Blogging is a popular marketing channel.
According to Orbit Media, nearly 80% of the companies surveyed use blogs for marketing purposes, while generating traffic and promoting this blog content are two of the biggest challenges they face:
The basic solutions to these two problems are obvious: A good blog promotes itself.
How can it be done? You need to involve your readers in promoting your blog by sharing it, adding comments, and encouraging others to do the same.
Blogging used to be the most social form of creative writing until people stopped bothering with blogs.
It’s understandable: there are so many personal feeds these days where people prefer to share their thoughts and interact with others. It’s very difficult to get them to engage with your blog – they’d rather spend that time on their own wall.
How can you generate more interactions on your business blog?
Here are 7 steps to keep in mind when trying to develop customer engagement with your marketing content, whether it’s a blog, newsletter, podcast, or video series.
1. Be consistent
The first step is the hardest, right? Especially when your content is created in-house, where time and resources never seem to stretch far enough. But a steady stream of new content is the best way to build a reader or viewer base.
Plan in advance (as little as 3 months, up to 6 months) which topics you want to focus on with a simple content calendar. That way you don’t struggle for ideas at the last minute and end up losing your breath.
Also, producing content once a month is a lot less stressful than once a week. So recruit a small team of people who can create content for your website. This keeps the voice and perspective fresh and the reader engaged, with less burnout.
There’s also a handy social media calendar template to keep you organized.
2. Talk to your audience
“Everyone” is not your audience. Let’s take a simple example: sneakers. Everyone wears them, but depending on the brand, their audience could include traditional athletes, style-conscious shoppers, or outdoor adventurers. And you want to talk to everyone in a different way.
Also, you’re not necessarily your audience either. Just because something doesn’t resonate with you doesn’t mean it won’t resonate with your audience and won’t create a bond with them.
Knowing your audience is fundamental. Who you want to reach with your blog and why you have a business blog are two basic questions to ask yourself before you start a blog.
3. Don’t sell
Ok, the third step might be the hardest! You want to share information about your product and services with your audience, and that’s understandable. However, blog posts or video blogs are not the place to sell.
Instead, focus on your industry as a whole and become a valuable source of information. Give your readers information or perspective they can’t find elsewhere.
That doesn’t mean your blog can’t have calls-to-action. While your content should be self-promotional (otherwise nobody will read it), don’t be afraid to use contextual CTAs that will entice your readers into becoming your customers or subscribers:
4. What’s trending?
While creating a 3 or 6 month content plan is a great way to stay on track and focused, don’t be afraid to stray off course to address a trending topic in your industry or life in general.
Writing about something that is widely discussed is sure to grab readers’ attention and spark an online conversation.
5. Invite comments
It is important that your website is open to user comments. Engagement cannot take place if you are not open to it. And don’t make it too difficult for yourself to leave a comment. You can ask for a name, email address, and website, but don’t add a dozen fields to fill out. Remember, this isn’t lead generation, it’s content marketing.
Then give them something to respond to! Post a question and ask readers for their feedback, opinion, and experience. In content marketing, customer retention is a two-way street, so make it a real conversation. Take some time to reply to readers who leave comments on your site. A simple “Thank you!” or “We think so too!” can go a long way.
You can also request comments with Viral Content Bee: if you check this option while adding or editing your projects, VCB members will comment on your blog, which will encourage others to join the discussion and comment as well!
6. Don’t be afraid
Your blog posts, videos, or podcasts are great places to really let your brand personality shine. Or to create a brand personality.
Don’t be afraid to be funny, make fun of yourself, or try new things. At the same time, don’t overdo it. Always keep your audience and their values in mind.
7. Share it socially
Content marketing and social media should go hand in hand. As a first step, make sure your website has social sharing buttons on every page so readers can easily share your content with others.
Then take matters into your own hands and post each blog post, video, or newsletter to your appropriate social media channels.
Set up an email newsletter for every article you write. From experience, readers coming from an email are more likely to comment and share on your blog. Carefully design each newsletter so that it is useful and not just an invitation to click.
Of course, there are many more tricks to get comments, but the above seven steps are basic. From there, you can experiment with all kinds of engagement tactics!
Image: Envato Elements
