Blogs are an important part of your business. But when you go to launch, you need to take it seriously.
You may think the best thing to do is to just “go for it,” but before you do that, take some time to consider the following:
Why are you writing a blog?
The first thing you need to determine is the purpose of your blog. What do you have to say, and why is it important? People are flooded with content all the time, and you need to come up with a good reason why they should read what you write. But this should match-up with the overall goal of your company. It doesn’t need to be exactly the same, but there should be a connection.
For example, if you sell sports apparel, your blog could be dedicated to providing people with tips on how to get in shape and feel better about themselves. This will allow you to educate and inform while also providing people with a reason for why they should buy from you.
Who’s your audience?
Next to your blog’s purpose, the most important thing you need to figure out is who you’re trying to reach. A good way to do this is to define your buyer persona. This is a description of a fictional person who could very well be one of your customers or readers. Think about how they live, what they like, what they don’t like, and how you could help them. This will allow you come up with content that’s relevant and useful, which will help you form a better connection with your readers.
What are your goals?
Next, you need to figure out what your goals are. The acronym “SMART” is very common in the world of marketing. Having SMART goals means they are: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.
An example of a SMART goal is, “We want our blog to boost newsletter subscribers by 20 percent in a six-month period.”
Of course, whether or not this is attainable or relevant depends on where you are now, but the point is to set goals that outline the very specific things you’re trying to achieve with your blog.
What’s already been done?
To have a successful blog, you need to be unique. And to do this, you need to spend some time looking up what people are already saying about the topics most relevant to you. Read up on what’s out there, and then work to find an angle that hasn’t been explored before so that the content you create can be truly original, something that will help it stand out.
Who’s going to run the blog?
Running a good blog is a full-time job. You need to brainstorm ideas, create content, add images, and market it, not to mention doing some outreach so that you can build up links. Put together a team that understands the process, give them some guidelines, and then let them run with it.
When you first start out, there will be lots of trial and error, but if you ask yourself and answer these questions first, then you’re well on your way to developing a winning strategy.