Blogs have become a very important part of brand marketing in the last decade. But a blog should never be just for the sake of it. Rather a blog – and more specifically, blog posts – should always be purposeful and relevant to your audience because your content is a potential opportunity to convert readers into customers.
Think of it is as mutual relationship. If you show an interest in your readers – understand them, address their needs, provide value and engage with them – they’ll show an interest in you. Here’s how to do that:
#1. Create high-quality content
Every blog post you publish should provide content that is targeted to your customers’ journey: their friction points, needs, motivations and aspirations. Here’s how:
- Know your audience and don’t be afraid to target a niche when blogging. You might lose some readers, but you’ll keep the ones that count
- Create a content program that specifically address every stage of your customers’ journey [insert hyperlink to the other post: How to Deliver on Your Headline Promises]
- Write actionable and data-driven blog posts by including statistics, research, screenshots, graphics and case studies to back up your points.
- Write lengthier posts that average more than 1000 words – without sacrificing quality for quantity.
#2. Reinforce your brand
Every blog post you publish should be on brand in style, design, topic and voice. Here’s how:
- Keep the format, font, layout, colour palette and image sizes consistent
- Write in an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand style and don’t be afraid to inject some personality. Have fun with your writing, as long it’s on brand.
- Be a show off and write blog posts about your successes or case studies, or include them as examples in other blog posts where relevant.
- Respond to readers comments, whether positive or negative, because it expresses you care about their experience and thoughts.
#3. Give stuff away for free
Everybody loves freebies. Create opt-in freebies (optional extras), which are pieces of content that readers can download from your blog. Here’s how:
- Make sure your already-published content is helpful and relevant to draw readers in
- Create an opt-in freebie that provides actionable content related to the topic of a blog post. For example, you might add a free style guide template to a blog post about creating a style guide. [Do you have an example that would be more relevant to your audience? If so replace.]
- Above all, provide value that is additional to your blog. Making it worth your reader’s while will help build trust, respect, loyalty and all-important engagement.
And of course, once customers have entered opted in by entering their email addresses, you can then use it to catch leads (just make sure it’s stated in the T&Cs).
#4. Promote your posts where your audience plays
Publish your blog posts on websites where your readers and potential readers hang out. Here’s how:
- Know your audience demographics, understand their motivations and identify their online habits to know where and when to post.
- Consider the major social media platforms, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc, but also think laterally about other platforms to promote your blog posts, such as Reddit and Medium [other examples?].
- Don’t just post and hope for the best. Post and engage: respond to feedback, enter discussions, answer questions and provide additional advice.
We aim to practice what we preach, so for any further information about p.ll/Desk Space please get in touch. We’d love to learn more about you and we’d love to tell you more about us.
