Want to attract more sales for your business? Invest time and energy into writing a business blog.
But I don’t know what to blog about.
Business owners, are you not sure how to write a business blog? Follow these four keys that will attract visitors, convert leads, and result in more sales for your business using your blog.
1. Blog about what you know.
When your customers are purchasing your products or services, they rely on your expertise and knowledge in your field to make the best purchases for their homes or businesses. Showcase your company’s credibility through crafting content that:
- Gives expert advice in your field
- Features customer testimonials or case studies
- Answers some of your customers’ commonly asked questions
And, most importantly,
- Is new, original, and offers fresh insight to your industry.
How do I know what to write on my business blog?
2. Listen to your customers.
- Ask for reviews, feedback, and testimonials.
- Write to solve your customers’ problems and to highlight success stories and favorite products.
- Keep an eye on Google Trend and Twitter to keep up with the issues in your industry.
- Participate in the social media conversation through sharing blog posts on Twitter, Google+, and Facebook and sharing photos of popular products or completed jobs on Pinterest, Flickr, or Instagram.
- Pay attention to the online conversation and blog about the topics your online audience is the most interested in.
That sounds like a lot of work.
Why are you writing a business blog in the first place? To attract visitors, convert visitors into leads, and to convert leads into sales. In order to get the most return for your investment, don’t try to do it all by yourself; invest in a Sales & Marketing mastermind: that is, hire a sales mastermind who is also a mastermind marketing whiz. In other words, hire an SEO company with a track record of increasing lead traffic and generating sales for businesses
I’ll save money and write the blog myself in my spare time. Or hire an intern to write the posts and manage social media.
Okay, but …
3. Don’t forget about SEO.
What is SEO?
SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of increasing the likelihood that your website will be found by search engines when prospective customers search by the keywords related to your business blog.
I don’t know how to create content for my website that will increase my search engine ranking.
That’s what SEO companies are for. Search engine optimization firms know how to make money blogging. They know how to attract website visitors and how to write content that generates leads. Search engine optimization consultants research the top keywords in your industry and monitor your website and blog analytics to determine which keywords are generating the most visitors to your website.
If you are not monitoring the effectiveness of your blogging, how do you know if it is actively generating income for your business? Many blogs don’t generate interest or income. They have no comments, no shares, and serve no good purpose. Attracting leads—well, that’s why we blog. Good content writers incorporate a lead magnet and a call to action in every blog and perform A/B testing to find out if lead magnet A performs better than lead magnet B or call to action A performs better than call to action B.
Hold on, what is a lead magnet?
A lead magnet is a freebie or an ethical bribe that convinces leads to give out their contact information. For example, a company may offer a 30 day software trial in exchange for a potential customer logging in and entering his or her name and email address and opting in to an email newsletter campaign. The most effective leads magnets have calls to action that provoke an immediate response. Here’s a good example: “Join millions who save on car insurance, get your free quote today.” If you hire a SEO company you will have access to skilled content writers who can assist you in developing strong content with lead magnets that will drive more sales to your business.
Create blog content that
- Shows off the expertise / knowledge / credibility of your brand
- Is customer-centered—it’s a popular topic in social media circles, for example.
- Includes an irresistible lead magnet and a convincing call to action
- Is optimized to please both computer and human audiences—the on page code utilizes keyword tags in all the right places and the content is so good that it is shared via other websites and social media.
How do I know if my blog is being shared?
SEO experts invest in marketing automation software like Hubspot that has all sorts of built in goodies like inbound link tracking and analytics programs that keep track of when your content is shared by your website and social media visitors.
This brings us to number four:
4. Use marketing automation tools to increase the effectiveness of your blogging campaign.
Hubspot features the following automated marketing solutions that will streamline your marketing campaign, like:
- A built-in blogging tool that gives SEO tips regarding how to improve on page SEO
- An automated marketing platform that allows you to manage multiple social media pages, blog posts and automated email marketing campaigns all from one platform
- A/B testing capabilities to monitor the effectiveness of different blogging campaigns in order to increase your website and social media marketing ROI, or return of investment
- Analytics tools for measuring social media ROI and blogging ROI
Blog like a professional: use marketing automation software to deliver your customer-centric, search engine optimized content to your target audience.
Content marketing is the new trend in the business world. Customers are searching for specific products via search engines and buying online, often without any human interaction. Blog posting is a great way to show off a businesses’ expertise and entice customers to learn more about a company or organization.
How do you appeal to your customers in the digital age?
Create blog content that stands out. Great content:
- Offers an insightful, original perspective.
- Contains useful and helpful information.
- Isn’t just about selling; it’s about meeting the customer’s needs.
How to Write a Business Blog that Converts
You’ve done the research. Blog posting is a great way to attract leads and gain sales for businesses. Not sure how to write a business blog? Well, follow these steps in order to make sure that your blog posts are increasing your marketing ROI, or return of investment.
1. Make sure your blog posts are search engine optimized.
Your blog posts won’t attract customers if your customers can’t find you on the web. Research the top keywords that are important to your business and create blog posts about those keywords. Blogs are a great way to increase your website’s visibility on the web. And more visibility equals more customers.
