Blogging is an integral part of any online content marketing campaign.
That’s a fact, not an opinion. With all of the various tools and methods available to spread blog content around the web, it’s proven itself to be one of the easiest, least expensive and most effective methods available today for marketing with content.
But, all that variety of tools and methods presents an important question:
What kind of blogger are you?
Let’s take a few minutes and look at the five types of blogs (and bloggers) most often used in content marketing, and see where you fit into the equation.
Micro-blogging
Image via CrunchBase
As the second-largest social network in existence, (after Facebook, of course,) Twitter easily rules this style of blogging.
In some ways, it’s not what we would traditionally consider to be blogging, but many content marketers are using Twitter and similar platforms very effectively to share their views on various topics, generate conversation and drive action – all goals of an effective blog.
At 140 characters per tweet, space is at a premium and effective use of the format emphasizes high-quality headlines, usually followed by a link to more information. This combination allows a micro-blog to work really well as both a content curation tool and a content distribution tool.
Twitter has proven itself to be a very effective method of spreading information quickly, and many individuals and businesses have achieved impressive content marketing results through its use. If you’re this kind of blogger, take a look at what Chris Brogan does.
He has an extremely popular blog and is very active on Google+ and LinkedIn. But Twitter is where he hangs out constantly. He mingles some personal updates with gentle promotion and plenty of helpful curation and conversation. And, as a result, he has over 200,000 followers, many of which are, or will become, customers in some form or another.
“Golden Nugget” Blogging
These are short, pithy and powerful posts on one specific topic, usually written in a strong, unmistakable voice. They can be written on any of the major blogging platforms like WordPress, Blogger or TypePad, or could be on Tumblr, Posterous, Google+, or Facebook Notes.
To be effective, these short posts need to instantly make the reader think and react. And there’s little if any room for social proof. In other words, this kind of blogging is not very effective in building your reputation as an expert. You have to be an expert already to really make the most of this style.
For the classic example of Golden Nugget blogging, look to Seth Godin.
His blog comes out nearly every day. Sometimes, it’s a few paragraphs. Sometimes, it’s a few words. But it’s absolutely always right on the mark: Seth is an expert in his niche, and he’s spent nearly 15 years blogging, writing and speaking exclusively after years as a serial entrepreneur and a VP of Direct Marketing at Yahoo!
He’s got all the social proof he needs, but he continues to add to it as he keeps churning out awesome content on the most popular marketing blog in the world.
Curation-based Blogging
While this style of blogging can also be done on any blogging platform, it’s especially popular on some of the fastest growing blogging and social sites, such as Tumblr, Pinterest, and Storify, to name a few. Basically, any platform that allows the user to share a link to someone else’s content and add their own comments can be used for curation-based blogging.
Source: daringfireball.net
The basis of curation-based blogging is locating and linking to interesting blog posts, news items, images or videos that your audience will enjoy reviewing. But, there’s a fine line between adding tremendous value and spamming your audience with someone else’s copyrighted material.
The difference, of course, is what you bring to the table: your views, your expert opinion, your unique take on the link you’re sharing. If you’re this kind of blogger, you have these unique views and opinions, and you want your audience to benefit from both your views and those of the people creating the content.
In most cases, this style cannot be the only blogging method used in your content marketing strategy. But, with an overwhelming amount of information drowning the average user, becoming a trusted source of filtered information can prove to be an incredible boost to your online reputation.
An excellent example of an effective curation-based blogger is John Gruber, who runs Daring Fireball. This tech-heavy blog is often made up of curated content from around the web with John’s brief observations on the content presented.
Macro-blogging
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Macro-blogging is using the blogging medium to dig really deep into your subject of choice.
Most bloggers do this at one point or another, and it serves as a valid foundation for most serious blogging efforts: these are the “pillar posts” that get your message out there for the serious readers who want plenty of meat.
But keeping this kind of blogging up over the long-term is a difficult commitment. It’s not quick or easy to write a ton of content on a consistent basis and make sure the quality level stays where it needs to be.
While WordPress is the undisputed leader of blogging platforms for the serious blogger or professional content marketer, many people accomplish all they need to on Blogger, TypePad or any number of other lesser-known platforms. If you’re going to put together a massive post, though, it’s important to have the kind of flexibility that a solid platform affords.
This kind of post is usually reserved for your own site, but many marketers have had excellent success using these massive posts as guest submissions on other popular blogs. Since the post contains so much killer information, it’s bound to garner the attention of readers who may not otherwise see it on your own site.
Although there are literally thousands of great examples of bloggers out there using the macro-blogging model, one of the best examples, and one of the longest-running, is Brian Solis.
Brian’s blog, focused on “defining the impact of technology, culture and business,” often sports posts in the 3000-word-and-up range. Many of these posts go in-depth with statistics and graphs, but they’re not written in a heavy-handed way. Despite the web user’s famously tiny attention span, his readers stick with him every time and his site continues to grow.
Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that oversize posts will always resonate with your audience. If you’re this kind of blogger, you’ll need to be able to keep your target audience engaged for the long ride. The power of the long post is that it gives you plenty of time and opportunity to expand on your ideas and illustrate them with images, audio, video, you name it. But it could very well be too much for shorter attention spans.
Hybrid Blogging
Of course, as I’ve been hinting at from the start, the most effective method of blogging for content marketing purposes is a hybrid of all these methods.
When you have a huge concept that needs to be broken down and explained, go for a long Solis-style post.
When you have a specific point that can be made in a paragraph or two, designed to slap your reader’s forehead for them, fire off a Godinesque Golden Nugget.
Any time you come across something online that you know your audience would love to see, share it via Twitter, Pinterest or Tumblr. But first, tack on your own expert opinion or counterpoint, as a proper curator should.
To succeed at blogging or content marketing, strategy is key. So consult your marketing strategy and answer these two simple questions:
- What does my audience need from me right now?
- What is the best way to give it to them?
Then go for it!
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This is a guest post, all opinions are those of the author.
Justin P Lambert is a content marketing specialist and freelance copywriter. He is also a ghostwriter, speech writer and consultant.
