Ericka Lewis
Most of you understand the importance of the company blog in your inbound marketing toolbox. You’ve prepared an editorial calendar, and routinely post content to your blog. Then you wait. And wait.
At some point, you begin to wonder – is this thing on? Is it working?
The answer? Maybe.
The primary objective of your company’s blog marketing strategy is engagement. Engaging your audience is not only getting them to consider what you’ve just written, but also getting them to share it with others.
This shift in objectives from merely writing a blog to writing content with the solid blog marketing strategy of engaging readers, can transform your ho-hum company blog into one with serious pull.
We’ve broken down six tips for an ideal blog marketing strategy with a primary goal of getting people to share your blog content:
1. Write Relevant – and Search-Friendly – Content.
This seems obvious, but when scanning the blogs of many small businesses, you’ll find it’s definitely not. Your content should be one of a few things:
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Helpful – Does your blog topic teach something new? Does it solve a problem? Does it offer tools and resources to help your target audience achieve a goal?
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Meaningful – Does your blog topic give your target audience something to consider? Does your blog content offer a new perspective on an old or new subject?
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Enlightening – Does your blog topic give readers that “Ah Ha!” moment we all love?
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Conversational - Many companies view their blog as just one more thing to check off from their social media strategy. Instead of looking at it as a task, look at it as an opportunity to start a conversation. Again, blogging and content marketing is about engagement. Triggering a response to what you’ve written, either by comments or sharing, is your goal. Ask questions throughout your post, as well as in the conclusion.
2. Write a Remarkable – and Search-Friendly – Headline.
When scanning other blogs, you’ll often find great resources and thoughts buried under boring headlines with little search value. Invest some time in crafting your headlines. The more engaging your headline is, the more readers and shares you can achieve.
If your readers can’t find it, they probably won’t read it. Improve your chances of ranking by incorporating a target search phrase into your headline.
3. Make Sharing Easy, Then Ask People to Share.
Social share buttons are a hot debate in social media marketing circles - do people use them to share content, or do people still primarily use cut-and-paste?
The best advice seems to be somewhere in the middle. Offer up the major network buttons (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+), then analyze your content to determine anywhere else it would best be shared, and include those. For example, if you run an interior design or home furnishings firm, you would certainly want to include a Pinterest button.
4. Use Amazing Images.
Your blog marketing strategy (and budget) should include finding and using great images. People are incredibly visual, so a relevant, attractive image will often draw a reader to the screen when text-alone would not. Make your posts pop, and it will more than likely be read. If it’s read, it’s more likely to be shared.
5. Get Out There and Mingle.
This one seems easy, right? The good news? It is. The first step in successful social media marketing and encouraging people to share your content is establishing a social presence yourself. Get out and mingle. Weigh in on other topics and share other people’s content.
Once you’ve done this for awhile, share your own content in LinkedIn Groups or Google+ Communities. You’ll be surprised how receptive people who know you through social channels can be.
6. Ask.
This seems like a no-brainer, but by simply asking people to share, your shares will increase.
Not sure how to put it? Try something fun like this, “Caught yourself reading all the way till the end? Why not share with a friend.” If you’d rather be buttoned up and serious about it, try this, “Share this post with a colleague and get their take on things.”
By creating thought-provoking blog posts that are relevant to your audience, you will increase the likelihood of your content being shared. Your blog is the essential anchor of all of your marketing strategies, so investing time and resources into it is critical to your overall marketing success.
Have a good way to encourage sharing of your blog content? Tell us about it below.
P.S. Like what you read? Please share it with your network so we can get their thoughts!
Image Credits: mkhm, gallant_charles