Does Having More Than One Blog Water Down Your Branding Efforts?

Should you have more than one blog? Would that water down your branding?

That’s an important and a worthy question. One asked by a commenter at Search Engine Optimization Journal.

In my view, it depends. Having more than one website could dilute your brand if you do it the wrong way. On the other hand, it could strengthen your brand if done the right way. And a third view is to use the additional websites in a multiple branding effort. Let’s discuss each of those options briefly:

Brand Dilution With Multiple Blog Sites

If you have a relatively small brand or serve a small niche then multiple blogs could serve to dilute your brand. You want to speak to your market with one voice. Having two or more blog sites that compete against each other could pose a certain public relations problem for you if your customers and potential customers discover this, which they will surely do if you keep it up for two long.

But what if you are a bigger company and serving a large niche with a lot of competitors? In that case, multiple blog sites could actually be a benefit. We’ll discuss that more in a minute.

Brand Strength With Multiple Blog Sites

Branding doesn’t have to take place only at the company level. It can also take place at the product level. If you have more than one product line, each with its own branding personality, then multiple blogs could be to your benefit. You’d want a separate blog for each brand in addition to a blog for the parent brand. Why would you want to do this?

Suppose your brands serve different segments of your market. A fashion merchandiser may have a clothing line for teen girls, a separate line for middle-aged women, and then a totally different line for men ages 18-40. Those are three drastically different markets with completely different needs. One blog to serve them all might actually be more diluting than multiple blogs for a small company in a small niche. It could be more effective to split up your marketing efforts to address the needs of each of your market segments.

Multiple Branding With Multiple Blog Sites

This is really kind of related to the above section for multiple brands under the same parent brand. I want to discuss it as a separate issue, however, because your company may actually be a little more diverse than the fashion company mentioned above. What if you are a holding company with interests in fashion, restaurant management, and sports? Obviously, those are completely different markets. Each company within those areas of interest would be best served with their own blog sites. Your holding company may have a blog of its own, but you most definitely want a separate blog for each of your companies within different industries. After all, each company deserves its own brand marketing.

Blogging As Brand Management

Whether you are a small company with a single brand, a mid-sized company with different market segments under the same brand, or a large company with multiple brand identities, a blog can be an excellent way to communicate your brands’ messages to the market place. You want your blog to serve as a marketing vehicle for each brand and for your company. You’ve got to figure out the best way to make that happen. Sometimes, one blog is not enough.