Helen Savage, copywriter to the glazing industry, explains the importance of getting strategic with your business blog.
Business blogs can be a little more informal than some other elements of the marketing mix, but they still need an overriding strategy to ensure the messaging throughout remains consistent and on target.
Each blog post should work as a standalone piece for visitors searching for more information on that one topic, but they should also work as a series, to give people an overview of your company philosophy and personality.
Here are some top tips for creating a strategy for your blog:
1. What are your key messages?
What are the key points you would like to get across to readers that land on your blog? Of course, each blog will be on a different topic, but there should be an overriding message through them all. For example, are you a family-run installation business, or a systems company focussed on sustainability?
2. Who are you talking to?
The next thing to consider is who your blog is for. No blog post, or any other piece of writing for that matter, will appeal to everyone so try to imagine one ideal customer that you are writing for and keep the content specific to them. When your ideal audience land on the post, they will feel like you are talking directly to them and are more likely to engage.
3. Plan, plan, plan!
You may or may not be a planner by nature, but when it comes to blogging, as with any other communications medium, it is important to plan out your content. A good blog for example should have a mix of personal posts, fact-based articles, and product posts, and it’s good to mix them up to keep things interesting.
4. Measure
Once you have set your blog strategy and you are happily following your planned schedule, be sure to measure its success. Are some posts getting a lot more views or engagement than others? If so, is it possible to tweak your strategy and add in more of the posts people like? After all, it is your audience you should be writing for, not yourself.
5. Keep an eye on the competition
While it shouldn’t take up too much of your time, there is nothing wrong with keeping an eye on your competitors to see what they are up to and what they are talking about. Perhaps they are raising an issue you want to share an opinion on, or perhaps they have taken a view on a subject that you have a unique perspective on. Either way, it’s another effective way of staying on top of current issues to feed into your overall blogging strategy.
Business blogs with a clear strategy not only run more smoothly but also garner better results. Companies that are taking the time to plan their blogging strategy carefully are reaping the rewards.
