Today we welcome a guest post by Michelle Sweeney, our Blog Manager, who explains why blogging is still relevant today.

For much of 2012 we saw a reduction in the amount of time many companies spent on their blogging efforts and a rise in networking through sites such as Twitter and Facebook.  The number of blog posts dramatically decreased with some blogs being ignored altogether.  However in hindsight, many of those companies felt that their marketing campaigns were lacking in substance and it was all just a bit too “hit and miss”.

A successful marketing plan involves all forms of social media with a blog being central to the overall strategy.  First and foremost you need to have a place to showcase your content, articles and advice to help boost your marketing efforts and cement your authority in your chosen field.

Quality content is paramount to all of your social media efforts and should be appealing and relevant to your target readers.  This content should maintain and strengthen your brand and act in accordance with your entire organisational goal.

Once you have developed and maintained a solid presence via your blog, you can then use the other social media channels to drive traffic to your blog and ultimately to your main website.

Social media is about building connections to your customers or potential customers, and blogging can be used much in the same way.  Writing blog posts and acting as a guest blogger on relevant sites will strengthen your connection to others in your field as will allowing others to write content to feature on your blog.

Social media is definitely not for those interested in hard-sell techniques or a ‘get rich quick’ scheme.  It involves clear planning and preparation as well as long term commitment.  Get back to basics with your social media and start to develop a plan which will really work for your organisation.

Michelle is the Blog Manager for Clever Streak, has a varied background in administration, teaching and recruitment and has been involved in writing and blogging on a professional basis since 2005. She loves to see small businesses achieve success and looks forward to assisting as many businesses as she can.