In my last blog, we looked at what a blog is and what it can do for your business. Last week I came across an article that caught my attention, “Three Top Reasons Consumers Read Blogs in 2020 [New Research]” written by Pamela Bump. The article discusses the results of a survey conducted asking readers ‘Why do you most commonly read blogs?’ “According to the results of the survey, more people are actually driven to read blogs that teach them how to do something new.” https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/why-do-people-read-blogs
Knowing what readers are looking to find in a blog, is a helpful clue to guide you through the dark on what to write about.
How can my audience learn something new from my business?
Through writing informative blogs with a focus on educating your readers.
As a business owner, you have specialised information about your products and services that your audience wants to learn about. A blog presents a golden opportunity to your business as you can offer information and solutions to a customer at the exact time when they need it.
Imagine this scenario: Jenny is new to town and her car has a flat battery. Not knowing anyone in the town, Jenny types into a search engine ‘What to do when your car battery has gone flat in <Name of town>?’ The local garage in town posted a blog post last June titled ‘Top tips on what to do when your car battery has gone flat’. As soon as Jenny hits the search button, this blog post appears in her search list.
By having a useful blog that offers information and solutions you’re opening the doors to a broad audience and positioning your business as an expert in the field.
How do I choose topics to write about?
When brainstorming for topics, you need to look at the world through your customer’s eyes. Think about what they want to know about, not what you’d like to tell them. This requires some reflection on the types of interactions you have with customers daily. Things to consider:
- What questions do your customers repeatedly ask you?
- Common issues or frustrations your customers experience. For example, a hairdresser who sees parents dealing with tangled kids hair regularly may benefit from writing a blog on ‘Tackling the Tangles’.
- Ways your products and services can be used to improve daily life for your customers.
Who do I write for?
Trying to write blogs to interest your entire audience may result in writing too broadly and as a consequence speaking to no one.
When writing blog articles, you need to be specific about who you are writing for and identify the topics that they want to read about.
For example, if you post a blog on ‘How to keep grass seeds out of your socks,’ accept that this article may only interest readers that live on farms and those who go walking off the beaten tracks. The key is to target your topics around audiences by identifying:
- Who you are writing for,
- What they want to learn from you and,
- How to best connect with them.
Make sure your content counts.
Thanks to modern-day conveniences like having smartphones in our pockets, we can access information anytime and anywhere. When writing blogs, one of the biggest challenges is to hold your reader long enough to get your article read.
The blog must be easy to read in terms of content and layout. I like to skim over an article first to decide if I’m going to spend a few minutes of my valuable time reading it. An easy to read layout, that can be scanned over first includes:
- Sub-headings
- Bullet points
- Images
The blog article should be full of content that the reader is glad to have found as it gives them what they went searching for. Readers will quickly vote by clicking out of your blog if you don’t hit the mark.