Your Blog’s Multiplier Effect
by HB Publishing & Marketing Company staff
Several of you have asked us about generating more traffic to your blogs, videos and other social media postings. Here are two tactics that we’ve found work well for our professional service firms.
1. Taking the high ground
If you remember, last month, we explored a technique we like to call “taking the high ground.” That’s when you link to an article in the mainstream press that’s related to your area of expertise. Then you deconstruct it further for your clients’ benefit.
EXAMPLE: Many of you are financial planners. Next time there’s an article about CRITS, GRATs or variable annuities in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal or your local paper, share the link with your clients. But don’t stop there. Salute the reporter for taking on complex estate planning topics, but then show where the article (or video) could have been more specific or less misleading. Trust us. Your clients will forward the link to affluent friends, family members and colleagues. Chances are the journalists will appreciate the referral traffic–and seek you out as an expert for future stories. That’s a multiplier on a multiplier!
2. Personal branding
Today we’ll discuss another way to “take the high ground.” You can use this powerful tactic to showcase your avocational expertise, not just your professional expertise. Clients love to hear your personal story and how past experiences have helped shaped you into the successful professional you are today.
EXAMPLE: Several of my colleagues and I are former wrestlers. I still coach it, so it’s no surprise we’re big on discipline, focus and competitiveness here.
About two weeks ago, the International Olympic Committee shocked the sports world by announcing the decision to drop wrestling from the Olympics after 2016. As you can imagine the news didn’t sit well us. Rather than arguing the case for our beloved sport, we spun the news into this post “What B2B marketers can learn about the decision to drop wrestling.” We pointed out the dangers of large, entrenched organizations losing touch with their members (i.e. clients and customers)—and how they risk losing relevance.
We included tags for Abraham Lincoln, Donald Rumsfeld, John Irving and other famous former grapplers, plus hashtags for the USA Wrestling site. Result? We attracted 1,450 additional readers worldwide and scores of new client leads. For good measure, we added a snarky comment about the IOC doing something the U.N. could never do—get the U.S., Russia and Iran to agree on the same issue. That attracted more traffic. Here’s a link to the post if you’re interested http://b2beat.blogspot.com/2013/02/ioc-grappling-with-irate.html
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Conclusion
A little “snark” with a little spit and savvy can take you far in this hypercompetitive global marketplace. Just make sure you do whatever it takes to remain relevant. You don’t want be caught flat on your back staring at the rafters.
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