The secret of killer B2B Marketing Blogs B L

Transcription

1 The secret of killer B2B Marketing Blogs B L O GS

2 01 The secret of killer B2B Marketing Blogs By Lisa Wheeler Lisa Wheeler is a B2B marketing communications specialist and leader of the social media team at Cognition Coaching & Development. Follow Cognition She is responsible for creating various content for all marketing channels, including ebooks and social media campaigns. Lisa is also a prolific marketing blogger at Cognition Coaching & Development and has written for intouchcrm and Oxford Professional Consulting among many others.

3 02 Cognition is an inbound marketing agency that gives you all the tools you need to develop a marketing approach for your business. What is inbound marketing? Inbound marketing relies on earning people s interest, instead of buying it, making yourself easy to be found and drawing customers to you. Some of our most effective inbound marketing strategies include: Search marketing Targeted keywords, web optimisation, keyword rich content. CRM Integrate your CRM for opportunity management and closed loop marketing. Content marketing ebooks, whitepapers, mindmaps, infographics, share your expertise. Business blogging 55% more leads for companies that blog, 434% more webpages to be found. Lead nurturing List segmentation, educational content, lead scoring. Social media Build a following, share your blog posts and engage your audience. To see how inbound marketing can change your business marketing, book a free Marketing Assessment today: Book your Marketing Assessment

4 Contents Introduction 04 Chapter 1: 9 big benefits of B2B blogging 05 Chapter 2: How to build the perfect blog post 09 Chapter 3: How to place a guest blog post 13 Chapter 4: Promoting your blog 16 Chapter 5: How blogging ultimately leads to sales 18 Chapter 6: How to measure your blog 20 Chapter 7: B2B blogging best practice standards 22 Conclusion 26 03

5 55% of B2B buyers turn to blogs for information Introduction Did you know that business blogs are a top-ranked source of information in the B2B world? They allow you to capture the attention of your stakeholders and provide an incredible opportunity for them to interact with you and your brand in a very unique way and more towards soft selling. If you re more of a numbers person, then check this out. It s a fact that 55% of B2B buyers turn to blogs for information and 75% of executives want businesses to ease off the hard sell. So if you re still wondering why your business should care about B2B business blogging, then here are some additional reasons. Blogging is a critical piece of the inbound marketing methodology, which directly correlates to your company s sales and marketing efforts. This translates into building better business results. So it only makes sense to produce and share compelling content through B2B blogging to keep buyers engaged over the course of a lengthy sales cycle and focus on long-term ROI. This ebook will guide you stepby-step through the blogging fundamentals showing you top tips and tricks and do s and don t so you can start reaping the benefits of B2B blogging to maximise ROI results. 04

6 9 big benefits of B2B blogging 05

7 Improve search results. Search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo reward sites that contain fresh, relevant content. By adding captivating content like a blog to your website, you are increasing your SEO results and ability to be found online. Understanding the larger picture of why you should care about blogging is the first step in realising why it should be incorporated into your inbound marketing strategy and treated as a long-term marketing asset. The following highlights the big benefits of B2B blogging: Differentiate your brand. Standing out from the rest is key! Blogging provides a wonderful opportunity to stand out in your niche and your company as an industry expert. Extend customer relationships. In a world that s constantly on-the-go, you might not be able to visit customers as frequently as you d like. A blog is an excellent way to provide a constant means of communication to remind your subscribers and customers of your products and services and the value you have to them. For those that don t read your blog, re-purpose the blog content in customer newsletters and sales materials.

8 4 6 Drive sales. As people are becoming more resistant to the traditional means of the hard sell approach, think of your blog as prime real estate for soft selling. For instance you can advertise products or services in your blog s side bar. You can also blog about how to use your product in new or different ways, or even feature customer success stories. Generate leads. Featuring opt-in content on your blog is a fantastic way to turn readers into prospects. From there, you can nurture your leads down a path towards a purchase. Test ideas and get feedback. Blogs provide a great opportunity to receive inexpensive and honest business advice from your subscribers to help solve problems and create new ideas leading to new products or service lines. It s a win-win situation. Get media coverage. Because blogging positions you as a thought leader, it offers the potential for reporters and media outlets to turn to you as a source for articles and stories. This rich content can generate massive reach for your brand

9 8 Communicate during a crisis. Blogging acts as a wonderful tool for crisis management to your employees, subscribers, key stakeholders and even the press as company responses on blogs are often quoted by mainstream news sources. 9 Build community. Although building an engaged community through a business blog can be extremely difficult, it is possible. If done correctly, your blog can become a conversation hub for your industry. 08

