Do you know the importance of writing weekly or even daily blogs for your company but you’re out of interesting ideas? Do you want to let your customers and clients know that you’re interested in what they have to say? If you’re looking for new and interesting ways to engage your audience, consider crowdsourcing.
According to Forbes, 80 percent of crowdsourcing is done by small businesses and startups but 21% of crowdsourcing revenue comes from large enterprises. So, no matter the size of your business crowdsourcing is something you need to consider. Consider it an incredibly flexible and effective way to solve problems, add value, and bring specialized expertise to your organization. To get you started, follow our step-by-step process for crowdsourcing your next blog.
Before you begin reaching out to your community to get feedback and insight, be mindful of what you’re trying to achieve. Are you looking to solve a problem that is evident within your audience? Do you want to increase client/customer engagement by getting them involved? Or are you looking to illustrate your expertise and connections with top industry personnel? Your goal will determine how you will use crowdsourcing.
Successful crowdsourcing starts with an interesting topic and quality questions. If you present a simple or uninteresting question like, “What do you think of marketing?” you may not get the results you want. Instead, try to be specific and thoughtful in your approach to the questions and, based on your goal and topic, determine if it’s appropriate to ask every individual the same question or a set of questions around a single theme.
Now, it’s time to start reaching out to your chosen community. There are multiple ways to do this, and each option offers something unique.
The final step is to harvest all of your amazing crowdsourcing content and transform it into a blog. Remember, you’re an editor when it comes to your crowdsourced content, not an author. Try not to modify the information you receive in any way that takes away from the original intent. And when writing your blog, make sure you tell a story and don’t just share a list of information. Go back to your goal and topic and then integrate your crowdsourced content in a way that creates a cohesive blog fulfilling your goal of engaging customers, illustrating expertise, or answering popular questions.
Crowdsourcing is a great way to garner new blog content while demonstrating that your company is not a one-trick-pony when it comes to creative content. By following the five steps outlined above, crowdsourcing your next blog should be simple and productive.