Blogging remains one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies for businesses of all sizes. Not only does a blog boost your website’s search engine optimization (SEO) and drive more traffic, but it also helps establish authority and build trust with your audience. However, just having a blog is not enough. You must determine its purpose, set specific goals, and create a targeted strategy plan to achieve your desired outcomes.
Determining a Blog Strategy & Goal
Before creating content, determine your blog’s primary purpose. This overarching goal will define all future decisions related to your blog, from your target audience to your content. Don’t forget to create SMART goals at every level of your marketing strategy to determine the best content types that drive the success of your business.
- Build brand visibility and attract new leads. Example Goal: Generate 3x leads per blog on average over 12 months.
- Engage with and educate existing customers, capturing their loyalty. Example Goal: Share educational blogs with all existing customers at least once a quarter with 5x program upgrades from existing customers each quarter.
- Establish your company as an industry leader and educate your audience to drive demos. Example Goal: Generate 1x demos per blog on average over 12 months.
- Improve SEO results by boosting website traffic and increasing search engine rankings. Example Goal: Improve average search engine ranking for the keyword “Local Website Design” from 40 to 20 by the end of the year. (Try adding Google Search Console to your website to gain insight into search terms for your business.)
Pinpoint Your Blog’s Goal Audience
After determining your main objective, the next step is to pinpoint the specific audience you aim to captivate. Consider your audience or customer and start to develop a persona for them. Write everything that comes to mind about your audience’s needs, goals, preferences, interests, behaviors, and demographic traits (such as age, gender, income, location, and job titles). Next, pretend you are a member of this audience and write five things you would search online to learn more about accomplishing the goals you outlined. Use these lists and ideas to guide your blog’s messaging, tone, and keywords.
Create a Content Plan From Your Blog Strategy
A content plan is a calendar outlining the topics you’ll cover, when you publish, and what content you’ll create. Use this calendar to align the topics of all your marketing efforts by month or quarter. And overall, remember no matter what type of content you create, keep your target audience and overarching goal in mind.
Include a Call to Action to Reach Your Goals
Finally, when writing your content, remember to include calls-to-action (CTAs) that guide readers to take specific actions. Determine these actions based on your overall blog strategy and goals during the planning stage. While these CTAs may vary based on the type of content you create, they should all move your audience through the customer journey toward purchasing from or working with you! Here are some call-to-action examples:
- Ask your audience to comment on a blog post with a company’s top marketing challenge. (Just like responding to reviews, always respond to blog comments to engage with your audience!)
- Ask the consumer to complete a form to schedule a demo.
- Have viewer enter their information to download a takeaway from the blog.
By engaging with your audience through blogging, you can create a relationship with them that will boost their loyalty and become advocates for your brand. So, if you want to build a successful blog, start by planning your strategy and determining your goals, and then let the content creation begin!
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Marisa Lyon
Marisa is the Finance and Marketing Manager at Innereactive, and we are so grateful to have her. She enjoys helping businesses find the right solution for their marketing needs.