B2B Blogging Without the Blood, Sweat and Tears
Every B2B marketer worth their salt knows that blogs are a great way to generate leads, create fresh content for your audience, and improve your search engine optimization. On the other hand, blogs are a very big undertaking. Many B2B companies are scared away from blogging because they feel like they don’t have enough content, are pressed for time, or have a small content team. But with a little planning and some savvy, B2B blogging doesn’t have to be so scary.
Here are some tips on how to make blogging doable no matter your schedule, budget or team size.
Make a plan. Don’t just jump in with both feet—get a plan together first. Creating an editorial calendar can give you a big head start on blogging. Collect some topics you know you can write about, that speak to people in your industry, and that are relevant and rich in material. Organize them in a calendar, taking into account important events in your industry, product launches, marketing initiatives, and other key dates. Consider selecting themes for each month—for instance, March could be the month when all your blogs answer frequently asked questions from your customers. When you know what topics you’ll be covering each month, and don’t have to scramble for new ideas, you’ll be off to a strong start.
Recruit different voices. Even if your marketing team is small, the blog doesn’t have to be a one-person show. Get input from others in your company to gain valuable insights into different aspects of your industry. You can even ask others to guest blog if you have strong writers in other departments. With the information they provide, you can put together blogs from multiple perspectives and generate more content. In addition, by getting a fuller picture of the work others are doing, you’ll be making your blog more wide-reaching and appealing to customers. When you bring more people in to the process of creating the blog, it helps blogging become a task with company-wide ownership—and takes the burden off of one team’s shoulders.
Schedule time. Far too often, blog creation gets put on the list of things to do after everything else is taken care of—and so it never happens. It isn’t always considered a priority. However, blogs are an essential part of content marketing, lead generation, and a robust SEO strategy. Neglecting your blog may buy you more time up front, but in the long run it will be detrimental to your marketing goals. So carve out some time for B2B blogging each week—put it on the schedule as an official meeting if you have to—and spend that time working on drafting, strategizing and editing blog materials.
B2B blogging may be a big undertaking—but you can make it more manageable by utilizing these three strategies. With the right attitude and some planning, even the smallest of B2B blogs can see great success.