10 How to build the perfect blog post 09

11 Now that you have a better understanding in the business value of blogging, what do you write about? Creating that perfect post involves exploring the following key areas. First off, there are several questions you need to ask yourself first, like: Do we have the right culture? Blogging is an engaging, contentrich effort that requires the willingness to share valuable information and respond to feedback and criticism. If it isn t fostered and nurtured in the right environment, it will probably fail. Here are some warning signs that you don t have the right culture in place to support a sustainable blogging strategy: 1. Unsupportive executive management 2. Ongoing approval hurdles 3. Lobbying efforts against blogging from the outset Do we have the resources we need? Blogging can take a considerable amount of time, so you need to take a close look at the resources you ll need to get the job done. Here are some things to keep in mind Know who will be responsible for content, planning, handing comments and community 2. Establish how frequently you will be posting fresh content 3. Understand the approval process 4. Know how you will promote your blog (i.e. via , social sites or search)

12 And most importantly, what do we want to achieve? Like any marketing initiative, you need to have goals in place to drive the success of your efforts. For example, are you looking to build brand awareness, generating leads, improving conversions or increasing sales? It s critical to answer these questions before you get started so you know how blogging will fit into your overall marketing strategy and how to measure the success of your efforts. The next thing to explore is what should you write about. Staying on top, requires a good mix of different types of post and content, such as customer howto s, industry trends and events, commentary on the market, customer success stories and company news. 11 Where to look for fresh content is also key. Looking towards existing content, questions from your customers, forums, comments or internal communications are great sources of blog inspiration. Additionally some excellent blogging resources include WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr and Google Blog Search.

13 The final piece to building the perfect blog is the layout of the blog itself. Here s the anatomy of a perfect blog post. 1. Create an eye-catching headline. First impressions are key! This is the first thing your readers see when it pops up in search results, their inbox, on social and their RSS feeds. It needs to be something that speaks to them like an offer for example. 2. Include illustrative photos and video. What s that expression: A picture is worth a thousand words. The same applies to blog campaigns. To grab and keep your readers engaged, provide visual elements like video or photos that tie in and really enhance your message. Sometimes you need to spend a little to get more. So set aside a small budget for stock photography and explore popular sites like istock or veer for your images or add some fun Instagram flair Keep it short. Most readers skim and scan content fairly quickly because they re constantly pressed for time. Keep your posts short and to the point. 600 words or less is a good measure. Bullet points and subheadings help organise the post in a business-friendly manner. 4. Make it shareable. Spreading the word is key! Amplify your content by including social sharing and buttons. This is a sure way for readers to share your stuff and expand the reach of your content. Plus, widgets like tweet counts and Facebooks likes provide social validation.

14 How to place a guest blog post 13

15 Now that you ve created your perfect post, how do you get your brand s message across? Guest blogging gets your brand, thought leaders and voice in front of new communities and prospects. From a B2B perspective, it provides one of the most valuable outcomes of a blogging strategy. Many people are unsure how to approach an influential blogger though. To help make that a much less daunting task, here are 6 helpful tactics for improving guest blog article placement. Become known in the community. Establishing a relationship within the community is key for improving guest blogging. This can be achieved by reading and commenting on articles, sharing the blog s content socially and interacting with the blog community members before ever approaching the topic of guest posting. So spend at least a month reading and commenting on articles to start building a foundation. Going in blind with no established relationship is a sure way of getting your request ignored. 2 1 Think thought leadership, not SEO. Thinking that guest blogging is a great strategy to accumulate SEO-friendly links will surely backfire. Instead, learn what makes this community unique and the types of articles that perform well and model your approach after that. An inbound link is not the reason to make your request, it s simply a secondary benefit. 14

16 3 5 Do your homework. Every blog or publication has a unique set of guidelines for guest contributors. It s your job to find them, understand them and make your pitch conform to them. And don t forget to be concise and thorough. Make the job of approving your request a simple one by providing a title and abstract for your article, links to other guest blog posts at reputable, known blogs and your social profile and contact information. Kill the form . Once you become known in the community, a form is not needed. In fact, it will likely be deleted before the reader gets to the next sentence. You ll stand out because of your existing relationship and previous contributions. Create best effort, quality content. Devote the appropriate amount of time to produce a quality piece and remember the intent is to create a piece that benefits the community, not your company. Optimise your article for the community. Make sure the article fits in terms of style, length and topic. Remember, there is as much value in getting the post shared by the community as there is in getting the article published. Also, study the blog s most successful articles from a social sharing standpoint and work those elements into your article to mimic their success

17 Promoting your blog 16

18 In addition to using guest blogging, there are several ways in which you can gain exposure for your blog. Social media sharing. As previously mentioned, this is definitely an essential part for the promotion of your content. Just about every blog now has social sharing buttons to make it as easy as possible for visitors to share your content. CTA s. Incorporate well-crafted call-to-action s on different pages of your website, such as your home page and About Us company page. Events & presentations. If you are at an event and giving a presentation on a specific topic, you can refer the audience to your blog for further information. A QR code is a great means to allow people to quickly and easily subscribe to your blog. signatures. More than just an electronic business card, signatures can drive a surprisingly high amount of traffic to a destination of interest, including a blog. So whenever you send an , be sure to link it to your blog. 17 Run a contest. Attract more attention to your blog by running a contest. For example, come up with an entry system that requires other bloggers to link back to you. You can either have them publish a post on their blog, retweet a post from your blog, or like your Facebook fan page in order to be eligible. Blog directories. These can help you legally get more traffic and help with ranking as well because it creates inbound links to your blog. Create a video. Telling your blog s story is a great way to gain viewership. After creating your video, publish the video on YouTube and allow a different audience to find it. You can also create a controversial or funny video that links to the blog.

