Blogging is a content marketing mainstay. It provides the foundation for an engaging and effective content marketing strategy and improves your website’s SEO. If you’re thinking about starting a blog this year, here are a few things to help get you started.
Know Your Audience
Who’s your blog for? Most of the time, companies write for their customers and prospects. But your blog can also be a resource for your staff and industry partners. Before creating your content calendar, think about who will be interested in reading your blog.
Also consider where you’ll share your blog content. In addition to publishing it on your website, will you share blog content in your email marketing campaigns? How about on your social media platforms? You’ll want to make sure your content is engaging and accessible to your entire audience.
Have a Blog Content Plan
Once you know who you’re writing for, it’s time to come up with a content plan. Here are a few questions to ask yourself as you think of content ideas.
- What does your audience want or need to know about your industry, products, or services?
- What background knowledge should people have before working with you?
- Do you host any events throughout the year that you could promote on your blog?
- Do you have client or staff stories you could feature on your blog?
Your answers to the questions become your topics for the year. To create your content calendar, list out the months remaining in the year, then assign each month a topic. If your business is seasonal, take the time of year into consideration as you assign topics. Think about how many times per month you’d like to publish blog content.
Tell a Story
Once you’ve identified your audience and come up with your content calendar, it’s time to start writing. Remember—facts tell, but stories sell. Use a story to introduce your topic. Feel free to use a more conversational and informal voice on your blog than you do on your website or print marketing collateral. Break tough concepts down into smaller chunks, and use subheadings to separate the big ideas in your blog.
Inform, Don’t Sell
Most people read blogs to find information, not to purchase a product or service. Build your blog as a resource for people rather than a storefront. Give your readers information they can use or take action on today.
All great content marketing plans incorporate blogging. If you’re excited to write your own blog, that’s great! If you’d rather outsource your blogging to the pros, the Balius creative team is here to help. Get in touch today.