Why Blogging Should Be Part of Your Marketing Plan

Marketing plans come in all shapes and sizes. The right marketing plan for your business depends on many different factors. But one thing all businesses have in common is that they can benefit a great deal from blogging.

Blogging is a tactic used in content marketing. When you write a blog, you publish a steady stream of fresh content. This content draws traffic to your site and earns new readers, while also building a relationship with the readers you have.

When you write a blog, you publish a steady stream of fresh content which draws traffic to your site and earns new readers Click To Tweet

 

Blogging Is Simple but Effective

Many small businesses don’t want to blog because it’s ‘writing’ and you’re not a ‘writer.’ But blogging doesn’t need to be difficult and can be extremely simple. This is why it makes a perfect element in an online marketing plan.

Blog posts can be as short as 300 words or even less. They can include videos and images. Each post can cover one simple topic and the writing doesn’t have to be magazine-grade. Write in a conversational tone as if you’re talking to a friend and make sure to proofread so that there aren’t any grammar or spelling mistakes.

If you don’t like writing or are worried about spelling and grammar, you could always record a podcast and publish that.  Watch this space…. I will get round to doing one!

If you don't like writing, worried about spelling and grammar, record and publish a podcast or video Click To Tweet

If you don’t like writing, worried about spelling and grammar, record and publish a podcast or video

The way to blog headache-free is to set aside a little time each week to write and post. Carve out an hour or so to write something and post it. If you have a team member who can write well, then delegate the task to them.

 

How to Get Ideas

Good ideas for blogs

The other trouble many people have when they start blogging is where to get ideas. Here are some simple places to get ideas for your blog posts:

  • Answer questions customers often ask
  • Teach readers how to do something simple step by step
  • Discuss news, current events or hot topics on other blogs
  • Answer questions from forums, Q&A sites, social media or blog comments
  • Start by looking at popular keywords and write blog posts around them.

Keep an idea file. Spend some time brainstorming topics at first and then add to it whenever you get an idea. Whenever you need an idea, refer to this file and start writing. A tool I find really helpful for information research is Evernote.  It lets you clip articles from the web into your own notebook, tag them with a category relevant to you and then access them later.

 

Working a Blog into Your Marketing Plan

Decide what topics your blog will cover and at what frequency you’ll write and post. Ideally, work out an editorial calendar of your content as part of your Marketing Plan.  If you use a plugin like WordPress Editorial Calendar this will help you by providing a quick visual reference of your schedule.

If you add a blog to your website, you’ll boost your site’s SEO and give visitors more to do there. You can also use your blog’s analytics and its reader comments to learn more about your target market and its tastes. This, of course, will give you more ideas for blogs so the process becomes a virtuous circle!

Blogging Virtuous CircleThe Virtuous Circle of Blogging

Why not let me know in the comments below if you’ve found a blogging useful part of your marketing plan or please add any techniques you use to generate blog ideas?

Kim

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This
Skip to content