2. Write blog posts with a customer avatar in mind.
A customer avatar is another word for your ideal customer. Craft blog posts specifically for your ideal customer. For example, if your ideal customer is an accountant specializing in investments, create posts about the latest news and events about the stock market. Find out what your ideal customer is interested in and then write about it.
3. Use blog posts to market your products and services.
A blog post should not be a direct sales piece. Instead, write about new products or services in order to educate the customer and provide him or her with new information. Write about the products in an engaging way: showcase the benefits by providing the customer with real life examples and specific product descriptions. Avoid copyrighting jargon and let the products sell themselves.
To increase your blogging and other conversion skills, request your Sales & Marketing Automation Assessment, fill out the form to your right. We will take an indepth look into your current state of sales and marketing automation and give you a roadmap of strategies to implement into your team, training, technology, and tactics!
How To Write A Content Marketing Blog That Will Convert
You’ve often heard that “content is king” when it comes to online websites and blogs. And while that may be true, one thing is certain: content is not enough when you’re looking to improve your business’ bottom line. When you write a blog, presentation is also a key element. It is important to learn the process of writing a business content marketing blog that will get you the results you’re looking for.
The Headline One of the first things you’ll need to do is to capture the attention of your readers with an effective headline. In most cases, the title of your article should be enough to peak the interest of the reader, so make sure to choose a title that is captivating enough to catch the eye of your reader. The words in the title are the most important element of your blog. If they are not effective, the odds of your blog getting read are slim to none, and that means no conversion for you.
Tips for effective headlines include effective use of adjectives and numbers like “12 secrets” or a “rousing success.” You can also implement question words like who, what, when, where, and why to draw them in. Introduction If you already know how to write a business blog, then you understand that the introduction should immediately address the readers’ curiosity. It should state clearly what your readers will learn if they continue on and what they will gain from it. If your intro doesn’t cut it, all the work you did in preparing your headline will be lost. Scannable When it comes to the main body, you want to have your information in a concise format. According to one study, most people only read 28% of the words on a page, so if your blog is not scannable, much of your information will not get through. To create an effective blog, use lists and bullet points, bold your main ideas, and make good use of sub-headings.
At http://enfusen.wpengine.com/, we feel that an effective business blog is an artfully written piece of information that will motivate readers to take the needed steps without them realizing it.
Want to learn how to write business blog sites that convert? Better yet, it attract visitors and converts them into qualified leads? Follow these tips to turn your business blog into your best salesman.
Creating Effective Business Blog Sites for Your Organization
1. Publish a large number of quality posts to increase your visibility on the web.
The best telemarketers make the most calls. Sure, these sales people gain qualified leads because they are knowledgeable, warm, friendly, and just have a knack for building trust with strangers. Yet even the most successful and charming telemarketer has to make hundreds of calls to get a handful of qualified leads.
Just like telemarketers who have to make a high number of quality calls, internet marketers need to make a lot of quality blog posts in order to become more visible on the web. Sites ranked highly by Google are updated often. And business blog sites are a great way to ensure that your website is frequently updated with high quality, search worthy information.
If you don’t blog often enough, it’s unlikely that potential customers will find you. If you don’t write quality material, visitors won’t come back to read more. Publish relevant, engaging material often to attract more visitors and convert more sales for your business.
2. Use your business blog sites to actively engage your potential customer base.
Imagine a telemarketer reading a script. They don’t connect with the caller. They hardly allow the customer to say a word. If the customer talks and voices their questions and objections, the script reader ignores them and continues on with the script.
Needless to say, this telemarketer isn’t going to be very successful. To be a successful salesman, it’s important to actively engage with a potential lead. Show that you care. Take the time to listen. The sales call isn’t supposed to be all about the telemarketer, it’s supposed to be all about the customer. The customers want to know how the telemarketer’s business is going to meet their needs.
When you blog, don’t talk to a brick wall. Expect people to talk back. Expect people to comment, to share the blog post, to tweet about it. Say something worth saying. Don’t just spit out a sales script. Highlight new research. Share an insider business tip that made you more money. Talk about something so interesting, exciting and relevant that your readers will want to comment in order to talk to you further about your ideas.
3. Start the conversation by sharing your blog posts on social media.
Don’t forget to market your blog post. Share your blog posts on social media. Use advertising like sponsored social media posts to increase your blog readership and to attract more visitors to your website. After all, the best customers need a little help finding your business blog sites.
4. Measure your success and learn from your mistakes.
The most successful salesmen are not novices. They are seasoned professionals who’ve learned from their mistakes. They know the best time to call businessman type A and when to follow up with businessman type B.
Once you’ve blogged for several months, look at your data and find out which of your blog posts were the most successful at attracting leads and which posts were complete flops that failed to attract either traffic or lead generation.
Use marketing automation software to track your leads through the online marketing funnel. What blog articles did they read that encouraged them to sign up for your email newsletter or sign up for a free assessment? Find out which posts were the most successful at converting leads and create more posts like these. Down the line, you may even wish to create more business blog sites as you expand throughout the years.