Blog as a marketing tool
Everywhere you look every company has a blog – and it’s a good marketing strategy. Blogging gets the word out there about your business but offers visitors to your blog an insight into who you are and what your company has to offer. A blog should offer your readers valuable information, not be simply a selling tool.
How do you draw readers and invite comments to your blog, though? We have five tips to help drive traffic to your blog:
- Develop interesting content – Remember, content is not just about you and not just about selling a product or service. If you’re a restaurant owner, offer interesting recipe tips, history of various dishes, information on where to buy local produce, healthy recipes and cooking tips, etc. Your articles should be professionally written – good grammar is a must. Decide what kind of “message” you’re sending – conservative, fun and light-hearted.
- Develop a plan for continued content – You don’t want to “build it and have them come” and then stop providing content and updates. Come up with an editorial calendar: Mondays you will write about breaking industry news, Wednesday your topic will be on health hints and tips. Some people find having a plan in mind of what they will write about makes it less stressful when it comes time to sit down and pen the post.
- A picture speaks a 1,000 words – that’s true in blogging. Posts that have a picture are more likely to capture the reader’s attention and it also breaks up blocks of text. Also, in your blog posts embed relevant links. If you’re writing about dog grooming, link to a groomer or a particular breed of dog or the AKC site. Links build traffic and make your posts more searchable.
- Get connected – chances are you have friends, family, co-workers or customers. Drop them an email and ask them to read your blog. If you’re on Facebook or Twitter, use the “announce” feature to let your followers know that you’ve written a new post.
- Strut your stuff – if you aren’t a business owner but have a love of writing and want to spread the word about your particular area of expertise start a blog. If you’re a computer genius, know the best way to decorate cakes for every occasion or the best place in your immediate vicinity to take children for a low-cost good time, write about it. Search the internet to see how many people are covering the topics – if no one is then jump right in, even if someone else is writing about computers (and they are) you will bring your unique perspective to it and garner your own readership.
Blogging as a marketing tool is very effective as people who might want your goods or services, like to feel they know the face or voice behind the product and a blog is a good way to start. Even if you hire a professional to write and maintain your blog, you can still set the tone and come up with ideas for topics – after all, you’re likely too busy growing your business to learn about blogging!
Remember, too, once you start your blog and if people start commenting on your posts, make certain you respond to their comments in a timely manner. A blog is an online way to be interactive, it’s not meant to be static like a website.
