Time and time again we hear from clients and prospects that one of the most difficult things about blogging is finding topics that are ‘interesting enough’ to blog about.
When done regularly, blogging is a proven technique to help companies and the people within them, establish a unique voice, authority and to get noticed online.
If you don’t know who you’re writing for, how are you going to use your blog as a tool to attract the right people? Have you considered exactly who you’re writing for?
When developing a picture of who your audience is, consider the following;
Understanding your audience is one of the most overlooked aspects of blogging.
And, it is one of the most common reasons why blogs ‘fail to deliver’. After all, if you’re not writing for who you’d like to buy your product or service, what results do you expect to get?
The aim of developing unique personas (audiences in distinct groups) is to not only understand them but to write in a way that they feel familiar with. After all, you want them to understand that you provide a product or service that addresses their needs.
When planning out your blog content, the most important thing to start with is considering a range of subjects that you are both confident and knowledgeable about. The main reason for this is a practical one. Inevitably, you are more likely to put in the time, effort and add value to topics that are of genuine interest to you. Your blog will come across especially well when it is a topic you’re knowledgeable about and comfortable with.
It also shows through in your writing, and your readers can pick up those positive signals. Once you have found a subject you would like to explore in detail, there are many resources online to help you discover articles, pictures and statistics to make it easier for you to ‘state your case’.
Research is crucial – and it’s pretty straightforward to do, too.
Your competitors – and those who are most successful (in terms of shares, likes etc) – should provide you with a pretty clear guide on what your target audience wants. The more in-depth your research becomes, the more likely that you’ll identify a series of clear DOs and DON’Ts.
The cardinal rule in this part of the process is to make sure what you write is unique. Don’t mimic what other people have done. Not only will that make your blogs ‘knock-offs’, it’s also doing you a disservice on Google. Google wants content that is unique.
Want to find out how to outperform your competitors? Find out more about our data-driven marketing strategy process here.
Any blog content you write should always resonate with your target audience.
Consider how you can benefit them with;
The aspect of developing a unique tone of voice (and a consistent one), is one of the most overlooked aspects of blogging. What does your tone of voice sound like on paper?
Put simply, a tone of voice is all about helping visitors get to know you better. You can cement your tone of voice by writing in a style that is unique to you, consistently. Ultimately, be yourself and be different. After all, as the saying goes, ‘people buy from people.’
Mindmeister – an online based mind mapping tool. Many of its features (at the time of writing) are premium, so do check before you immerse yourself in it.
Bubble.us – a basic online based mind mapping tool. One benefit from the outset is that there is that there is no need to sign up for an account.
Free Mind – as the name suggests, it is an open source mind mapping software, download for free with no limits.
From the outset, it is important to remember that blogging is a long-term investment in relationship building. On the good old information superhighway, you never know who or where your next warm prospect (who’ve read your content) may come from.
Last, but, not least, plan ahead. As the saying goes… Fail to plan, plan to fail.
Here at DARWIN Media Co, I get the opportunity to write blogs and share my ideas and experiences. One of the things I always focus on is finding topics that are really fun and helpful to share. I really hope you’ve enjoyed it!
Please do share if you’ve found this blog of use to you! 🙂
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– Michael Thomas, Lead Explorer @ DARWIN
Follow me on Instagram here >> @thisismjt
