I’ve long said that engagement marketing offers smaller players the chance to trounce their bigger, slower-moving competitors.

That theory has been embraced by Isis - a small manufacturer of outdoor clothing for women - who just fired up the Isis For Women blog.

While the blog is brand new and its “voice” has yet to come to be established, the writer already pens a well read outdoor blog, and we can expect her to reproduce her quirky, fun approach to her writing.

That’s an excellent starting point, and one that strongly appeals to its target audience - active women.

The overall impression is good (based on just a few posts), though I’d have to question their decision to go with a blogger (.blogspot) host.

I advise organizations to install their own blog, retaining full control of the software and URL.

While Blogger is a good solution for personal blogs, it doesn’t handle multi-author blogs very well, and should Isis ever move to different software (trying a multi-blog solution or adding a message board), they’re going to lose their search engine ranking and some of their traffic.

It’s one area where Isis might have benefitted from more research, but they’re in the game.

What happens next is up to them. If they market their blog effectively - and populate it with content that engages those who share Isis’ values - then they’re off to races, and they’re gaining a head start on their competitors.

They even seem to be having fun with it (witness this amusing post about “cankles“)

In an e-mail from Megan Kress - the blog’s writer - I asked why Isis was doing this. Her response:

Isis, from my observation, has had to be more creative, more grassroots, out of necessity. But I think in the long run that could prove more return on the dollar and a more sustainable customer base. I have found that women, especially, respond to engagement and feeling part of something.

Welcome to the blogosphere, Isis. We’re keeping an eye on you.

Technorati Tags: isis, blog, blogging, corporate blog, marketing, engagement