Today the majority of businesses have a blog. Not just for newbies, the business blog has allowed even most traditional corporations to remain relevant in an ever-changing digital age. An effective way to actively engage with your audience, the branded blog helps companies share their story with the world. Yet, before you start writing your first blog post, there are a few things to consider that will help you create a blog that’s not just original and interesting, but one that also attracts consumers.
Create an engaging storyline
If you are going to grab the attention of your audience, you better have a good story to tell. An integral part of the human experience, storytelling makes us feel more connected to one another. In the business sense, storytelling allows companies to connect more deeply with their consumers. Rather than just filling your “about page” with purely informative, potentially dull text, a blog allows you to tell people about your company is a more dynamic and engaging way:
- Storytelling gives companies a competitive edge, allowing them to highlight the aspects of the business that makes them unique, making them stand out from the crowd
- Storytelling takes a more authentic approach to creating brand awareness, bolstering consumer confidence and instilling trust in your brand
- One of the benefits of telling a good story is once you generate interest you increase your chances of your content being shared
An engaging storyline builds brand awareness, while also leaving room for companies engage their audience as they continue to grow.
Keep in touch
It’s been proven that keeping your audience up to date is one of the most effective ways to both attract and retain customers. Retargeting through content helps marketers increase consumer engagement by sending out meaningful reminders based on their previous activity. With a business blog, there are various ways that you can use content to keep in touch with your customers, while also keeping your conversion rates up:
- Track user activity, identifying their exact needs based on age, location, gender
- Provide readers with purposeful content related to your product, which bolsters confidence in your brand
- Targeted content can be sent to potential customers who may have shown previous interest but didn’t fully convert yet
With developments in market research, it's now possible for companies to target consumers with customized content, thus generating interest and encouraging a loyal customer base.
Invite guest bloggers
- Companies can enable mutually beneficial professional collaborations with relevant online influencers, brands, and experts by offering these individuals the chance to write a guest post on their blog
- In addition to sharing your posts on your own social channels, guest bloggers will subsequently do the same when they publish work on your blog, which exposes your brand to a new audience
- Guest posts can help diversify your brand, showing that you are open to new ideas, collaborations and business partners
No matter the reason for taking on a guest blogger, a fresh perspective is an effective way to liven up your content. If your company is still in the process of incorporating blogging into your marketing strategy, you may check out this Blogging 101 tips from WHSR.
Don’t forget about structure
Of course, your blog’s priority should be providing high-quality content 100% of the time, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other things to consider. To attract, and retain readers, you need to make sure that your user interface is simple and easy to navigate. There are few ways that you can structure your blog posts to keep your posts simple, informative, and easy to navigate:
- Breaking your writing style isn’t too over-ambitious, utilizing easily digestible language that encourages readers to keep reading
- A clear structure helps you keep your ideas in check, making sure you don’t veer off topic discouraging readers from sticking with the text
- It’s important for blog writers to have the basics down, formatting texts with bullet points, concise paragraphs, making your posts easy and pleasurable to read
It’s vital not to confuse simplicity with bad quality. With the majority of people, today getting their news online and reading on their mobile phones, the way we obtain and absorb information has changed. Thus, keeping your posts structured will increase reader engagement.
Creating a business blog is an effective way to generate content that can be developed alongside your company. Keeping a quality blog is one of the most useful marketing tools that a business can use today, as it serves as a useful platform for expanding your marketing efforts, as well as attracting consumers.
