blogMarketingSherpa’s 2010 Social Marketing Benchmark Report due out in January will no doubt be a valuable resource in shedding light on the future of of social marketing. I’m looking forward to reading it in its entirety.

From the chart published on their website and the downloadable executive summary, I was intrigued to read how even though blogging is described as a more effective social marketing tactic, it’s used by fewer organizations than other less effective tactics because of the “effort required.” This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this argument, and while some will defend the decision to using “fast and easy” 140 character tweets in place of taking the time to write a more substantial 350-500 word blog post, I think it’s time to demystify that blogging is too time consuming and effortful.

With proper planning blogging as part of your business’ social media strategy will become second nature and require less effort. What steps and processes will make for a successful blog strategy?

10 Steps for Creating an Effective Blog Strategy:
1. Identify the direction you plan to take for the content of your blog
2. Set (a realistic) schedule for writing and posting new entries
3. Create an editorial calendar of themes and categories for your posts
4. Read and comment on other blogs in your industry
5. Link to resources and blogs
6. Review your blog’s analytics on a regular basis e.g. take note of the trends for days when readership is higher, what keywords did people search  on to find your blog, and are those your intended keywords; how can you improve the SEO of your blog
7. Be flexible about changing the focus of your blog as your business plan necessitates
8. Promote your blog on your website, business card, email signature—put the url everywhere you would put your website url
9. Embrace blogging as a central component of your strategic marketing plan
10. Integrate your blog with all of your social media presences e.g. make your twitter, facebook, linkedin pages all work in sync with your blog

What steps have you taken to make blogging feel more doable and manageable?