Sunday, September 16, 2007

Customer Engagement Preparation Work

The new company's blog won't be up for some time yet, about a month. So what am I doing with my time?

- Thoroughly learning what the product can do, can't do, and will do.

- Researching companies in the field. I'm tracking around 100 feeds of relevant news, competing or complimentary companies, and customers who use these companies.

- Alerts. For many of these companies, as well as key phrases related to the field, I set up Google news alerts. Google news alerts are ok, but not very thorough. It's worth a trip to the Google News site once in a while to see what the alert might have missed.

- Creating a landing page. Before the web site is up, I want there to be a landing page with a subscription to the company newsletter and information about what we'll be doing. That way I can start commenting on related blogs in my field, and hopefully arousing some interest if anyone clicks back on my user name to the company's site.

- Web site design. I'm contributing to the design and components that will be making up the new web site. I want the benefit to be readily apparent and easy to access, and I want people to be interested in following the blog or company newsletter.

- Editing. Here's where my skills as a blogger and a technical writer intersect. I'm rewriting emails, web content, instructions, and all sorts of stuff. Taking my cue from Creating Passionate Users, even the user guides are going to be marketing quality material (if I have my way).

- Wracking my brains to come up with viral material that doesn't require months to create or an expensive artist to perform.

And other items, more technical and sundry (such as setting up Wordpress, and so on).

Yehuda

5 comments:

Gavin Schmitt said...

This is an impressive number of work functions... and I'm torn between thinking a person doing this level of work should be internal to the company, or part of a marketing & design studio.

It's hard to say which feels better, because it depends on how long the blogger would actually be part of the company's presentation, but it just feels like a tast that would work better with a fully established support network (as an employee in their office, or as a player in a marketing firm's office).

I guess the question I want to ask is: "Is this too much work to tele-juggle?"

Yehuda Berlinger said...

Unlike a marketing campaign, which is drawn up and then ends, a blogging campaign is open ended. I don't see how you could do this unless you became part of the company.

Then again, I have no professional marketing experience before this.

Yehuda

Gavin Schmitt said...

What are your thoughts about video blogging and youtubing as part of, or alternative to classic blogging?

I personal can't keep my writing quality up after organizing a video session (and editing it on iMovie), but I'm sure other's can.

I just wonder if 'the visual impact' of moving pictures somehow holds more weight? Or holds an alternative merit (such as showing an event, or lifestyle as opposed to writing academically about a subject)?

cheers
G

Yehuda Berlinger said...

Gavin, that's an excellent question.

I'm not a fan of watching video blogs, but I'm not sure I represent the mainstream. They require too much attention, and I'm too in the dark of what's inside. Furthermore, video blogs are rarely as polished as text.

From a creator's point of view, video blogging is still young. Creators don't spend use the same language that they do for text, and don't pay attention to small things like the still image that is displayed before the video is clicked.

On the other hand, when done well, they can be very captivating, especially if other multi-media elements are brought into play, such as subtle effects or music.

Yehuda

Gavin Schmitt said...

I agree with that. It is much easier to be a public writer than a public speaker -- doubly so when being an intelligent public speaker.

I just wonder if people crave them for their newness, and their 'differentness' from the bog role of the world blog scene...