For marketing agencies and businesses of all shapes and sizes, blogs can be a fantastic inbound marketing tool.
Here, Gemma Farmer, of PR agency Neo PR gives her 5 quintessential steps for building a fool-proof blog. We're listening, Gemma...
A blog (a contraction of the words web log) is a discussion or informational site published on the World Wide Web.
That sounds easy, all you have to do it write something and post it online, right? No.
Blogging can be a right royal pain in the backside for many marketing agencies who are short of ideas and pushed for time.
So, I have put together a short list of things to help. Everyone will have different opinions on how to write the perfect blog but if you follow these five easy steps I think you will come pretty close.
Step 1: Decide on a theme- There is nothing worse than a blog without a purpose
Blogging isn’t just about how often you do it or even how many words; it’s more about what you are going to offer someone.
When you consider your blog as a marketing tool for acquiring new clients, this is all the more pertinent. What can you offer? And are you establishing your marketing agency or business as a thought leader or industry expert?
People read blogs for 2 reasons.
- Because they are interested in the subject
- Because it will educate them. (This is why ‘top tips’ and ‘how to guides’ go down so well.)
So make sure you have a think about what you are blogging about and why. Then decide if anybody wants, needs or has to know about it. If they don’t then I would probably give it a miss.
Step 2: Make it personal
I personally hate blogs without a voice or corporate tone/persona. Your blog should be a mini opinion article and should always reflect what you think and why (within reason).
The more human the voice the more chance you have of someone actually reading it from top to bottom.
Step 3: First impressions are everything
It is really important to give your blog a strong title. If readers take a glance over the title and get bored they won’t read on.
I recently read a blog called ‘How to tell your CEO to F!*K off!’ and it instantly made me want to read on. If the title is catchy, poses a questions or offers something to the reader then they are likely to get hooked and your marketing agency or business is bound to start making a name for itself.
Step 4: Keep it short and sweet
Nobody wants to read a blog that rambles on for pages and pages [Editor's note: Hear, hear!].
Keep your blogs to the point and as short as possible whilst still making them interesting and informative. It sounds like a challenge and it is often easier to write a long story than a short one but once you have written a few they will flow easily, I promise!
Step 5: Brag about it
Once you have written your blog make sure you shout about it from the rooftops! Unless you are Richard Branson (who actually has a VERY good blog that is worth a read) the likelihood of anyone just stumbling across your blog is probably non-existent so you need to make sure you are leading people to your site.
Social media is the best, easiest and cheapest (it’s free) way to do this. Facebook it, LinkedIn it, Google+ it, Tweet it (don’t forget to #hashtag the key themes and the word #blog) even Instagram it if you want! But make sure you tell everyone that needs to know.
Now what are you waiting for? Get blogging!
