Anyone can create a blog, but how do you write one that engages your audience and increases leads and conversions?
Put the Audience in Focus
You’ve read blogs that are thinly-veiled product promotions. It’s boring, and yet, so many brands seem to be unable to resist trumpeting their benefits.
This is the most common pitfall in blog writing, and you can avoid it by putting your audience in the priority seat. Think about what their needs and questions are, and you’ll have a good foundation for writing. It’s never about you. Ever.
Think Value
You basically have three choices when it comes to effective content marketing. You can be educational, entertaining, or personal. You can be all three. If your blog topic fits none of these descriptions, take some time to think more about what to share.
You want to provide a how-to on something your audience is looking for, or you may decide to offer a new perspective on a hot topic in your industry. Every now and then, you may simply want to make your audience laugh, which can be an endearing way to add authenticity to your brand. Getting personal in a blog can happen every time you write in small doses, or you may want to dedicate one blog a quarter to a more personal angle.
You always want to think about what your audience will gain from your blog post. Give them something valuable, and you’ll establish a dedicated following.
Make a Topic List
There are endless topics that fall into one of the three categories of entertaining, educational, and personal, but you don’t want to be staring at a blank page when it’s a couple of hours before you’re scheduled to publish. Keep a list of topics that are relevant. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Make a list of FAQs and How-Tos. These can form the basis for a regular feature.
- Highlight an employee that your customers might interact with regularly.
- Cultivate goodwill in your industry by profiling the volunteer work of a competitor or have some fun razzing a competitor with some light humor.
- Talk about your failures, and use the story to encourage your readers.
- Write about a new trend in your industry and how it might affect your audience, as well as debunking any myths around that trend.
- Talk about pain points for your target audience and ways to approach those challenges.
Don't Wait - Get Started!
Now that you’ve got some ideas, it’s time to make them work for you. Hope this helped, and although our company isn't in the business of writing blogs for our clients, we do provide a powerful marketing tool that will allow you a lot more free time to get creative in your writing. If you want to learn more about what we do, and how it can help you grow your business, please feel free to schedule a call or demo with us.
