Tips and Tricks to get you posting content marketing on your Small Business Blog
So you’ve decided you’re writing a blog for your small business. The only problem is, when your fingers touch the keys, no words come out. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here are some tips and tricks to get you feeling confident to post in no time!
Prepare:
• You better think!
Take it back to the good ol’ days and begin with a brainstorm. They can be daunting at first, but writing down every idea you have will help you work out some great topics, and also the ones that might not work for your business. If you have multiple blog writers, brainstorm with them or bring your separate brainstorms together and discuss your ideas.
• Read all about it.
Get on the net and surf away. By taking a look at blogs within your business industry, you’ll really start to get a picture of what works and what doesn’t. By picking up on things that you dislike, like longwinded posts, jargon filled articles that don’t have enough information, you’ll start to understand how you can structure your posts to maintain your audience.
• Mark it on the calendar.
Create a content schedule. It might be something as simple as a list of blog topics including their titles and their release dates, or you may wish to use a tool like Hootsuite that integrates your social media accounts, has a viewable calendar and can help you with scheduling as per your business needs.
• Check your style.
Who are you talking to? Does your style suit their needs? If you are running a whose target audience is women aged between 25 – 35 with young children, your language is going to be very different to someone trying to reach CEOs of small to medium sized companies. Be mindful of the jargon that you use, the tone and the length which all come in to play here.
Post:
• Be on time.
Choose a time and stick to it. Regular posts help to create a regular audience, as they understand when they are going to see new content. In preparation for making sure you are on time with your posts, work from your scheduled list that you created when preparing, and begin to work on blogs before they are ‘due’. This also gives you a moment to revise your content and ensure it meets your standards every time!
• Speak to me.
Your blog should be a conversation between yourself and your reader. Regardless of your industry, there are still ways to personalise your text so that you can connect with your audience. One of the reasons blogs are successful for businesses, is because it is an avenue to see the personality behind the brand. Ensure you let people see this! Focus on your language, tone and writing the way you would speak to a friend.
• Say hi to your friends.
Be sure to link all your other social media networks to your blog, and link your blog to your social media networks. This will in turn help you to create a larger viewership and get your audience kick-started right from your first post. People who already follow you on another outlet, are more inclined to connect with you elsewhere.
• Stay focused.
Don’t waffle on in your posts. Make sure you are articulating your points easily for a reader, as they won’t want to read through a whole bunch of words just to find one thing that is useful. Keep in mind that having a post too short can be harmful. A good length to aim for is at least 500 words, both search engine and reader friendly!
Listen:
• Get to know me.
Once your blog is up and running, take a look at who is reading it. You may find your audience is not what you had assumed. Be sure to adapt to your audiences needs and over time you can review what is working or what you might like to improve on.
• Keep talking.
A great way to engage with your audience for small businesses is to respond to their comments. This will create interest for the readers to come back to your site again, and help with forming that brand personality.
• Don’t worry, be happy.
It’s important to keep your content positive. Certainly you are able to post content that might spark a discussion or debate, but posting flat out negative content will only reflect undesirably on your brand.
• Mix it up.
Once you’ve hit a comfortable stride, be sure to mix up your content. Keep what works, but try varying your post types. Some examples to think about are interviews with key influencers in the industry, product reviews, instructional and informative content.
Thinking about starting a blog, or integrating a blog with an existing site for your small business? We are experienced with blogging platforms such as WordPress and can help you integrate your blog into an existing site like Magento. Speak to us today to find out more.
About Author: Lydia Taylor is a sales and admin assistant at Digital Animals and is passionate about helping small businesses see the benefits in writing blogs. Digital Animals is a great source of information and has the capability to help you at every step of the online marketing process. Please get in touch, we are happy to answer any questions you may have.