What did an MSc Marketing student do two years ago? The first blog post went live on this blog and at the time, I was a Marketing student working on my internship at Salford Business School. I was practising my business blogging skills by helping to develop a strategy for the Business School blog.
Now, fast forward two years and the blog has been nominated for the UK Blog Awards 2016 and has over 110 authors, 157 blog posts, resulting in over 100k page-views from global readership of 202 countries. And what about myself? Well, the internship at Salford Business School helped me to get a job in the industry – I now work as a Content Strategist at customedialabs.
So, my internship has made a direct impact on my career choice – and the content shared on the blog has triggered wider social media conversations on multiple social media channels – Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube – helping other students, academics and business owners to learn and further refine their understanding of blogging for business purposes.
At the outset an important role for the blog was to allow academics to share research findings, current students to share their views and develop their own business blogging skills as well as alumni – like myself now – to come back to school and share my business experience after graduation and keep in-touch with the #SalfordBSchool community. Has this vision materialised?
Blog at the centre of social media engagement
The blog is an integral part of the School’s overall social media engagement strategy and it is the main channel for capturing and amplifying stories related to the School on all other social media channels.
The Business School blog offers a space for academics, students (past and present) as well as organisations who work with the school to share their business related lessons, observations and comments. The blog reflects the School’s mission for
“Global thinking, sustainable practice, industry collaboration, professional success”
and supports our vision
“Salford Business School will be a primary destination of students and industry for next generation management and law knowledge and practice that is industry relevant, digitally informed and globally accessible”.
The blog was established in January 2014 as recognition that the higher education environment was changing dramatically in ways that required academics and students to engage with wider audiences in accessible ways and develop blogging skills for business use. The traditional routes to academic communication such as journal publications are increasingly supplemented by dissemination that encourages application and leads to wider social impact.
Blogging for business
The primary audiences for the blog are current and prospective students, research collaborators and individuals in business. The content of the blog offers broad business education in a generally accessible way. Three different types of authors are actively engaged with the blog:
Academics and professional services staff
- For the academic writers they share with colleagues and wider world their own experiences and stories about teaching and enterprise. They disseminate the results and outcomes of research projects and publications
- They engage in debate concerning subjects of their own interest and of general relevance to business education
Current students and alumni
- For students past and present they improve their social media skills through active participation and engagement
- Develop reflective thinking practices
- Refine their writing skills
- Utilise a different writing style, format and length that is still unfamiliar in an academic environment
External partners
- For organisational partners they increase the visibility of their organisation amongst students and the wider audience
- Engage actively with Salford Business School and the University of Salford community
- Share their practices with a wider audience Align current business practice with the latest thinking in business education
Shortlist and Finalist at the #UKBA16
Salford Business School blog has been shortlisted and is now included in the Finalists of the Education and PR and Marketing category at the 2016 UK Blog awards. The winners will be announced on the 29th April 2016.
Have you been inspired by the Salford Business School blog or perhaps you would like to make a comment or contribution to the blog?
If so, be sure to get in touch with us.
As a PhD student, I’ve really enjoyed writing for the blog. I’ve learned how to put complex concepts into simple language and edit down long sentences to suit the blog format. As Employability Officer, I’ve shared our blogposts to businesses, so as to showcase our knowledge in areas as diverse as sports business, crypocurrencies, HRM and social media. Really hoping our blog wins an award at the #UKBA16.