversy surrounding Izea (on behalf of K-Mart) sponsoring a post by Chris Brogan on the Dadomatic blog. Form your own opinion about the ethics of a sponsored post; but at best, it is just one way that companies can market on blogs and bloggers can make money.
Successful bloggers are those who engage their readers and earn trust — and influence, by extension. More sponsorship models will evolve from this as brands realize how powerful this trust can be.
The takeaway
A blog is not a direct marketing platform. Nor is it a direct news source. It is a blog, and good blogs offer readers something that traditional marketing and news media do not offer: the human side of reporting.
Openness and honesty lend themselves to engaging, valuable content — the most important element of online content distribution.
My questions to you
Which bloggers do you read and trust? How are you using your personal or company blog to engage your readers?
About the author
Andrew Davis -
In 2002, Andrew founded Tippingpoint Labs with journalist James Cosco. Since then, he's spent countless hours exploring the online universe and building a methodological approach to developing digital strategies that drive revenue or reduce costs.
Andrew's always asking big questions and analyzing data to understand markets, online forces and even business models. Andrew's research has resulted in the creation of innovative online metrics including Online Brand Value and Category Brand Value, eye-opening graphical representations of website evolution through the New Media Life Cycle and even using online data to predict offline revenue.
When he's not surfing the web, Andrew's traveling the globe speaking to a wide-variety of audiences about everything from social media to the future of print. Andrew is a frequent contributor to the Tippingpoint Labs website and has been creating valuable content since the early 1990s for The Jim Henson Company, CNN, The Today Show and MTV.
He's contributed to a book of short stories, called The Way Things Were and produced and co-wrote Roadside Ambition a documentary film about one small town with two huge balls.
"In a world where content is consumed as rapidly as it's created, companies need to develop a sound strategy to creating valuable online experiences that can, and should, be leveraged enterprise-wide. There is a content solution to every business challenge."Popular Posts
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Drew,
Many businesses struggle with blogging. Many have no interest in starting a blog. Many have started one and have not kept it up consistently.
Those companies who are successful with a corporate blogging strategy have an understanding of your points. It’s not about “me” as the blogger. It’s about “you” my reader. I must provide interesting content to my reader. Most of my blog posts will yield little or no comments.
Therefore, the typical business thinks there is no return when there is little interaction.
The title of your blog post says it all. It’s all about the “connection.” We live in a world of long tail marketing. If Soutwest Airlines connects with more flyers, they get ROI in their competitive industry.
If you’re in a niche B2B industry like Indium Corp., who has 10 blogs staffed by 15 engineers, you connect with a niche market through great content. Most people haven’t heard of Indium Corp., compared to Southwest Airlines. Indium sells to engineers in the electronic assembly industry, most of whom know Indium at least in part due to their great blog content.
It comes down to a mindset. Companies whose mindset is to connect with their target through transparent, compelling content enjoy successful blogging strategies.
Good post!
Bernie
Bernie,
Thanks so much for contributing to our blog again. You always add tremendous value when you comment on a post. It’s much appreciated.
I have never heard of Indium Corp it sounds as though they really understand the power of valuable content.
Are they a client of yours? Also, can you post some links to some of their most valuable content? Or a couple of their blogs that you find particularly well put together?
Thanks again for participating!
Drew,
Indium Corp. is not a client of ours. I was introduced to them when I was doing research for my book. I wrote a case study about them because they soooooo get it! Rick Short is their Marcom Director. He is the visionary behind their 10 blogs staffed by 15 engineers. Each blog is technical and over my head. Their blogs address their niche audience. Check them out here.
http://www.indium.com/
BTW, my book is now available on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1604942886
Cheers,
Bernie
Bernie, your book is fantastic. I read it from beginning to end and haver used the Indium case in a few posts I’ve done in my Spanish language blog. I’m recommending that Latin American software companies and outsourcing providers get into content marketing, especially blogging and eBooks, in order to successfully enter the U.S. market and successfully compete against Indian and Eastern European outsourcers.
Fernando!
Thanks so much for commenting. I sent along your wonderful review to Bernie! I’m so glad you found value in it. Obviously, we’re big Bernie Borges fans!
Thanks for letting us know you finished the book! It’s a great read a perfect primer for many new social media and content marketing personnel!
Send us a link to your posts! Even though they’re in spanish we’d love to check it out! Brad (in our office) used to edit a Spanish magazine!
Thanks again,
Drew
Andrew, here’s teh link to the Bernie Borges comment where I cited the Indium example: http://latinitmarketing.com/content-marketing-medio-comunicacion/
I believe Google has an instantaneous translator as well.
Thanks for the feedback and I’ve already got you guys in my RSS feeder, great stuff!
Wow, what a great looking site!
I’ll pass your article along to Brad!
Thanks so much!
Fernando,
Muchas gracias por su comentario aqui.
Having worked in English and Spanish language media it’s nice to get a little more insight into how quality content is being consumed by the vibrant Latino audience.
I’m adding latinitmarketing to my RSS to learn more about this unique demographic and to expand mi vocabulario español.
Brad
Fernando,
Thank you for your kind words. It’s very satisfying to read your suggestion that Latin American companies adopt these Marketing 2.0 strategies. Of course, I agree.
I look forward to reading your article.
Both Andrew and I produce podcasts on these topics. I suggest you check them out here at TPL and on my blog.
Cheers,
Bernie
P.S. We’re big fans of TPL! :)
I really enjoyed the book Bernie. I need to write a review on your book on Amazon actually.
One of the things that we did last week was we sponsored Mauricio Pastrana, leader of Tequila Valley, http://tequilavalley.com, Mexico’s Web 2.0 community that organizes impromptu un-meetings of web developers, designers, graphic designers and writers, at the meeting of the Austin Social Media Club.
In Mauricioo’s presentation he talked about how Spanish-speaking Internet users are the THIRD LARGEST market segment on the web, at 131 millin, after English speakers at 400 million and Chinese speakers at 300 million.
However, there’s a dearth of content in Spanish, either from U.S. based social media writers, as well as native Spanish speakers.
Scott Allen who wrote the book “The Virtual Handshake” was at the meeting and was so inspired he dusted off his high-school Spanish and started Tweeting in Spanish. He’s going to launch a blog so on.
I’m trying to find a way to get more content in Spanish for people that are hungry about Web 2.0. Bernie, if you could translate your book into Spanish that would be great.
We should talk.