When it comes to getting a constant stream of inbound leads and links, and establishing your brand voice, you can’t beat a blog. The data seems to echo that as well – with recent research suggesting that companies that blog receive 97% more inbound links.
However, business blogging is a little bit like running a marathon. It requires quite a bit of preparation if a brand is to be successful at it for any length of time. So here are the five essential questions to answer before starting a brand blog
1) WHO is your target audience? Determining your target audience is essential because it sets the tone and voice for the content, and the theme for the design. Familiarity, in this case, breeds comfort.
2) WHAT is the objective of your blog? Is it building a brand? Establishing it as a thought leader? Increasing sales? Or boosting engagement with brand followers? Whatever it is, it should define the long-term strategy and style of posts.
3) WHEN will you be publishing posts? Regularity is important in a brand blog. A gap of a few weeks or a month between posts is enough to make fans forget about its existence, and no brand wants that.
4) WHERE will you be promoting the blog? Even the best quality content need to be promoted properly to reach the relevant audience and generate optimum ROI. So in addition to the content strategy, a clear cut promotional strategy is a crucial part of a blog marketing plan. Oh, and don’t forget SEO.
5) WHY will your audience keep coming back? The answer is value. A brand blog that provides information, suggestions, tips, data or even a chuckle or two is one that people want to follow. It makes readers become subscribers and subscribers become advocates. So ensure your brand blog provides value with every post.
If you think this blog provides value, do remember to subscribe. If you want even more hints, strategies and tips, listen to our past webinar videos, where we discuss some really cool stuff in social and digital marketing.