A goal without a plan is just a wish. As you learnt in the first blog of my content planning series (read it here), having a blogging content plan is a pretty powerful tool. So now let’s look at how you can create an irresistible blog strategy to fill that plan.
You wouldn’t bake a cake without a recipe, just like you wouldn’t try and change a tap fitting at your place without first finding out how to do it from a trusty YouTube tutorial. So why would you blog without a strategy? Anyone can throw a few posts up on their website and call it a blog. But to make the most of your blog, you need a definite plan.
Here is how you put together an irresistible blog strategy…
Irresistible Blog Strategy 101
Step 1: Build The Foundations
Without a solid foundation, anything will collapse. So unless you want your blog to sink into the ground, you want to lay these foundations before anything else.
Know Your ‘Thing’: When I say your thing, I mean know your blogging sweet spot. The point where your expertise and knowledge collide with what your audience are clambering over themselves to read. It might take a little while to figure it out, but when you do, you will see results. Having your ‘thing’ in mind when you write will help you to create amazing content.
Know Your Audience: Who are you writing for? It is really important to know this so that you can provide valuable content for them. Know who they are, what they want to read, when they want to read it, and how they want it presented. Be very careful to separate your own thoughts about what you need to write from what your audience actually wants you to write.
Know Your Goal: What are you trying to achieve with your blog? Is it to create newsletter signups, increase your social media following, or to promote certain key marketing themes throughout the year? Whatever your goal, give your readers a clear call to action in each blog that falls in line with your overall objective.
Step 2: Brainstorm
The dreaded writer’s block can strike you down more often that you would like it too. One of the hardest parts about blogging is coming up with the ideas. I am actually going to be writing a whole blog on this next week, so head over and read that for the nitty gritty of brainstorming. In the meantime, let’s cover the basics here.
Right Time, Right Place: Make sure you don’t restrict yourself when you are brainstorming. You have to be in the right frame of mind to do it. So don’t attempt it when you have your grumpy pants on, if you are tired, or if you aren’t able to fully focus. Choose a spot that gets your creative juices running, make sure you won’t be interrupted, and ensure your mind is in the right state to create ideas.
No Limits: Don’t limit yourself to what you want to write about now. Instead, write down anything and everything you think of that is related to your business. Think about the topics you want to cover, any series’ that you want to create, and what your audience might want to read.
Step 3: Create A Calendar
Now you want to get that brainstorm organised into a logical order and sequence.
Start With Your Expertise: Find the topics that you know the most about and put them into your calendar first. When writing about these topics, your confidence and knowledge will quite obviously shine through. From there, look at your diary and work out when you will need to create quick content and when you might have more time to research. Fit your other topics in accordingly.
Add Major Dates: Public Holidays, milestones and celebrations play a huge part in your year. So why not create awesome topical content that aligns with them? Don’t just focus on the major holidays. Give your readers insight into your life by spotlighting local holidays and milestone dates that are important to your industry.
Leave Creative Wiggle Room: Try not to plan out a content strategy where every blog must be posted on a certain date for maximum benefit. Use the holidays and major dates, but also create plenty of evergreen content that you can post at any time in the year. You want to be able to leave room for creative license. That way, if something big happens in your industry, you can capitalise on it to bring more readers to your blog.
Step 4: Get It Seen
There is no point writing awesome content if no one sees it. How will the world know you have this irresistible content if you don’t tell them about it?
Choose Your Platform: Where do your audience hang out? That will help you to decide where to share your blogs. The most important place to share your content is your email list because they already know and love you. Then, explore which social media platform will be most beneficial. Creating an effective social media presence is intense, so it is best to do one or two platforms well than trying to do them all halfheartedly.
Be Consistent: Choose a frequency that suits your availability so that you can be consistent with your posting schedule. It doesn’t matter if you choose monthly or daily, you need to be able to stick to it. It is not just your posting you need to be consistent with, also keep up with your regular sharing.
Step 5: Measure Your Success
When you measure your metrics it is quality that you are striving for, not quantity. You want to focus on building a relationship with the people who are interested in what you have to say. Look for…
- Page views
- Blog comments
- Social media shares
- Email signups
Most of all, measure your foundation goal. Is your blog strategy making people do what you want them to do? Are you getting the email sign ups or the social media followers?
Check which posts are performing the best. That will let you know the kind of content your readers are responding to. Then you can create more content like that to replicate its success.
Remember to regularly review your blog strategy to check that it still aligns with your business direction. Your brand will evolve and your audience will give feedback. So take all of that onboard when you consider your blog strategy.
Want to make the most of your blog content when you get it written? Then grab my free resource which shows you how to repurpose your blog into content for all your other marketing channels. Grab it here…