So you’ve finished writing up your 1000-word blog post with a ‘killer headline’ and have just uploaded it on your site… Awesome! The job’s done for the day and now you can sit back, relax and watch the traffic flock to your site… right?
WRONG!
Not many of us realise this, but writing a blog post is only the beginning – especially if you are blogging for your business and want to generate customers through blogging or let’s say through Inbound Marketing.
Let me also quickly point out here – personal blogs; media blogs; blogging as a hobby or selling ad space on blogs don’t count as business blogging.
Business blogs act more like a ‘marketing arm’ dedicated to the growth of your business – It is a marketing tool that generates ‘online visibility’ and drives traffic to your website, and quality traffic are is turned into leads and finally converted to customers.
Business blogs these days go beyond their immediate purpose of driving traffic and converting leads – some serious business blogs/bloggers have already established themselves as the ‘go to’ Authority and Thought Leaders in their appropriate niches
Here’s a look at some stats that illustrate the power of business blogging:
- B2B marketers that use blogs receive 67% more leads than those who don’t.
- Marketers who have prioritised blogging are 13 times more likely to enjoy positive ROI.
- By 2020, customers will manage 85% of company/product research bythemselves via web content, without talking to a human. (and blog is one of the easiest ways to learn about a company)
- Companies who blog receive 97% more links to their website.
- Blogs have been rated as the 5th most trusted source for accurate online information.
Courtesy: HubSpot
How then does a business blog find success? How do the businesses create value for their prospective customers? What strategies are in play that helps their businesses grow?
Let’s explore some of the best practices and tips on Business Blogging:
1. What’s your Objective – Do you have a STRATEGY?
As many in the industry, are you ‘irregularly-regular’ at throwing a couple of blogs per week; or just adding more content to see if your blog optimises for search engine rankings?
If that’s the case, then your blogs are getting nowhere – it will very soon…simply disappear from the face of this earth. Sorry to burst the bubble, but a business blog is there for a reason – to bring in more businesses!
Business blogs don’t operate in isolation; it has to be in sync with the marketing plan. A carefully thought out strategy to engage the targeted list of prospective customers or buyer personas should be in place.
Successful blog content is strategically catered to address the needs of these prospective customers, while simultaneously fulfilling your business purposes; for instances: to attract more quality visitors to your site; Generate leads; Increase engagement; or building your brand or Authority in your space. A thoroughly designed Content Marketing Strategy is an effective asset to target your desired user personas and keep the traffic flowing through your Sales funnel.
2. Finding your Brand’s VOICE
The voice, or the language or tone of your brand’s voice is not what you say, but how you say it. Just as the logo, colours, typeface etc. should reflect your brand image; similarly, the words and the language in your content give a ‘personality’ to your brand.
Your blog should embody what your brand stands for: its mission, vision and values etc. but in an implicit manner. Proper positioning of your blog aesthetics and ‘voice’ around your business helps in differentiating your brand from your competitors. Customers will find your content more engaging and the experience more personable if there’s consistency in the tone of the voice – which ultimately breeds more ‘credibility’ and thus ‘Authority’.
3. Frequency
To get the most out of your blog posts, it should be put out on a regular basis and consistently. Remember, the readers will be expecting your next blog post, coming Monday, or whichever days you’ve scheduled your posts for – they better not be disappointed, because that’s a huge blow to your brand credibility.
The general recommendation for businesses looking to generate leads is 2 blogs per week.It is a good practice to work on an editorial calendar, which can help you work ahead of the publishing dates, and be consistent with your schedules.
However, that doesn’t mean you slap a few quick ones and call it a day. To find success, you need to conduct the needed research, put in the time and dedication to the post. You need to pay attention to the industry issues, customers’ queries and target audiences’ concerns and challenges when writing a business blog to find real success.
4. Connection between your BLOG and WEBSITE
There is a high probability that your blog is the first thing that a potential customer sees about your company. Business blogs are the major source of traffic pushed through search engines and social media.
It is important to make readers understand about the company behind the blog they’re reading – or else you’ll miss the chance in customer acquisition.
Keeping your blog as a part of your corporate site, mainly as a subdomain (blog.yourdomain.com) or as a page (yourdomain.com/blog) will give the heads up for the visitors to engage more into your website. Carefully placed inbound links to your website within the blog content can help the customers to easily navigate to your website to learn more about your company.
Similarly, your web pages, especially the homepage, or the ‘about us’ page should also carry a link to your blog, so that the readers don’t miss out on the content and you can engage more with your visitors.
5. Engaging with the Readers
After reading your blogs, it is only natural that your readers want to engage in a conversation. They may be inspired, confused or completely satisfied with your writing; whatever the case, it is essential that they get a space to interact with the writer either via a comment box, a social media share or through good old emails.
Engagement with readers is crucial to the success of every business blogs. Every comment should get a real response from the writer; every query should be answered. This gives a message to the readers saying ‘we value your comments and ideas’ and makes a huge difference to them, when then see writers and authority figures responding passionately to their comments.
A neat trick is to add social proof in your posts – If the readers see that the articles are being shared by people within their social networks; people generally imitate that within their own channels and circle of friends.
The one thing writers should not miss is to show that ‘gratitude’ to the readers. A simple thank you for their engagement, can make the readers feel good and will make them come to your site for more in the future.
6. Spread your Content – PROMOTE!
A useful practice among business bloggers is to start promoting the content as soon as it is posted. To increase traffic to your blog posts there is no quicker way than to promote your blog through social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,Google+ etc. – and they don’t cost you a single penny. Google also indexes many social media networks, including Pinterest and Google+.
It is always good to use the social media platform that your buyer persona uses. For instance, LinkedIn is best for B2B companies; you can also post your content on LinkedIn’s publishing platform and also start networking by joining in discussions and forums where members are of your target customer group.
If you like to take a sneak peek at the traits of serious business bloggers, please find an amazing infographic from Orbit Media Studios below:
Finally…
Business Blogging is an art one has to learn, adapt and evolve with – along with the changes in the market, consumer behaviours and technological innovation. However, success is only possible if we can see through the eyes of our customers and create content that will address their needs, satisfy their queries and provides them with an unforgettable experience!
If you would like to know more or would like to contribute to this article I want to hear from you.
Call Andy Fox (me) on (03) 5249-5570 or email andy@element7digital.com.au
Website is element7digital.com.au
