So much information that’s available about blogging focuses on those looking to make money off affiliate links for lifestyle blogs. But corporate blogging is a part of inbound marketing strategies where you work to bring in your customers through great content.
Lifestyle blogging and corporate blogs share some similarities, such as:
- Focuses on SEO
- Designed to generate revenue
- Educates the reader
- Focused on a topic
- Demonstrates expertise
But the similarities end there. Companies looking to get started with business blogging need to review some step-by-step guidance for getting started with a clear strategy and the team necessary to see success.
Corporate Blogging Tips for Success
If you take some time to outline your strategy and get organized before starting your corporate blog, you’re far more likely to see success and the outcomes you’re hoping for. But most small businesses getting started with blogging are unsure of where to start. So here’s a simple step-by-step guide to help.
1. Focus on Your Goals
Before you get too far into your blog planning, take time to write down your goals. Outline what you hope to get from your blog and all the efforts you’ll be putting into it.
Some goals you might consider are lead generation, customer awareness, website traffic, time on page, and better-informed customers and prospects.
You likely won’t be listing sales goals for your blog. Blogs offer information early to customers starting their search for answers and solutions. To convert those prospects, you’ll need supporting materials in your content marketing plan.
2. Make it Part of a Larger Content Marketing Plan
Without supporting content marketing initiatives, you might generate traffic and customer awareness with your blog, but see little impact on your bottom line. Blogs don’t sell. But they do an excellent job of introducing your products and services to prospects to aid your other marketing initiatives in closing the deal.
So what content marketing supports a blog? Here’s a look at some initiatives to consider:
- Email marketing and marketing automation
- Social media
- Pay-per-click ads
- White papers, e-books, case studies
- Customer-centric website copy
- Guest blog posts or third-party links
If you don’t have a content marketing plan, take a step back before starting a blog. You should have supporting pieces in place to make your blog far more effective.
3. Write with a Customer-centric Voice and Tone
Remember the whole purpose you’re starting a blog: to bring in prospects and engage with them. To do that, you’ll need to write in a voice and tone that focuses on the customer.
But maybe you need to take a step back first and write some customer personas. The more you know about your customers’ pain points and challenges, the easier it will be to speak to those and meet the customer where they at.
Understanding what your customer is going through and why they are seeking solutions will help you cater to their needs and speak less about your company and more about them.
4. Solve Customer Challenges
Now that you’ve taken the time to consider your voice and tone for your blog, you can start solving customer challenges. Your blog does not exist to be a sales engine. Your website should be doing that.
The blog is likely a first meeting or early meeting for your customers. Consider ways you can demonstrate your expertise in your industry and field to help answer questions and solve the largest challenges customers face.
Your blog should be more like a map or guide for customers than an endpoint. The more you understand that, the better your content will be.
5. Inform First and Sell Later
Don’t lead with your products and services in your blog articles. Instead, focus on informing customers. Share important information, give away some free advice and offer more value than your competitors.
Believe it or not, this will have an impact on your bottom line. If you focus on creating informed buyers, they’ll take note. And informed buyers are far more likely to finalize a purchase after some follow-up or a sales call than those still seeking answers to common questions.
This is a huge area where lifestyle blogs differ from corporate blogs. Lifestyle blogs have to generate sales through their articles because they aren’t selling a product or service. They sell information and suggested links.
The less sales-focused your blog articles are, the better. But your blog pages should be formatted for capturing leads to allow your content marketing to do the rest. So be sure that you close the blog with a strong call to action and have opportunities throughout your posts for readers to learn more.
6. Set a Schedule and Stick to It
One of the largest challenges that corporate blogs face is that they struggle to keep up with a schedule. Or they fail to set a schedule in the first place.
You’re in a crucial phase for ensuring blog success: blog planning. Commit now to a schedule for your blogs. At a minimum, you should be blogging once a month. But if you can commit to twice a month or even weekly while getting started, that will be even better. Read more: How Long Should a Blog Post Be for SEO? Balancing Length and Frequency
A surefire way to stick to a schedule is to dedicate someone to the task of topic creation and blog execution. Perhaps they have other content marketing roles, but you want to ensure they have the time to devote to managing your blog and keeping it on task.
7. Gather Topic Ideas from Customer-facing Teams
Don’t make blogging the sole responsibility of your marketing team. Everyone in your company has great blog topic ideas and different customer encounters to call upon.
Get all customer-facing teams involved in gathering topic ideas. While the marketing department will be charged with developing the content, they need help knowing what customers need most.
You’re likely surrounded by topic ideas, you just haven’t tapped into them yet. The more you can involve customer-facing team members, the better your blog will be at engaging prospects and offering value.
Getting Started with the Right Resources
Seven steps might feel daunting. Maybe your marketing team is already spread thin and you’re not sure how to add blog development to their to-do list. That’s understandable. Yet, blogging can make all other marketing initiatives more effective. Schedule a free consultation with Bridge the Gap Communication to learn how our team can help.
Common Questions About Developing a Corporate Blog
You have tons of items to think about when considering corporate blogging. So here’s a look at some common questions and answers businesses encounter along the journey to an effective blog strategy.
What Is a Corporate Blogger?
A corporate blogger is someone who drafts content for a company to offer updates, news and answers to common customer and prospect questions.
What is the Purpose of a Corporate Blog?
The purpose of a corporate blog is to demonstrate thought leadership, generate leads and cross-promote products and services. By generating valuable traffic to your website, you can start to generate leads and meet prospects at a crucial time in decision-making.
What Makes a Good Corporate Blog?
A good corporate blog is focused on customers and their needs. You should be answering common questions that customers and prospects ask and focusing less on sales and more on informing customers.