A blog is one of the most powerful tools you have in your marketing arsenal, especially when wielded correctly. Not only does a blog provide you with an opportunity to write keyword-rich content, it also allows you to make a very real and deep connection with readers. This connection improves brand awareness and recognition, as well as encouraging your regular audience to share your content with their own followers and friends, further widening your reach.
The one downfall of blogging is, however, that just about every business does it, making it more and more difficult to reach out to new segments of your audience and to hold their attention. Any inconsistency can drive your readers, and therefore, your customers, away. Here are four tips to help you make sure that your blog is as professional and useful as possible.
Be Your Own Editor
This doesn’t just mean that you should edit your own posts (though you should certainly do that). It also means that you should spend a great deal of your time reading. How does reading relate to editing? Think about the traditional publishing industry. In order for editors in this business to know what types of books their audience is likely to be interested in, that editor has to read widely and often. They read to know what is going on in their industry, they read to know what’s popular, what’s trending, and to ferret out the next big trend.
This means that you, likewise, need to read widely and often. This enables you to keep up with the goings on in your industry and to keep a list of resources that you know and trust. This can be helpful, even, for publicizing your own blog, as you can comment on articles and posts that are interesting to you. Not only will this help you collect inspiration for blogs that you want to write, it helps you develop your own blogging practices. You’ll see what works for those who succeed and you’ll want to mimic those styles.
Write for Your Audience
It sounds obvious, but so few people actually follow this advice. Writing for your audience is about more than writing what you think they want to hear. It’s about writing what you know they want to read. For example, since we are a Sarasota marketing company, and we work with many professional services companies, the topic you’re reading is one that many of our potential clients are interested in. One of the biggest mistakes that business owners and bloggers make is trying to write for a broad audience. If you try to write content that will appeal to everyone, you’re going to end up writing content that appeals to no one.
Tie Your Lead Gen Offers into Posts
Now that you have spent some time reading other blogs, developing your style, and have connected with your audience, it’s time to start writing blogs that will refer those readers to your lead magnets. While every blog post should not be about one of your lead generation offers, these offers can be a well of blog topics that will almost never run dry. Finding a way to tie in these offers to your posts will not only give you something to write about, it will be an opportunity to offer real value to your readers, while also hocking something you want to give away.
The most basic structure of a lead generation post is to share a small amount of the expertise you share in the offer, and then, at the end of the post, include a call to action and link to your offer. Avoid making your post sound like an advertisement—it should genuinely offer information that your reader will find valuable, but it should also make it clear that the person who wants more information should take advantage of your offer.
Keep Improving
Once you have an audience and have posted some successful blogs, it can be tempting to rest on your laurels. Don’t do it! Now is the time to start reviewing your analytics and to start looking seriously at where your traffic is coming from, how that traffic is interacting with your blog, and how you can maximize that traffic and attract even more to your blog.
Related: What is Data Driven Marketing?
Don’t just look at your number of page views. Look at how long they stick around, whether or not they share your content, and how that content is received when shared. Continue reviewing your blog and your blogging practices to make sure they are bringing you not just a high number of pageviews, but also a high level of engagement.
A blog is one of the most powerful tools you have in your marketing arsenal, especially when wielded correctly. Not only does a blog provide you with an opportunity to write keyword-rich content, it also allows you to make a very real and deep connection with readers. This connection improves brand awareness and recognition, as well as encouraging your regular audience to share your content with their own followers and friends, further widening your reach.
The one downfall of blogging is, however, that just about every business does it, making it more and more difficult to reach out to new segments of your audience and to hold their attention. Any inconsistency can drive your readers, and therefore, your customers, away. Here are four tips to help you make sure that your blog is as professional and useful as possible.
Be Your Own Editor
This doesn’t just mean that you should edit your own posts (though you should certainly do that). It also means that you should spend a great deal of your time reading. How does reading relate to editing? Think about the traditional publishing industry. In order for editors in this business to know what types of books their audience is likely to be interested in, that editor has to read widely and often. They read to know what is going on in their industry, they read to know what’s popular, what’s trending, and to ferret out the next big trend.
This means that you, likewise, need to read widely and often. This enables you to keep up with the goings on in your industry and to keep a list of resources that you know and trust. This can be helpful, even, for publicizing your own blog, as you can comment on articles and posts that are interesting to you. Not only will this help you collect inspiration for blogs that you want to write, it helps you develop your own blogging practices. You’ll see what works for those who succeed and you’ll want to mimic those styles.
Write for Your Audience
It sounds obvious, but so few people actually follow this advice. Writing for your audience is about more than writing what you think they want to hear. It’s about writing what you know they want to read. For example, since we are a Sarasota marketing company, and we work with many professional services companies, the topic you’re reading is one that many of our potential clients are interested in. One of the biggest mistakes that business owners and bloggers make is trying to write for a broad audience. If you try to write content that will appeal to everyone, you’re going to end up writing content that appeals to no one.
Tie Your Lead Gen Offers into Posts
Now that you have spent some time reading other blogs, developing your style, and have connected with your audience, it’s time to start writing blogs that will refer those readers to your lead magnets. While every blog post should not be about one of your lead generation offers, these offers can be a well of blog topics that will almost never run dry. Finding a way to tie in these offers to your posts will not only give you something to write about, it will be an opportunity to offer real value to your readers, while also hocking something you want to give away.
The most basic structure of a lead generation post is to share a small amount of the expertise you share in the offer, and then, at the end of the post, include a call to action and link to your offer. Avoid making your post sound like an advertisement—it should genuinely offer information that your reader will find valuable, but it should also make it clear that the person who wants more information should take advantage of your offer.
Keep Improving
Once you have an audience and have posted some successful blogs, it can be tempting to rest on your laurels. Don’t do it! Now is the time to start reviewing your analytics and to start looking seriously at where your traffic is coming from, how that traffic is interacting with your blog, and how you can maximize that traffic and attract even more to your blog.
Related: What is Data Driven Marketing?
Don’t just look at your number of page views. Look at how long they stick around, whether or not they share your content, and how that content is received when shared. Continue reviewing your blog and your blogging practices to make sure they are bringing you not just a high number of pageviews, but also a high level of engagement.
Published on November 23, 2015
About the Author: Darlene Keys
