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Like with many things besides the pie vs. cake debate (pie is clearly better!), there is no clear answer to the blog vs email marketing debate.  There is also room for both – have your cake and eat your pie too!  Lorrie and Kate virtually sat down to create some guidelines to help get you started.

Before we get into it, though, let’s break down what form they take most often:

A Blog: A blog is a stand-alone destination or part of a website on which content is published over time.  It becomes a repository of (hopefully) valuable information and links, and people can visit to read, view or listen to your content and interact with the author(s) by leaving comments any time they want.  People can subscribe to your blog using an RSS feed, which delivers the latest content from your blog to their Feed Reader or their email inbox.  You need a platform on which to create your blog, like Wordpress or Blogger.

Email Marketing: Email Marketing is a subscription-based service in which you send content (like a newsletter) via email to a list of people who have subscribed to receive it.  What you send can include text, images and links, but needs to adhere to some of the limitations of being viewed through email.  Often, there is an incentive to entice people to sign up for your newsletter.  You need a service that allows you to create a way for people to sign up, manage the subscription list, and send emails to them.

So how do you know which to use when?

Here are few things to consider when deciding how to cash in your web marketing chips when it comes to blogs and email marketing:

• Both a blog and email marketing let you craft some content and publish it out to the world.  In the case of the blog, it’s available any time to anyone.  In the case of email marketing, it’s available only to those who subscribe to your list.  So, you want to make sure the content you create for your email marketing campaign is not only valuable, but that there’s something unique you’re offering through it that non-subscribers wouldn’t have direct access to.  Otherwise, what’s the point in subscribing to your list?
• An email is transient, it’s there in your inbox, then it’s gone (either buried or deleted).  A blog is a constantly available, searchable resource.  So while it’s important to inform your blog audience of time-sensitive news items,  you want to be sure you’re including content in it that has a shelf life and can be referenced again and again.
• Read the rest of our considerations on Kate’s other blog, Outbox Takeout – including the influence of Twitter & Facebook and how to keep your customers aware of your business…

There are benefits to both, and you don’t *have* to choose.  Luckily there are free ways to do both (MailChimp & Wordpress for example).  Often it comes down to your budget for time and money.  If you can’t truly commit to both, and follow through so that they both have a chance for success, then put your time and money into one.  Which one?  That decision is based on the goals for your particular circumstance, but often a blog is the best place to start.

That’s because a blog often establishes the reason why someone would want to be interested in you in the first place.  It’s a chance to show your expertise while your content repository and readership grow publicly.  It’s a place that can be linked to to widen your net and a place that can show up in search results.   It’s a place people can interact with each other and you can communicate directly with your site visitors.

A great case study is Margaret Roach’s A Way to Garden.  Her site, which is primarily comprised of her blog, also offers an email newsletter.  She uses the email newsletter to point to things on her blog that her readership may have missed, but also to add a few extra touches that aren’t available on her blog, like additional stories and photos, or information about her new book.  I look forward to receiving the newsletter in my inbox even though I read her blog.

So, as you go off to consider your options, make sure you look at models other people have tried that you like.  Is there an email newsletter that you really love or hate to get?  Why?   Is there a blog that you wish had a way to subscribe for more information?  How come?  If you’ve ever unsubscribed from an email marketing campaign, what led you to that decision?  The answers you come up with, along with the information here, will help you make the decision that will best work for you!

As a part of your site that gets lots of traction, you may want to be able to easily update it yourself – and I’m not just talking about with a CMS, but with a tool built specifically for the job.

I introduce mymediaroom.com.

I was made aware of it by a social-media-saavy client (thank you, Perry!)

You can brand it so that it coordinates with your site, then off you go creating Press Releases, Events, Articles, etc…    and then distribute via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc…

So, if your Press page gets alot of action, you may be able to save some time & money by automating it with this service.

If anyone has experience with this tool, please let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Luckily, there are some simple steps for you to have the best of both worlds: a solution designed to create a quality experience & a cool website because of it.

1. Before you do anything, get to know your users. You likely have lots of information about your customer, but do you have information about how their behaviors translate to an online environment?  What kind of site architecture will suit them best?  What kind of information are they looking for?   What technology are they comfortable with?  There’s something new to learn about your customer continually – this isn’t something you do once and then forget about it.  Gathering knowledge over time will continually inform what you present to your customer online.
2. Create an map of what you want your online presence to DO, not just what you want it to BE.  Write down what your online presence will offer your customer.  This could be as simple as directions to your location, or a way to get in touch with you…  but make sure all the solutions are accounted for.  Draw connections between things – might someone want to read about an existing customer experience and then sign up for the same thing?  Capture the connections you want to make to enhance your usability.
3. Aim for simplicity.  Once you have your solutions mapped out, simplify!  How can you provide those solutions in the most simple, clear & straightforward manner?  Start creating your site content around your map of solutions, and then think of ways you can communicate it in the fewest words possible without losing the message. 95% of web users won’t read 80% of your content – this doesn’t make it less important, it makes it MORE important.  Not just for the sake of people’s attention spans, but also because drowning your potential customer in information will not make them trust you more or want to buy more for you – it will just drown them in information.  Weed out the uncritical & keep your content focused and honest.
4. Allow your personality to shine through.  As you begin to think about how to communicate your solutions, don’t lose yourself in the process.  Just like your social media outlets like Twitter & Facebook allow you to connect authentically with your customer, your website does the same thing.  You don’t have to compromise your professional credibility to have an authentic voice online – people are more likely to do business with people they like – so there’s no reason to be a nameless, faceless entity.  A good experince often hinges on the small things, so don’t underestimate the subtle things you might bring to the table.
5. Your customers are looking for solutions & answers, just like you! So as you get ready to actually create your web presence, make sure all your leg work so far has led you to identify solutions, not just problems.  With your solutions identified, creating a web presence that communicates them clearly will not just keep your customer happy, but it’s the bulk of the work!  That last effort of making your web solution’s aesthetic the way you want it will now ensure that the design is serving the solution, not the other way around.  Design isn’t nebulous magic or just making something pretty, it’s a process by which you create solutions – and the ones that work the best are the ones that answer your customer’s questions, even if they don’t know what they are yet!  And remember that there are ways to discover what’s working and what’s not – the only constant in life is change – so track your successes and failures, learn from them, then respond by adapting for the better.

Everything you do to help improve the experience you’re creating via your online presence means a better ROI.  You might be able to track it in customer satisfaction, cold hard cash, or the buzz it creates – and you don’t have to start from scratch or do it all at once.  Design is inevitable – the alternative to good design is bad design, not no design – so make your design decisions conciously & with solution building in mind!

The service is free for up to 5 keywords, and provides a way for you to not only discover people with similar interests, but also track what people are saying about you, your website and/or products!