Seeing through the blog

In the early days of
online marketing and communication, industry leaders (and aspiring ones)
were encouraged to chart
their successes with essays
and articles that provided insight and inspiration. The blog was born. But now with
all the different mediums available to chronicle your endeavours, what does blogging actually involve?

My firm only made the conscious effort to venture into this world less than a year ago and although we are always evaluating our activities, any conclusion about this online activity is a long way off.

However, while social media, as with most marketing activities and tools, is predominantly about applying thought and common sense, I find the evolution of blogging rather fascinating.

Some 15 years ago, people were writing long professional articles, opinion pieces or ‘day
in the life’ journals and posting them as ‘blogs’ to share their paths to professional achievement. ‘Blogging’ caught on and soon it seemed everyone was documenting their thoughts and activities online.

As the number increased,
I could not help but wonder
who had the time to be reading, commenting and writing
these swathes of text.

By the time I had spent a
day reading through the documents in my caseload, letters and emails, followed
by my daughter’s homework, any correspondence the postman had delivered and finally anything in preparation for the next day, the last thing
I felt capable of doing was reading about how a complete stranger’s day had gone.
Clearly, I wasn’t alone…

Bite-size chunks

Recently, blogging has become more easily digestible at a glance. Outlets that use networks such as Facebook
and LinkedIn have allowed us to be more direct in a sentence or two, instead of writing many paragraphs at length. Twitter’s 140-character limit created the challenge and, in my opinion, reward of keeping messages clear, concise and focused (a
skill that is becoming more and more valued in the modern world, I think).

I’ve started a traditional
blog and it can be quite time-consuming – not just to
do, but the time and space it takes up in your brain. I intend
to continue but can already see the attraction of outlets that
use more succinct messages.

And things are continuing to move forward. When teenagers talk about bloggers that have reached cult status within
their generation and are
making impressive careers
from their activities, they are
all using video.

Imagery seems to be the future. Facebook was always designed to use pictures, but when Twitter embraced photos, the likes of Instagram and Pinterest seemed inevitable.

My firm has been experimenting with pictures on social media and has set up a YouTube channel, which seems to be getting good feedback. Our online presentations and seminars that feature on our website have been referred to by new clients, which is interesting and indicative of the future.

Now, blogging is not just about providing insight into
an individual’s working life or processes. It has to be original, stimulating and interactive.

The good news is, it can be brief and, once you get into the habit, less labour intensive.

SJ