19 How blogging ultimately leads to sales 18

20 Now that you have a better understanding on how to build and promote your blog, how does it lead to sales? Marketing s ultimate goal is to turn visitors into leads and ultimately sales, here s how blogging helps achieve this objective. Keyword search. These are the words that your customers are using to find you. Look at Google Analytics to find common words people are using to find your company and products and make sure these phrases match your current content subject matter. Remember to also hunt for competitor keywords too. Be sure to make this a continuous and dynamic process for better results. Buying cycle and keyword search. Understanding the buying cycle and the keywords used at various points in that cycle helps customers find useful content based on where they are in that cycle. Keywords and content. Be methodical about creating keyword-laden content and make sure that your content writers understand the basics of SEO and how to leverage it throughout the material. Remember to use the keywords your customers use, not internal buzzwords. 19 Integrated social media strategy. Consider your blog as just one piece of an information ecosystem constantly pointing sales leads to your products and services. Your blog posts can for example feed Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook updates. YouTube videos and SlideShare decks can also be featured on your blog. All should eventually point back to a call-to-action on your website. Create killer offers. Blogs create a wonderful opportunity to build and spread your brand identity. You can develop ebooks, white papers, case studies, webinars, exclusive videos and other free content that your audience can receive by opting-in to your list can easily be promoted on your blog with ads, calls-toaction or links in your post. And, once they opt-in, you now have a warm lead that you can nurture toward a sale.

21 How to measure your blog 20

22 You must conduct an ongoing trend analysis of several key metrics like traffic, leads and customers. Here are some helpful metrics to keep in mind of how your business blogging is going and if you should keep as a part of your inbound marketing strategy. As a marketer, one of the most important things to ask yourself is: How did your efforts do? Blogging marketing performance is no exception. Measuring visitors Measuring leads Subscribers count Track inbound links Watch social media shares 21

23 B2B blogging best practice standards 22

24 Understanding the following do s and don ts best practice standards for blogging provides a wonderful check and balance system for optimising results. Add value. Simply put, good blogs know how to add value to their readers. This is done through personal and not promotional content. Blogs that focus on solving problems, answering questions and offering useful information that helps your subscribers make money, save money, make their jobs easier or add something enhancing the quality of their lives will establish why you re special to them. 23 Entertain. As important is it is for a communication material to be informative, it also needs to be entertaining to stay atop your reader s mind. By mixing up your content with videos, photos, interviews or reviews it helps cut out the noisy chaos which continues to rise on social sites. Be original. Put your own personal touch and write posts that only your company can write about.

25 Tell stories. Stories sell. Whether you re sharing stories about your customers, employees or advocates, it offers a great way for people to connect with you and your brand. Write well. It goes without saying but people will spend more time with you if they enjoy your writing. As a good rule of thumb, take the time to read your post aloud-it s a great way to ensure it has a natural, conversational tone. Promote your posts. There are very tactful and non-tacky sales type ways to promote your articles. Some of these ways include ing it to customers or prospects, sharing it on social networks and posting it on a forum or group relevant to your topic. By sharing your content, you ll increase its success. 24 Oversell. By focusing on solving your audience s problems and not promoting yourself via a sales blog you will keep readers from running in the other direction. If you re savvy with using this as a soft selling channel the sales will come. Use corporate speak. People like to read material by people. In other words, your blog shouldn t sound like it came from the legal department filled with jargon and mumbo jumbo. Keep it simple.

26 Ignore negative comments. What s that expression: Turn lemons into lemonade. Negative feedback presents an excellent opportunity to turn a critic into an advocate. By ignoring or even worse deleting negative comments, you re adding fuel to the fire of a disgruntled subscriber. People as a general rule are more apt to tell everyone they know if they have received less than satisfactory service with your company. A prompt and thoughtful response to a critic is a great way to avoid this and create an advocate. Forget to measure. You can only manage what you measure. In other words, track your efforts and tie them back to your overall goals. That s the only way you can determine if your blog is successful. 25 Fail to plan. A calendar is key! This helps your blog stay on track by plotting out the topics and dates you will post new articles. Without planning, your blog may quickly gather cobwebs. Post infrequently. If you only blog once or twice a quarter, it will be hard to sustain your readers attention. At the very least, you should post a new article every month and, preferably, once a week. This is why planning is so important.

27 26 Conclusion B2B blogging offers an excellent way to demonstrate you as a thought leader, building trust over time through smart content and making a lasting impression on your audience. After reading this ebook, you should hopefully be able to successfully map out a solid strategy towards business blogging and making it an effective part of your permanent inbound marketing strategy for long-term results. For more on blogging for better business results please visit Book your Marketing Assessment to download our handy infographic

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