Boost blog engagement thanks to Following and Announcements

Follow a blog, tag or person

Some employees really want to stay up to date with company news, but sometimes they forget to check if there are any new posts. Without a newsletter or other integration set up (e.g., Slack, Yammer, etc.), there really isn’t another way to keep informed.

That's why we built a feature that lets employees follow:

• blogs
  

• tags
  

• people
  

How will employees be notified?

Each time a new post is added to a blog, marked with a tag or created by a colleague that the employee is following, they will receive on-site, browser (push notification) and email alerts.

Employees can choose whether to switch off email or browser alerts. On-site alerts remain on, unless they choose to unfollow the blog, blogger or tag.

How does this feature help?

Employees can choose the content important to them. Letting people know when new content is published helps boost engagement and build a regular base of readers.

Share important news as Announcements

Almost every client we’ve talked with faces the same challenges: how to get people on the site and make sure they read important news?

What are Announcements?

When writing a post, the author can decide to mark it as an Announcement if the content is very important and every employee should read it. 

If a post is marked as an Announcement, all employees will receive alerts regardless of whether they are following the blog or author. Alerts are sent on-site, through the browser (push notification) and by email, but employees can choose whether to switch off email or browser alerts.

NOTE: This feature might become useless if a lot of posts are marked as Announcements because people will perceive these notifications as spam – so use this option with caution. 

How do Announcements help?

The aim is to provide another channel for spreading important news when needed. Typical examples of Announcements are organizational changes, acquisitions, etc.

Who can send Announcements?

By default, Admins and Editors can post Announcements. A Blogger or Contributor can post Announcements if they are given permission to (but in the case of a contributor, the admin approving the post can choose to turn the announcement on before publishing if the contributor does not have permission to). Permissions are managed through the blog settings on the front-end by clicking on the pencil icon next to the permission name.

What if I have segmented a blog post - who will get the Announcement? 

If a blog post is segmented, only those included in the segment will receive the announcement. 

Can I make a whole blog an Announcement?

Yes, you can do that through the blog settings. However, we recommend only doing so if you have a separate blog for very important news, and another blog for general news.

If you enable the Announcement option for a whole blog, every employee will receive an alert each time there is a new post. Making a whole blog an Announcement is not an option if you have set your blog to allow everyone to post. 

When are announcements sent?

Announcements start processing after the post is published, however depending on a few factors it can take some time before an employee see the alert or email. Most announcements are received within 30 minutes. If an employee is on the site and opens the alert before the announcement email is sent, the employee will not receive the email. 

Once a blog post has been published, you will no longer be able to change the Announcement toggle.