Comments on: How to Blog: Humanizing Your Brand

By: Neil Butterfield

Neil Butterfield — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:39:44 +0000

Great advice Isla, it’s all about connecting and only you have highlighted all the right things to do here.

By: Ignite

Ignite — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 23:38:33 +0000

Totally agree with this. It can be hard to get a new client to understand though. They always want everything to sound so formal. But this is spot on.

By: Isla McKetta

Isla McKetta — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:50:00 +0000

Glad to hear you’re championing a unique voice! I think also that it’s natural (and quite human) to continue to tailor your voice to where you get the most interactions. We’re all a work in progress in that way.

By: Twin Cities web design

Twin Cities web design — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:24:46 +0000

Great tips, Isla! We’re trying to employ a really specific voice behind our blog. Trying to sound like everyone else only makes you sink into the crowd, and no one wants to listen. Being unique (and having expertise to share) is how your audience finds you.

Agreed that storytelling is an important tool nowadays. Oh, and I also read and enjoyed Mike’s post on SEOmoz on measuring content ROI. Super helpful.

By: Isla McKetta

Isla McKetta — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:21:21 +0000

Thanks, Mike! Your tip on micro-conversions is a good one. I read your SEOMoz post about measuring content ROI and would love to run an analysis to see if there is a correlation between creative license given to the writers and ROI. If I wasn’t inherently biased, that is.

By: Rebecca Bridge

Rebecca Bridge — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:20:10 +0000

That’s a great suggestion, Mike.

By: Mike P.

Mike P. — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:08:25 +0000

Well said Isla.

I’ve been telling companies to “be human” and “tell stories” on their corporate blogs and social media accounts for awhile now, but I hadn’t considered your (very tactical) suggestion of putting more of a focus on the writer(s) and their “characters”. Great tip.

And the analytics freak in me has one suggestion: Set up and measure micro-conversions! It’s definitely not very likely that you’re going to get someone to go buy your products (macro-conversion) right after reading your blog for the first time, but you might be able to get them to subscribe to a newsletter, comment, follow socially, or RSS subscribe.

Mike

By: Isla McKetta

Isla McKetta — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:31:18 +0000

Thanks, Kenneth!

By: Kenneth Villegas

Kenneth Villegas — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:26:16 +0000

Good read Isla! This blog gives a reminder to all bloggers out there, who are using blog in a wrong way.