Blogging has become one of the key ways that businesses are reaching current customers and even gaining new ones. It’s become a necessary tool in the online marketplace for generating leads and getting seen by potential customers. To fully understand how blogging has evolved from the online diaries of angst-ridden teenagers to a powerful tool used by 1 in 3 Fortune 500 Companies, let’s take a look at the history of blogging.
Humble Beginnings
The concept of blogging has been around for over 20 years, an idea established just a few short years after the advent of the World Wide Web. The first blog has been attributed to Justin Hall, a college student, with the development of his site Justin’s Links from the Underground in 1994. He shared a deep, personal look at his life through a series of brief posts. At that time, the idea of a personal website was a significant shift from text-only online bulletin boards on which people connected. The ability to share both images and text on a web page was also emerging as a ground-breaking practice on the web. The concept of blogging caught on quickly, and by 1997, many people were using this “weblog” platform as an online diary, sharing personal thoughts and feelings to their personal audiences.
Paradigm Shift
The early use of weblogs, shortened to “blog” in 1998, was to speak to a relatively private audience. You sent your website address to the viewers you chose, and they knew how to find you. However, in 1998, a group of journalists from the Charlotte Observer shifted the landscape of blogging by using it as a tool to cover Hurricane Bonnie as it pounded the east coast. All of a sudden, the audience was flocking to their website to catch the half-hour updates to track the storm’s progress, see damage assessments, get important emergency contact information, and even get pivotal information like whether or not the Dawson’s Creek set had been damaged:
“Relax ‘Dawson’s Creek’ fans.”
The Wilmington studio that’s home to the hit TV show suffered only minor damage from Hurricane Bonnie. The show did postpone production this week until Bonnie passed by.”
The Charlotte Observer shifted the paradigm of the blog to an outward-facing, information-driven tool to drive consumers TO the speaker. Similarly, the Drudge Report broke ground that year by reporting news of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal on their blog. Rapidly, other blogs followed in these footsteps and began using the blogging platform in a whole new way. By 2007, 97% of Newspapers were blogging.
Early Blog Platforms
Soon, blogging platforms emerged to level the playing field, and allow users without coding knowledge to get in on the blogging game. Blogger was an early pioneer in the blogging platform world, launching in 1999, as were WordPress and Moveable Type. Soon, blogging wasn’t just for news outlets and online diaries; they were available to all types of people and businesses to reach out to and connect with their audiences. Google, always one to be on top of the latest trends, acquired Blogger in 2003, and not long after launched AdSense, a way for bloggers to monetize their efforts. This presented a whole new opportunity for bloggers, and the number of users continued to rise. By 2004, “Blog” was named Merriam-Webster’s word of the year, even before it was officially included in the print version of their dictionary!
Blogging Today
So, now we jump to today, and look at reasons why your credit union should blog. Surely, with their long history and accessibility to so many users, the market is saturated with all the same information, right? Just one look at WordPress’ activity tracker and you can see how blogging has grown. However, the fact is that there are plenty of blogs, but your members aren’t out there searching for just anyone to follow. They’re right here in your community, waiting for you to be the expert for them. They trust you, otherwise they wouldn’t entrust you with their precious assets. They want their financial institution to be the first to let them in on the latest trends, the newest products, and even scam alerts. They like to see how their credit union is investing in their community and how they are playing a role in bettering the lives of those around them. Blogging, paired with social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter, provides a way for you to share your vision consistently with your members, and interact with them on a regular basis.
The benefits don’t end there! Not only are you developing a top-of-mind awareness and a better relationship with your current members, you are also opening up a whole new way to drive leads and members to your doorstep. Through strategies like SEO (Search Engine Optimization), you can position your blogs to bring in traffic to your website. When a potential member enters a Google search like “Auto Loans in East Texas” or “Checking Account Cypress”, the carefully chosen keywords in your blog help to drive your credit union to the top of their search results, and the member to your door. Businesses are recognizing blogs as critical lead-generating tools in today’s online marketplace.
Now What?
Now you’ve seen a little about where blogs started and how they’ve shifted purposes over their 20-year history, and it’s all a little overwhelming, right? Where do you even begin? And, how do you know if your blogs are even making a difference, saying the right words, or reaching anyone at all? Here are a few tips:
Have a Plan: Make blogging part of your greater business development/marketing strategy.
Be consistent: Use multiple channels to get your blogs into members’ and potential members’ hands – RSS Feeds, Social Media, Newsletters, etc.
Develop relevant content: Publish new content on a regular basis.
Be consistent: (Did we mention that already?) Consistency is key. Partnered with relevant content, a consistent blog will drive members to your door.
If this all still feels like too much and you don’t know where to begin, let your friends at PMD help you out. We can help you get started in the right direction, or even partner with you from start to finish in developing and executing a strategy to make blogging a critical tool in your marketing strategy. Contact us today at sales@pmdgrp.com to let us know how we can help, or to share a success story of how blogging has impacted growth and relationships at your credit union. We’re ready when you are.