Using a Blog to Serve Strategic Business Goals
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USING A BLOG TO SERVE BUSINESS GOALS: How to “cook up” online assets that work for you. Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014 KM Strategic January 2014 1 A Recipe for Success
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Comprised of overflow content from a presentation on blogging for business associations, this addresses inbound vs. outbound marketing, benefits of blogging, defining quality content, using content to nurture relationships with target audience, and blog strategy to support business goals.
Transcript of Using a Blog to Serve Strategic Business Goals
USING A BLOG TO SERVE BUSINESS GOALS: How to “cook up” online assets that work for you.
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
KM Strategic
January
2014
1
A Recipe for Success
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ITEMS TO DISCUSS www.KirstenMeyer.com
The presentation will be followed by a brief Q&A
02
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Why Blog? The Benefits of Content
Writing a Blog Post: Title, Tone & Technical Considerations
Being Seen: Visibility & Promotion
Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing 01
Blogging and Relationships
Quality Content
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ABOUT KM STRATEGIC www.KirstenMeyer.com
QUALITY CONTENT
BLOGS
DOWNLOADABLE OFFERS
ONSITE TEXT
SOCIAL MEDIA
WHITEPAPERS
GETS RESULTS
BRAND AWARENESS
CUSTOMER LOYALTY
HIGH QUALITY LEADS
WEBSITE TRAFFIC
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
LEAD NURTURING
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
1989: Outbound Marketing
• Tradeshows • Telemarketing • Email SPAM
• Door-to-Door Sales • TV Commercials
• Intrusive • Captive Audience
• Annoying
Awesome Jedi Salesman photo credit:
Brad Montgomery
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2014: Inbound Marketing
• Info on-demand • On user’s terms
• Reviews/recommends + • Must be findable • Must be credible
• Must have info they need • Limited bandwidth
• Customer initiates sale • Quality content key
Wikimedia commons photo credit
60% of sales process now done via online
research before contacting sales rep.
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BLOG
(that’s it for this slide; this is my “charm” segment)
Graphika 7
SECTION 1: WHY BLOG? www.KirstenMeyer.com
1. UNDERSTANDING THE BENEFITS
2. HOW TO EXTRACT THE BENEFITS
WHY BLOG?
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HUBSPOT.COM BLOG STATS www.KirstenMeyer.com
Companies that blog get 55% more web traffic than companies that don’t.
B2C companies get 88% more leads/month than those that don’t; for B2B its 67% more.
Companies that blog convert 70% more than companies that don’t.
Thanks for stats, Hubspot!
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BENEFITS OF BLOGGING www.KirstenMeyer.com
1. ACCOMMODATE PEOPLE’S NEED FOR INFO ON-DEMAND
2. HELP BRAND VISIBILITY
3. ESTABLISH & SUPPORT THOUGHT LEADERSHIP, EXPERTISE, AND TRUST
4. SEO BENEFIT
Visitors
Leads
MQL
SQL
5. CONTENT FEEDS THE SALES FUNNEL
6. LOWER COST PER LEAD FOR INBOUND VS. OUTBOUND MARKETING ($346 VS. $135) (HUBSPOT)
GOAL
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BENEFITS OF BLOGGING www.KirstenMeyer.com
THE GREATER YOUR REPERTOIRE OF ONLINE CONTENT, THE GREATER YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT.
HOW DOES BLOGGING DO ALL THAT?
• EACH POST IS A NEW PAGE OF CONTENT.
• EACH PAGE OF
CONTENT IS A NEW OPPORTUNITY TO BE FOUND.
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BENEFITS OF BLOGGING www.KirstenMeyer.com
You Blog
People See It
People Read It
People Find It
Valuable
People Share
It
People Read More
End Goal End Goals (Examples):
• Subscribe to Blog • Explore site • Visit other pages • Read more blog posts • Download content and leave
email for ongoing messaging/relationship
• Have positive impression of your brand
• Consider using your service • Remember you when they
need your service • Make purchase/ become client
RING OF HOPE
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IT’S ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS www.KirstenMeyer.com
Online Content:
• It’s not about closing.
• It’s about opening doors to new relationships and being seen by the right people at the right time.
• Every connection, view, click, machine & device leads to a person.
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IT’S ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS www.KirstenMeyer.com
Online Content:
• Online relationship-building has been likened to dating.
• Be considerate & respectful of your date (vs. overly-eager, self-absorbed, or awkwardly inappropriate).
• People don’t care about your products and services; they care about themselves (Copyblogger).
ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME
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CONSIDERATIONS www.KirstenMeyer.com
WOO!
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CONSIDERATIONS www.KirstenMeyer.com
• Relationships take time to build.
• Blogging also takes time:
1.5-2 hrs. per blog average on the low end.
• Frequency: successful blogs publish at least 2x/week.
Bottom line: If you don’t make an investment, you won’t get to first base.
• Despite the investment of resources, in terms of ROI, its difficult to beat blogging for value and bang for your buck.
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DEFINING GOALS www.KirstenMeyer.com
• What is the goal? • Who is your audience? • What do they want to know? • What action do you want them to take?
In order to deliver quality content, you must define your target.
