Who Has Usurped Your Market Authority?
The technology that promotes your site, i.e., blog site platforms, XML/RSS, podcasts, videos, etc., is always subject to change. Certainly, if you have been exploring the possibilities of blog marketing for your small business, you no doubt have read about Google’s transition to universal search and the growing emphasis on vertical search, suggesting that optimization will always require new strategies.
So yes, optimizing video and podcasts will continually improve, analytics will continue to become more specific and the means to engage your target niche will become more precise. And all of that is for naught if the content your technology delivers can’t convince your customer/reader to return. You need authority to command attention and you need authority to keep your reader engaged. You need to be the prominent voice speaking to your niche market.
“Professionals and other business people have long been writing for trade publications and newspaper columns to build authority, coupled with networking in the community and at trade shows and conferences, all in an attempt to build word-of-mouth referral business. With blogging, you’re building authority and networking all at once, and on a global scale if your business model benefits from that kind of reach.”
(Source)
This is especially true, and especially beneficial, to the small retailer. In my mid-size city alone there are three communities of “passionate users” who are currently not being served by their retailers via blogs or podcasts: boaters, Harley owners and cyclists. If any one retailer would adopt blog marketing, they would emerge as an authority in any of their respective markets. Their robust and leaderless audience is there for the taking.
Who has the authority in your market niche? What are they saying? How can you say it better? Who is speaking for you?
Tags: blog, Blog Marketing, blog-site-platforms, marketing, market_niche, networking, niche_market, podcasts, retailer, target, vertical_search, XML/RSS