The first thing you’ll notice is that the official Nike blog is Nike Insider. There are a few fan blogs out there.
One one hand that’s a great thing. People are so passionate about Nike that they invest money and effort to create content around a brand they do not even own. Sure, they might get a little advertising revenue, but it’s a testament to the influence of the brand.
That respect and trust is earned with good merchandise, good service and in today’s world, good content.
Content is something Nike has been doing for a long time. They simply use their tested content strategies to create an interesting blog.
At a Glance: The Nike Blog
The design is simple, which you know I like if you read the blog here at GBW. When things are simple the focus is on the content and the brand. That’s all part of the selling process. You can’t overwhelm people with information and calls to action early in the sales process. They’ll get confused and frustrated and they’ll leave. Trust is lost.
The focus is on new releases and products in the works hence the name – Nike Insider. It’s a great concept for a blog. It has a narrow focus, which can be a good thing. Nike customers are passionate. They’re curious and want to be “in the know”. If they know about the latest product coming out they know more than their friends. And of course they will have to be the first to purchase when it comes out.
There are two subtle calls to action on the right sidebar. One is a really great calendar of new releases. The other is a link to new styles already available on the Nike site.
Storytelling Sells
Posts on Nike Insider talk about new products. For example, the Air Jordan 3 Retro ’88.
You’ll notice two things about this post.
#1 – The picture is great. It’s simple yet impressive. The merchandise is front and center. You know what the post is about.
#2 – Read the text about the shoe:
February 6, 1988. A chilly winter day gave way to an electric atmosphere inside the Chicago stadium during the annual competition celebrating basketball’s best. Coming off of a victory in a 1987 slam dunk championship, Michael Jordan took the floor looking to defend his title in a crisp pair of Air Jordan 3 White/Black-Cement.
You couldn’t find better storytelling in Hollywood.
Blogging and creating content is about telling stories. You’re educating, entertaining and enlightening. That is exactly what Nike has been doing for decades.
The company tells stories in everything they do from commercials to live events to sponsorships and now on Nike Insider.
Salespeople are all about telling stories. They tell stories of working with past clients and the success those people have had with the products being sold.
What you’re doing with your business website is creating a virtual salesperson. With your blog you’re creating content that is exactly the same type of content your marketing and sales staffs would use to convince people to purchase.
It goes from discover to trust to sale.
Storytelling happens in the early and middle areas of the sales process.
Research, Proof and Action
Finally, after stories have been told people do their own research. They dig into the details. The blog leads into the details about the products. For your business it might the details of the product or the service.
From there people look for the last bit of proof they need to put them over the top. They remember the stories of clients and customers. In the case of Nike people remember Michael Jordan soaring through the air.
It all leads to action, which in the case of online marketing is a customer contacting a business and already being ready to purchase. No further sales are necessary. You simply complete the transaction.
Final Thoughts
The Nike Insider blog is simply an extension of what Nike has been doing for decades. They tell stories with their content. It’s about people discovering the content and the brand.
From there the content tells a story and provides the information people need to make purchasing decisions.
Nike is respected and trusted.
They use content to earn these things all while focusing on selling.
A person doesn’t make a sale for Nike when it comes to consumers that use the Web. The website, including the blog, make the sale. The ecommerce site handles the transaction.
That’s a salesperson that is working 24/7 all year.