Blogging is the right tool to put the spotlight on your business. Your business blog can build you a reputation as an industry leader. When customers see it as a valuable resource, they will turn to your blog often for answers to questions or updates on current news and trends.
Building a better business blog starts with creating a strategic content plan. It takes more than to simply hire a blog writer to compose a few random posts. Your blog must be unique from what your competitors offer.
Every business blog must use a few specific tactics to gain staying power—regardless of niche or industry.
Create instructional posts
Nothing gives a blog post more value than when it educates your target audience. Creating a series of instructional posts fill this purpose. These posts can help customers better understand how to use your products. They can learn about installation, maintenance and other matters specifically related to products covered in the instructional posts. It not only offers a valuable resource for customers, but it also highlights your expertise in a direct way.
Go behind the scenes
People love going behind the scenes to see how everything works. That’s why VIP all-access passes are so coveted at concerts and sporting events. Your blog can give this type of insider access to customers. You can do a blog post giving a photographic or video tour of your business facilities. You can show what goes into designing and manufacturing certain products. Giving an inside look will stir curiosity for your followers like nothing else.
Explain the news
Being an industry leader doesn’t just mean sharing the latest news. It involves showing customers why and how that news is relevant to their lives. If you link to a trending article on developments within your industry, offer up your own analysis of the issue at hand. Show how the central issue directly affects your customers and then discuss what your business is doing to deal with the issue. Customers will appreciate the insights. It shows your business is aware of the outside world and is able to evolve and change with it.
Address customer problems
Customers want a business blog that can solve problems. Your blog should address the needs of your customers at all times. One way is to offer up troubleshooting tips that help them fix a broken or malfunctioning product. You can also show how to use certain products correctly or store them properly. These tips will be useful to customers and will help reduce the volume of customer service calls you receive.
Highlight customer success
Your blog is the perfect place to share customer success stories. Interview specific customers and highlight how your products or services improved their lives. You can include photos and videos to give visual evidence of these changes. It is a clever method of boosting your credibility because potential customers can witness the positive aspects of your business before their eyes.
John C is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
