Companies understand that keeping up a blog boosts loyalty and attracts new visitors – and yet, if you read most of their blogs, it’s clear they’re not fully invested.
But some B2B companies are crushing it with their blogs in 2016. That’s because they stick to some key principles: they manage to make their headlines both irresistible and useful, their content is both passionate and not overly self-promotional, they include a call-to-action, and they write consistently.
As 2016 comes to a close, let’s take a look at five B2B companies (in no particular order) that should be bragging about their blogging.
5. SolarCity
SolarCity, which sells solar panels to businesses, homes and governments, stands out for its creative blog. Its ideas are sharp (See: a post about how America’s cloudiest cities produce tons of solar power) and timely (an election-related post examined whether a city’s political preferences affected preferences for solar power).
The firm often relies on data and deep research to concoct its posts, and that results in useful copy that would intrigue anyone interested in alternative energy. In between those interesting posts, the team publishes articles about its own business, too – but because they are relatively infrequent, they seem more than justified.
4. Officevibe
Officevibe, a startup that builds a new generation of employee surveys, stands out for its cute, original style and eye-grabbing graphics. Its blog excels mostly because it is consistently focused on helping business leaders and managers (who are also Officevibe’s clients) lead better, a message that dovetails with the startup’s mission to improve employee satisfaction by giving companies better employee data.
Its posts touch on topics like the challenges of building a small business or ways managers can get more comfortable giving feedback. In these posts, the team always includes a call-to-action, which is a link to download an attractive, more in-depth report by the company.
3. Plutora
Plutora, a software company that helps clients improve and speed up their product releases, is equally focused on helping its clients succeed. It’s directly aimed at helping clients understand the complex work that Plutora does. It explains wonky terms and processes such as: how to run test environments; how to tailor release management to both operations and development teams; and how to enable more frequent software releases.
The super-useful posts often seem like bite-size white papers. At the end of each one, the blogger will often include a call-to-action by laying out how Plutora solves the problem he just described.
2. Block Imaging
Healthcare providers need guidance, and the blog of Block Imaging, a medical equipment marketplace, helps them pick which medical imaging device is right for them: What more could a provider ask for? It’s something of a simplified CNET for healthcare providers. Just look at a recent post comparing two CT scanners, or another weighing the benefits of a 9-inch and 12-inch device. These are the kinds of details that may seem boring to an outsider but are preciously important to a buyer.
1. Slack
Finally, there’s Slack, a more-well known technology company now widely adopted to improve intra-company communication. Its blog, called “Several People Are Typing” uses Medium’s interface for a crisp, clean design and easily shareable stories. It mixes creative posts about how people derive meaning from their work (a recent one was about a librarian who had an action figure made of her), with how other software integrates with Slack and how interesting companies have gotten the most out of the service.
One series of posts tackles corporate culture at Slack itself by showing how it handles the employee onboarding process. That kind of transparency not only sends an appealing message about what kind of company Slack is, but it also piques a reader’s curiously.
These five companies clearly know how to blog. Whether your team is ready start blogging on your own or is looking to augment your content creation, our soldiers at MarketSmiths are here to help.
