I don’t use it as much now, but when I worked in the corporate world I used video conference fairly often. There were always lots of phone calls, but as technology improved it was much more beneficial to bring video communication into things like calls, meetings and more.
It looks like Zoom is the #1 company in the video communication space. It seems they specialize in enterprise video communication and that’s obviously a big chunk of the pie and where a lot of video conferencing takes place.
Just looking at their feature list it seems like they have a lot to offer; more than I would have even thought possible especially with the meetings functions.
Check out their site to learn more.
In the meantime, I’m going to look at how they’re using blogging for their online marketing efforts.
1. Conference Roundups
The first post I saw on the Zoom Blog was this one that appeared to be an industry roundup of sort. And that’s kind of what it was. If you were at the conference or if you had to miss then this post is aimed at giving you a few details on what you might have missed.
Also included in the post are mentions of partners that Zoom has with their business. It’s always good to include mentions like this in blog posts. Give a little love to the ones you work with and admire.
Conference roundup posts are very valuable to readers and they can work for new readers as well. If you’re at a conference you can give a few little bits of information that is being shared at the conference. Always try to give credit and go the extra mile to link to websites and social accounts of the speakers of those you’re quoting.
Your target readers might not be able to attend big industry conferences, but they want to know what’s going on and you can provide that service with your blog.
2. Service Ideas And Uses
Blogs can make for a great space to share your ideas on how to use your product. Your customers will start with the basics and with a service like Zoom they’ll figure out new ways to use it as well.
If you’re working with clients and learning things about your own product then share that insight with others. And if you’re seeing that clients aren’t finding all the cool things about your service then show them how with a blog post.
That’s what Zoom did with this post on using Zoom right in the same office with others.
I like this idea. You’re always calling others in the office, but maybe you want to show them something or talk face-to-face. It’s not always easy to carry something down the hall or maybe it would take you a while to find the other side of the office.
I worked in shoes for a time and I can see how video conferencing right in the office would have been great. We could have discussed and examined new samples via video. The recording aspect is really neat. That helps for people like me that have horrible memories when we speak on the phone or when we’re in meetings. I’m horrible with notes.
3. Case Studies
We’ve talked about case studies before and I’m still a big fan of including case studies in your company blog. It’s something current and new customers will see. Current customers can get ideas for how they can use your service while improving what they do. And new visitors can see how your customers are succeeding and that will sell them on the idea of going with your service as well.
Zoom does this in a few posts, but this is one example.
I like the links at the beginning to the client and to the LA Bar Association. It’s always nice to link to those you mention. They appreciate it and it can build goodwill for you and your brand over time.
The study includes quotes and details about how the client uses the service. Now, I like that it’s specific and discussing this attorney’s story. That’s what you want, but some hesitate because it can seem too focused (we can help others besides attorneys too!).
Don’t worry about that. Others will read the case study and they’ll imagine themselves in the situation. They can see what your service is capable of and they’ll apply it in their mind to their own situation.
4. Guest Blogging
Another interesting aspect of what Zoom is doing with their blog is that they’re accepting guest posts. Here is one recent example.
I believe I have mentioned guest blogging before as an option for your blog. I think it’s a good strategy to supplement your own blogging. I have a few guidelines for bringing on guest bloggers.
Create a small set of guidelines for guest bloggers to follow. For example, give them a range of word count like 700-1,000 words. Show them some of the favorite posts you’ve written or that other guest bloggers have written. Comment on the formatting and how they should use headings between sections and a good intro and conclusion.
The topic of links also usually comes up. I would encourage them to add internal links to other pages on your site like other posts and pages. Perhaps 2-5 internal links.
The guest writer may want to include links to their site. This can be okay, but I would recommend letting them add one link from their brand name to their brand’s homepage in the Author Bio area.
You want to stay away from keyword-rich anchor text these days and things like that. Some people are only in guest posting for the links, but it’s really about offering exposure to the writer and their company and in return you get some valuable content for your readers.
And remember that you don’t have to (and shouldn’t) post content that you don’t feel is valuable to your readers.
5. Mentioning Complementary Brands
Here is a strategy we like to use for the GBW Blog and for our clients. It’s a post that mentions useful tools, apps, etc. It’s a valuable post for the target reader, but it also works to bring in some traffic to the post.
Here is what you do:
1. Brainstorm an idea like this one to build a list that will be useful for your readers and that will include complementary tools, apps or whatever. They’re complementary to what you provide.
2. Write up the post and publish.
3. This is the important part, when you share the post make sure to mention the brands or individuals you mentioned in the post. So you would use the @ symbol on Twitter, Google+, etc. They’ll see it and often they’ll re-share the post with their followers.
It’s a good way to create a valuable and useful post while also boosting your exposure and traffic especially from social media.
If you have contacts at the companies you mention you could even email those contacts letting them know about the post.
Don’t ask them to share. Just share it with them. It’s not expected that they will re-share, but it often will happen.
Opportunities
The one big opportunity I would tell Zoom about would be to include a few categories of how-to posts and posts with tips for readers. This wouldn’t include tips or how-to posts on how to use Zoom or things like that. Zoom already does a good job of that.
The new approach is for target readers that have never heard of zoom. They’re looking for answers to more general questions like:
How do I improve meetings at my office?
How many people should I include in office meetings?
How do I better prepare for meetings?
How do I get clients and partners better prepared for meetings?
How do I get employees to prepare better for meetings?
All kinds of things that relate to meetings, office tasks, productivity and much more.
Create categories for all those items and fill out a content calendar with ideas for posts. Then start publishing. This approach would focus more on getting people to discover Zoom via the blog. You earn their trust with a post and get them to discover more about your brand and what you can do for them from there.
Final Thought
Zoom seems like they’re a very successful company. I’m always excited to see growing companies using a corporate blog as part of their online marketing strategy. And Zoom is publishing about 1-2 posts per week, which is great. Many companies start a blog, but let it fall off over time, but Zoom seems to really be sticking with it.
It’s another great example of a successful company blog.