Developing Blog Strategy: What (Core Subject or Message)

UAV use in the military is a side topic for GE Aviation, useful for blogging

The first item I define in a blog strategy is “What” the blog will cover. For official or formal blogs (see previous article about formal blogs http://7thousandclicks.blogspot.co.il/2013/08/formal-blogs-and-informal-blogs-or.html ), defining what to say is useful in many ways. First, blog content can be in-line or an extension to the main business or marketing strategy. In the case of more conservative companies (i.e. aviation and defense sector), blog and social media pages can be used for informal topics. In less conservative companies (i.e. music editing software applications, DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), topics from sound examples, case studies (people and techniques), and even special offers (sales and packages) can be useful and interesting. The topics are useful in communicating information to customers and other readers. These are also in a category which is not covered by other formats. Neither the company nor product web site, nor newsletters cover these topics. This is where blogs are interesting to readers, which makes them useful to product managers. They cover information and actually become discussion boards for daily topics we talk about every day. Yet these topics are not communicated by the company formally.

When a business or marketing strategy is not defined (or not relevant), what a blog covers as a strategy is even more useful to define. In cases where an idea, an opinion, or a message is the core of the content, it is crucial to clarify the main content and aim of the writing. Political election campaigns define a message (equivalent to a business strategy) as a “platform”. A platform states ideas, missions, and philosophy of the candidate (or party). Essentially the strategy “what” is a candidate's beliefs. Stating clearly the core idea of a blog is useful in keeping the message over time consistent. It is also useful in coordinating the work of different creators. The graphic designer needs to match the writing style of the copywriter and the topic selection of the editor. A corporate blog for an aircraft supplier looks and sounds different than a music software application blog for the electronic artist or music editor.

Honeywell Aviation has similar message as GE Aviation, yet no blog

GE Aviation blog (http://www.theskywardblog.com/ ) is under the systems category on the GE Aviation site (http://www.geaviation.com/). The blog covers diverse subjects from futuristic electric airplanes, to the use of iPads by pilots, to UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmanned_aerial_vehicle ) in the military, to new navigation techniques. All interesting topics which surround the core products. Here is a conservative established company with a need for non-traditional communication. The “What” here is a list of various topics interesting to a broad range of aviation professionals. The articles are written by GE Aviation employees and seem not to attract many comments. GE Aviation, like many corporations, make use of their staff's expertise in many fields related to their main products. The idea is to use the creativity of these experts to attract attention of customers and other related professionals.

Blogging in official aviation and defense companies:

Interesting that Lockheed-Martin (http://www.lockheedmartin.com/) / Boeing Company (http://www.boeing.com) / General Dynamics (http://www.generaldynamics.com/) / Honeywell International (http://honeywell.com) all large aerospace and defense manufacturers do not have a strong blogging effort. Is this a matter of blogs not adopted in certain market segment? It could also be the need for unofficial communication is not crucial to these organizations. Here is an opportunity for the companies to develop a new channel of communication. It seems like older management standards in communicating corporate messages may take a little longer to adopt informal techniques like blogging.

Cakewalk SONAR (audio editing software application) blog:

A nice example of a formal blog with informal style is the Cakewalk SONAR blog (http://blog.cakewalk.com/category/products/sonar/), it is a unique combination of articles, with technical and marketing style. From offers during sales campaigns, to videos of knows artists demonstrating their products, to techniques and tips on how to make quirky (thus interesting) sounds. At one time, Korg / Edirol / Roland has a blog with videos from a contest promoting a new keyboard model. Projects like a series of articles, contests, or a focus on a new product or musical trend (i.e. style) is a good use of blogs and draws attention to the product. Essentially a subject that gets outside buzz is getting a message from the company.

Interesting how Steinberg Cubase (http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/cubase/start.html ) and Ableton Live (https://www.ableton.com/en/live/ ) do not have blogs per-se. Maybe since electronic audio sector is full of blogs and social media pages, or since the companies are small German based manufacturers, blogs are still not used to communicate unofficially. In the music category: Korg, Roland, Yamaha, Access, Moog, Kurzweil, Novation, Arturia also have not invested in blogs. Although some of the sites for the products take the form of blog “style and look”. Essentially giving a series of articles or videos related to the product or the technology. There are many creative ways to use the blog idea. If a certain style, format (i.e. YouTube video, Loud Cloud clip), or technique is useful for your message, use it.