An Intro to B2B Blogging

Wendy K. EmersonSocial Media & Marketing Manager

SIGMA Marketing Group

@SocialPMChick

3 Take-Aways from Today

• Why you should have a blog.

• What you should blog about.

• How to promote your blog.

What does she know anyway?

• Small Business B2B Blogs

• Currently Manage Award Winning B2B Blog for Marketing Services Firm in Rochester, NY

What is a Blog?

Frequently updated web property focused on a particular topic or theme.

Why Blog?

- Raise brand awareness- You’re not Pepsi or Nike

- Build thought leadership about a topic- You know how to solve a problem

- Increase web traffic to company website- Blogs can enhance your web SEO

- Reach new audiences- Go beyond your traditional marketing channels

Expanded Network

Increases in - Blog Readership & Comments- Website Traffic from Social- Twitter Following- Facebook “Likes” and Interactions- Lead Capture via online form- Email Opt-Ins- Event Attendance

SALES

New Evangelists6

Viral Brand Evangelism

B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than those who do not.

Source: Hubspot, State of Inbound Marketing Lead Generation Report, 2010Image Credit: Renjith Krishnan

How do I start a blog?

Start Thinking in Terms of Search

• How do your customers currently search?– List out those key words or phrases.

• Who is buying your product or service?– What vertical markets do you serve?

• What problems do your products solve?– How might someone search for the solution?

Base Line SEO Keywords

Then think about your readers.

Who are they?

What are my readers looking for?• What Vertical Markets do you serve?– Write unique content for each market

• Who is buying your product or service?– Write content for each product or service

• What are the problems that your product or service will solve, and for who?– Answer questions that provide value about your product or

service• What are their pain points?– How will your product or service make life easier for the

customer?

Consider Different Reader Types

• User Buyer– How will this product or solution make my life

easier or better?

• Financial Buyer– How will this product or solution make money?– What is the ROI?

Speak to BOTH!

Organize your content.

• Create Topic Categories– By Vertical Marketing– By Product or Service Offering Type– By Top Search Phrases– By Functional Group in your

Organization

Add a layer of depth to what your company website already provides in content:• Expand on FAQs and Glossaries.• Success Stories.• Explore common problems.• Possible uses for your product that your readers

may not have considered.• Industry news and trends.• How-To information

I’ve got categories and keywords – NOW WHAT?

Leverage other people’s content.

Review a white paper or report.

Pull out 4 or 5 things that stuck out to you and write about those.

Videos / Photos / Presentations

YouTube Videos

SlideShare Decks

Photo Gallerys

Lists make great content!

• 10 Trends in ______________• 5 Ways to improve ___________• 6 Things to avoid when _________• 10 most popular articles for _________• 8 Most read posts on _____________• 12 Facts about ____________

Great fillers when low on content…

Yes, your blog is a sales tool, but…

Your blog should nurture and feed… not sell.

How Often Do I Publish?

Once a week?

Once a month?

Every Day?

Every Leap Year?

Most Posts = More Traffic

Source: HubSpot

There is a direct correlation between how often you publish to your blog, and how much traffic your blog generates.

More Traffic = More Leads

Source: HubSpot

Companies who blogged more than 5 times per month consistently grew volume of leads.

Companies that blogged 5 times per week – gained on average 4 times more leads.

The Search Factor

Every blog post is a possible landing page into your website.

Link to your website

Link related keywords in your posts right back to your website.

Make it easy to share.

Enable your readers to:• Tweet it!• Like it!• Share it!

Once You’ve Published

Congrats! You’ve got a blog with content. Now share it with the world!– Tweet It– Post it on Facebook– Submit to sites like StumbleUpon, DIGG, Delicious– Share it in LinkedIn Groups

Helpful Tip…

Don’t stop growing your networks – the bigger your network, the further your content will reach!– Engage people on Twitter – Comment on other related blogs– Participate in LinkedIn discussions– Engage fans on Facebook

Blog Aggregators / Syndication

Pay Attention to Analytics

Pay Attention to Analytics

What if I get stuck for content?

iGoogle Blog Feed

Twitter Stream

Facebook News Feed

Refresh Old Content

There is ALWAYS something to write about…

Free Blog Resources

Blog Platforms• WordPress• Blogger (Google)• TypePad• Tumblr Measurement

• Google Analytics• Post Rank• Bit.ly

Remember…

If you are not talking about it…

…chances are your competition is!

Recap

• Why you might want to blog• Who are you blogging for• What are you blogging about• How often you might want to blog• What you do with your published blog• How will you measure it?• How can you keep it going…