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DEFINING QUALITY CONTENT www.KirstenMeyer.com
Quality content is:
-Created with your target audience in mind.
-Interesting enough to make someone want to read it.
-Well written and formatted enough to be read.
-Findable.
-Likeable.
-Useful.
-Relevant.
-Shareable.
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SEMANTIC SEARCH www.KirstenMeyer.com
Google’s Guidelines for Content Creation:
Content is key. Good content- clear, concise, informative – is better than bad content.
Use plain English. Write for real people.
Keep links to a reasonable number. Make your content readable.
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
Good Content
Being Found
Being Clicked
More Perceived
Value
More Time on
Page
Builds Trust
Views Other Pages
Return Visits
Social Shares
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DELIVERING GOOD CONTENT www.KirstenMeyer.com
Quality content increases the likelihood of occurrence at each step towards ranking in organic search results
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BLOG WRITING www.KirstenMeyer.com
PROMOTIONAL POST VS. HELPFUL POST
(That *happens* to be from your business) It’s the difference between an annoying commercial and a strategic product placement in something you’re watching by choice. Except if someone is on
your site, they can leave rather than being forced to sit through a commercial.
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PROMOTIONAL VS. HELPFUL www.KirstenMeyer.com
5 Reasons Why Jones Hardware Beats the Competition:
Hi, I’m Joe from your friendly neighborhood hardware store: Jones Hardware.
Neighborhood stores of any type are exceptional relative to your national chain
retailers (not to “name names” but, ahem, for example: Home Depot & Lowe’s.
Unlike Home Depot, Jones Hardware isn’t trying to be everything to everyone.
Where we excel is service with a smile and custom requests for people we know
by name. And Jones Hardware won’t be beat on prices. This week nails are on sale.
No one but your friends will willingly continue reading this.
3 Reasons to Support Local Businesses
1. Local Character: One-of-a-kind businesses contribute to a community’s
unique character.
2. Jobs & Wages: Locally owned businesses create local jobs and in certain
sectors provide better wages & benefits than chains.
3. Public Benefits & Costs: Local stores require comparatively little
infrastructure & make more efficient use of public services compared to big box
stores.
Examples and pictures include those specific to Jones Hardware (but not only).
The general points made have broad applicability beyond Jones Hardware. Link
to data & other sources for authority. Use author bio to promote biz.
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BLOG CONSTRUCTION www.KirstenMeyer.com
Questions to Ask Before Writing Your Post:
• Who would want to read this post?
• Can I deliver useful, relevant content in support of this title?
• Can I write this post in a way that is meaningful for the reader versus just communicating what I want to say about my business?
• Have others written about this topic before? Can I offer a new spin on it or improve on the available info?
• Does the subject address a need for my target audience?
• Is it worth the investment of time and effort?
• Which format is most conducive to communicating this message (video, graphic, Q&A)?
• Who is best suited to contribute to this article? What resources (on and offline, text and multimedia) can I draw on?
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BLOG TITLE CONSTRUCTION www.KirstenMeyer.com
A GOOD TITLE:
• IS COMPELLING
• USES A KEYWORD
• HAS A SINGLE TOPIC
• CLEARLY EXPRESSES THE TOPIC
• 8 WORDS / 70 CHARACTERS
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BLOG TITLE CONSTRUCTION www.KirstenMeyer.com
Examples of Common Title Styles:
• How to (or How NOT to)
• Controversial- Why Apple Will Implode by 2015
• Urgent- Don’t Miss Friday’s Deadline for…
• Trendy- (To Hell in a Handbasket: Intellectual Property Rights & the Hell’s Angels)
• Use Numbers (10 FAQs About XYZ Answered)
• Newsworthy
• The Essential Guide to…
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BLOG FORMAT www.KirstenMeyer.com
FORMAT FOR CONSUMPTION
• Bullets
• Length 400-1000 words
• Images
• Headline
• Font types
• Whitespace
• Subheaders
• Numbers
• Signature blurb
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BLOG TONE www.KirstenMeyer.com
TONE AND STYLE
• Inject personality- you are a person writing for other people.
• It may be “casual Friday” professional, but it’s still professional.
• Consider hijacking a style guide for reference and making it your own. (Thanks, Hubspot!)
Download Hubspot’s.pdf guide
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SECTION 4: BEING SEEN www.KirstenMeyer.com
VISIBILITY & PROMOTION
1. KEYWORDS & META DATA 2. LINKS 3. SOCIAL MEDIA 4. EMAIL 5. PROMOTE SUBSCRIPTIONS 6. GOOGLE AUTHORSHIP
GET YOUR BLOG SEEN:
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BLOG PROMOTION www.KirstenMeyer.com
WHAT DO YOU MEAN, ‘META DATA’?
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KEY POINTS www.KirstenMeyer.com
RECAP of KEY POINTS
Use business goals of site to inform your blog strategy.
Create quality content for your target audience, and create it as often as possible.
Constantly promote and share your blogs and those of others. Read others’ blogs, use
comments & participate in the conversation.
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KM Strategic
2014
THANK YOU ! FOR COMING Get in touch by phone, email, or online at:
(+1) 714.454.6647
www.KirstenMeyer.com
January
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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