Blogging Basics


The Innovation Central Blog is a resource which can be tailored to the specific communication needs of each innovation program.  The goal of any good blog should be to distribute messages quickly and efficiently, and provide its readers with a reason to keep coming back.  Unlike traditional e-mail campaigns, a blog is an interactive experience that fosters an ongoing disussion of topics relevant to its readers.

A blog is as individual as the people who host it, so don't worry about a right or wrong way to blog - focus on influencing and improving the innovation experience for everyone.  Below are some best practices and tips for getting your Innovation Central blog started.


A Little Forward Thinking


Your blog should provide news, best practices, thought leadership, and discussion on your innovation efforts.  Ultimately, it can drive participation and improve communication by sharing the latest trends and developments in innovation and the company at large.  Let's get started by answering a few questions:

  • Who "owns" the blog?
  • What should the blog accomplish?
  • For whom is the blog written?
  • As a platform, what is the blog good for?  (i.e. what can we do well on the blog that we can't or don't do anywhere else?)
  • What content does it repeat?  Should that content be repeated?


Answering these questions as completely as possible will help focus your blog from the start.  It also helps to use the answers to craft a mission statement for the blog, one that can be broadcast on the blog itself so readers know what to expect.  For example:


The Imaginatik Blog is an innovation resource for Imaginatik customers, partners and prospective clients.  It provides new analysis, best practice, thought leadership and discussion on all aspects of innovation management.


Keep Your Readers Coming Back


Not everyone writing a post for a blog needs to be Robert Frost.  If the content is relevant, people will seek the information.  Here are some tips:


  • INFORM everyone of innovation results achieved, innovative thinking in your organization, top contributors and upcoming challenges.
  • WRITE with relevance.  Be timeless ... write posts that will be readable in a year.  Write stuff that people would want to read, share and hang on to.
  • CONTRIBUTE frequently.  Blog posts are written to convey information as efficiently as possible.  Get to the point quickly, and write as often as possible.
  • LINK to your post.  Once your post is live, link to it via social media such as Yammer, Twitter, Facebook.  Add it to your company's internal bulletin boards or intranet.
  • ENCOURAGE participation.  Comment on posts as often as you can.  If you're the author, ask people to leave comments and discuss the topic.  Leave comments that are worthwhile, sharing your knowledge and other information.
  • TAG your posts.  Try to create a small amount of tags / categories for your posts and stick to them.  This will make it easier for someone interested in a particular subject to find what he or she is looking for.
  • OPTIMIZE your subject.  The best way to do this:  short, pithy headlines
  • REACH your audience.  Invite your readers to subscribe to the blog via the subscribe button on the right of the page.


Subject Matter


Once you have developed a direction for your blog, consider what goes in it.  A blog post may contain images or embedded videos, and you can host informal polls as well.


Here are some possible scenarios in which your blog will serve as a helpful communication tool:


  • At the start of an Innovation Central challenge, your blog can provide context to the business issues being raised.  Then, as the challenge progresses, provide your audience with statistics or observations on the ideas submitted during the challenge.
  • Your blog can be used to spotlight employees, providing interviews and background information on who they are and how they came up with their ideas.
  • An ongoing open challenge benefits from consistent communication.  By providing daily or weekly blog updates on the top ideas, your audience will always know what top ideas are being implemented and what topics are most beneficial.
  • An audience may benefit from hearing from the entire review team, especially if that team is made up of company leaders.