A company blog is increasing becoming more and more important. In fact, earlier in the year, many marketing professionals pointed to the blog as the essential 2012 social media tool. It’s a great forum in which to not only advertise your company’s services, but also to engage with your industry in a fun way. While many people love the idea of a blog, they don’t know where to start and therefore the task can seem daunting. This week we’re going to get you jump-started on creating a blog for your property and you’ll see for yourself that not only is it easy, it can be a lot of fun!
First, ask yourself the following questions: Who will be my audience? What kind of information will I share with them? What actions do I want them to take after reading my blog?
So let’s begin fleshing out these questions. Number one, your audience. For a property management company, your audience can be two groups of people. They can be prospective tenants or they can be current tenants. You don’t necessarily have to pick one or the other but remember, if you create a blog that caters to both make sure you devise a game plan to keep both parties engaged. The Renoir Staffing blog caters to both our clients and our candidates, and we manage this by posting a client-specific blog one week and candidate-specific blog the next. Alternating them consistently not only keeps them both engaged, but it also gives great insight to each party into what we are informing the other. You could inform potential tenants of the benefits of living at your properties one week, and then highlight that feature the next with a case-in-point example. Bonus? You can invite tenants to participate in the blog creation!
Secondly, what information to share? As I stated above, you can discuss the culture of your property to garner interest. That’s a great place to start! From there, see what other blogs in your industry are talking about. Cover current trends, predict the future, address concerns. The options are endless and Google is a great search tool if you’re coming up blank one week. Invite current tenants to write your blog one week, feature another blog (with permission) that you think your readers will find interesting. And don’t forget how-tos! With the explosion of popularity in sites like YouTube and Pinterest, you can venture into décor one week a month and never run out of topics: “How to Make A Small Apartment Appear Larger,” “How to Create a Calming Atmosphere with Mood Lighting,” and so on.
Lastly, what action(s) do you want your audience to take after reading your blog? Do you want them to tweet it? Call you up and make an appointment to view a vacant space? Become a regular reader? If your answer is all of those (which it probably is) that is completely possible! The solution to getting these results is in providing interesting content. If you create content that makes them come back for more, and steer clear of using the blog solely to sales-pitch, your readers will stick around for the long haul. Too many companies rely on their blog to give yet another sales pitch and you don’t have to do that in order to make sales. You already have a website, which means you have already invested in a method in which your customers can receive information such as pricing and policies, therefore give them something not found on your website, such as the holiday party you threw for the community. It’s relatable content that they will find interesting!
A regular blog can be a really fun way to spread your company’s awareness in the industry. Simply by having one demonstrates that it is important for you to go the extra mile for your business. Don’t stress out when creating a blog, remember that is a relaxed forum in which to share with others of a similar interest. The most important thing to do is have a great time!
Happy blogging!
Jessie Williams, Marketing Coordinator