By now you’ve likely seen all of the data touting the importance and value of business blogs, statistics like: blogs on company websites result in 55 percent more visitors and blogs result in 434 percent more indexed pages. But if you find yourself struggling to find the time and resources to create exceptional blog content, you are certainly not alone.
Before you panic about another line item on your marketing budget spreadsheet, consider this: A well-executed blog has the potential to reach your ideal customers, build trust within your industry, showcase your expertise and ultimately, convert visitors to leads. More importantly, you likely already have all of the expertise in your own department to create a stellar blogging team using your everyday knowledge, challenges and expertise.
Not convinced? Follow these simple steps to help convert your marketing employees into blog publishers creating remarkable content.
Educate Your Team on The Why and How Of Blogging
The first step is to teach your team the value of blogging. Maybe start by sharing some great statistics with them, consider these:
- 70 percent of consumers prefer to get to know a company through articles than through advertising.
- 43 percent of companies have acquired a customer through their blog. (Hubspot)
- 61 percent of global Internet users research products online. (Interconnected World)
- 46 percent of people read blogs more than once a day. (Science of Blogging)
More importantly, explain why blogging is important for SEO and search optimization for your particular industry and company. If your team members can understand the buying journey of a customer, they can understand why customers turn to online sources to learn more about products and services, and moreover, what kind of content will attract the right kind of customer.
Common Knowledge To You Is Fascinating To Others
Believe it or not, what you do everyday is interesting to someone. Bridge the gap between you and your customer and find commonality in your writing. What is it that you do in your role that is of value to the customer? The decisions you make everyday, no matter how simple or complex, speak volumes about your knowledge and compassion for your customers. Highlight your successes and the positive results you are seeing with your campaigns. Talk about your challenges and your frustrations and how you overcame them in a way that the customer can appreciate. A blog is not always about selling your product or service, in fact, more often than not, a blog is an opportunity to humanize your company and build trust with your audience.
Each Perspective Is Unique And Reaches A Different Segment Of Your Audience
Each member of your team offers a unique perspective. From graphic design to consulting, from public relations to stuffing envelopes -- there is a different segment of your audience you can reach with each set of unique experiences and expertise. Each employee feels a different connection to the target audience and thus, will likely employ a distinctive technique to write for and reach that audience member. Embrace your internal talent diversity to create varied messages for your potential customers.
Perfect Writing Doesn’t Matter
Yes, grammar and spelling are important; but at the end of the day if the content is outstanding and your customers find it valuable, will they care if there isn’t noun / pronoun agreement? Probably not. Just ask your team to start writing blog posts and find the best editor in the bunch to proofread and review each post for clarity, spelling and grammar. The key fact here is not to let the fear of imperfect writing stop your team from blogging consistently.
Turn Your Work Into Blog Content
Blog about what you are doing, no matter how mundane it may seem to you. Because when you really think about it, isn’t the work you do each day rooted in customer service, reaching prospective customers and lead generation? If you are creating great print collateral for your customers, talk about each piece and share it on your blog. Review the statistics for your most recent online campaign and discuss how many people you were able to reach with your message. Interview your satisfied customers and share their experiences with the masses. Your daily tasks are a reflection of your company values, and as such, should fit seamlessly into the content and ideas you hope to share on your blog.
Highlight Unique Expertise
Each of your marketing employees has a unique set of skills that can help you master your content creation strategy. Consider even something as simple as the tools you use in your job to be successful or explaining your work process in detail. If you pull a monthly report on the “Contact Us” questions from your website, use it to write a blog answering the most common questions you hear from customers. If you use a specific program to track call metrics, explain how this process can improve customer service and call wait times. Think about what your customers value and how your expertise helps to meet or exceed customer expectations.
Share What You Like
One of your goals of blogging should be to become an industry influencer; a voice that stands out from the industry crowd with trustworthily content that always delivers. Quite frankly, you don’t need to be writing each blog; instead, consider summarizing or sharing the great blogs or articles you are reading. You understand your audience and you likely have an excellent grasp on their likes and dislikes when it comes to content. Share what inspires you or articles that peak your own interest and encourage your team members to do the same. Part of being an influencer is curating other great content writers and knowing exactly what your audience will find valuable.
As you develop your marketing department into consistent blogging superpowers, consider branching outside your department to get a robust, well-rounded company perspective. With a few simple tips, you can grow internal content producers and expand the reach and breadth of your content.
Are you ready to build your blogging team? What has helped you be successful as you generate exceptional blog content?
