A business blog is one of the most powerful assets that your company can own, but only if you use it effectively, by creating content that your audience actually wants to read and share. When researching how to keep your business blog writing up to scratch, you have probably heard much of the same advice time and time again: draw readers in with a gripping headline, keep paragraphs short and use plenty of whitespace, ensure that you content is scan-able. This is all useful information, but there is so much more to business blog writing.
This post will provide you with some new ideas to keep your business blog writing fresh. Captivate your audience to increase open rates, shares, and, ultimately, conversions.
1. Address Your Readers Like People
Just because you are blogging for business does not mean you should adopt a corporate tone. In fact, this is one of the easiest ways to instantly lose readers. For all your business blog writing, imagine that you are having a conversation with your audience by utilizing these tips from KISSmetrics:
- Only use words and phrases that would use in an actual conversation. Cut the jargon and hyperbole.
- Use the active voice whenever you can, particularly when referring to actions that your company is going to take. Only fall back on the passive voice when writing in the active becomes too long-winded.
- Keep your writing informal. Write in the second person to address readers directly and consider using contractions if this is appropriate for the voice of your blog.
2. Realize That Every Post Is a Product
Your posts are a reflection on the quality of your company as a whole. You would never release a product to the market if you didn’t think it was perfect; the same principle should apply to every one of your posts. Each piece must:
- Be something your audience wants to read.
- Include opinions backed up by statistics and other research.
- Be of high quality. You should feel proud to own your blog.
If you have posts that do not fulfill this criteria, remove them from your blog — or, better still, never publish them in the first place.
3. Tackle a Variety of Subjects
You want your readers to use your blog as a continuous source of information and inspiration. If you always write about the same topics, your audience will quickly realize that your blog offers them nothing new to learn or discover. Think about characteristics most of your target audience have in common, and write about any subjects they are likely to find interesting provided you can tie the posts back to your company.
Even if your product range is quite small, you should be able to brainstorm a wide variety of topics; however, if you are stuck for your ideas, ask your audience what they would like to know more about, create posts that answer common questions, or talk about the latest developments in your industry. Provided that you avoid repeating yourself, this should be plenty to maintain your readers’ attention.
4. Cut the Sales Pitch
You may have heard this before, but it bears mentioning again as creating posts that push for a sale is a mistake that many corporations make in their business blog writing. Readers have come to your blog to be informed or entertained — if they wanted to know about your services, they would read that section of your website.
Be all means, end your posts with a call-to-action that encourages readers to purchase a product, but only when consumers are in the right stage of the sales funnel. If you try to sell too early, you will lose prospects and reduce potential conversions.
5. Try Different Styles of Business Blog Writing
You may have noticed that you receive the most engagement from a certain style of posts, be it a how-to, numbered list, or news update. Whereas it is always a good idea to stick with what works, don’t be afraid to branch out to something new once in a while. Interview industry experts, invite executives from your company to share their trade secrets, or publish posts from guest bloggers, who may be able to provide a different angle to a popular debate.
Content marketing is all about providing your audience with what they want and need. Make sure your posts reflect this, and you will be set up for success.
