Why every brand-conscious business should blog.

• Author: Berg, Paula
• Position: THE BEST OF cobizmag.com

DESPITE THE EVIDENCE IN FAVOR OF SLOGGING, with the rise of Twitter and Facebook, many brands are reluctant to blog. While blogs can be a lot of work, they provide a foundation for information on the Web and an owned platform for your social business.

Hubspot's 2010 "The State of Inbound Marketing Survey" fund that:

* 77 percent of Internet users read blogs;

* Blogs yield an average ROI of 600 percent;

* Companies that blog have two times the number of inbound links versus companies that don't;

* 46 percent of companies with blogs have acquired customers from a blog-generated lead;

* 58 percent say that they are better-known in their industry because of their blog;

* 56 percent say that their blog has helped their company establish a positioning as a thought leader within the industry.

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And anyone who says blogs are dead hasn't dealt with a corporate crisis in the last three years. When a crisis hits or an issue about your company or brand captures the public's attention, good luck telling your story in its entirety without a biog. Online searches about your brand will surge, and if you don't have a bldg, you are leaving your reputation in the hands of anyone else who chooses to b102-about the subject.

Based on my own experiences over the last five years working with brands that bloc' and brands that don't, I've outlined six reasons why I think every brand should blog:

1. BRAND IDENTITY: A Hog provides a low-cost. long-term venue to continuously bring your brand to lift. What distinguishes you from your competitors? Brands that clearly define their personality and build an identifiable group for their audiences to connect with find their efforts enhanced by the desire to belong. Brands like Southwest Airlines, Apple and Starbucks don't just sell products, they create emotional bonds with their audiences that pay dividends.

2. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO): A bldg provides an informative resource for anyone seeking information about you or issues relating to your brand. Blogging allows you to constantly capitalize on hot topics and popular search terms. SEO helps increase traffic to your site and expose audiences to your brand, services and product offerings. If a customer doesn't find you when they search for you or your products, you may as well not even exist.

3. CONTROL THE MESSAGE: A blog provides you with a platform to accurately tell the important brand stories that may otherwise go untold or be inaccurately...