When to Hire a Content Marketing Team

Content Marketing

You’re finally running the business of your dreams. You love your products, you love your customers, and you love your job, but there’s one issue: you want to be content marketing, but you’re so busy running the business you don’t know where to start.

While deciding on the best practice in this arena is a highly individual process, there are some general guidelines you can follow to help clarify the next step.

When Is Content Marketing A Good Investment?

Before we talk about whether you should keep content production in-house or hire a team, we should consider if it is a smart use of money and time.

Content marketing can be great for businesses that has a solution for a problem of which people aren’t aware. If you have devised a great niche product or service, content marketing can spread the word in a way that doesn’t feel pushy or insistent. Your potential customers will have the opportunity to feel as though purchasing from you is there idea.

This is a fantastic strategy seeing how social media doesn’t seem to radically change people’s minds if used argumentatively. By approaching a situation with a more neutral information-oriented strategy, you can get your customers on board of their own accord.

The final thing to consider when deciding if content marketing makes sense for your company is your goal for the campaign. As stated earlier, content is more of a long-term strategy. It can definitely bring in new customers, but its real strength lies in its ability to help you retain customer loyalty through consistent dialogue.

Traditional ads may be a better move for a brand-new business with little previous exposure. Transitioning to a more integrative strategy may make sense as time passes, but if the goal is to maximize views on a small budget, content marketing may not be the best choice.

When Should You Hire a Content Marketing Team?

If you are a business that has decided to start content marketing, you have a decision to make: do you delegate employees to content creation, or do you hire a marketing team?

One of the most important factors to consider in this decision-making process is the size of your company. Do you have employees to spare? Can you delegate a large amount of time for content research and creation? Good content is not a rush job, and you should prioritize quality over quantity. If this is untenable with your current roster, hiring out may be a good idea.

The second major consideration is your level of expertise in-house. If you have a dedicated marketing department, there is a good chance you already have employees capable of creating high-quality content.

If you’re whole work-force consists of people specializing in production, you should seriously consider hiring someone who excels at content creation. Keep in mind that blogging and content writing are different, and just because someone can write a blog post doesn’t mean they can handle all your content marketing.

The Takeaway:

Content creation is an investment. You need to decide if this is a good time to invest for your business. While there is no one-size-fits-all answer, you are probably going to see better returns if:

  • Your company is already somewhat established
  • You are looking for long term customer retainment
  • You have someone in-house who can dedicate a lot of time to content creation
  • You are willing to hire a dedicated, knowledgeable content marketing team

If this sounds like you, then now might be the perfect time to invest.

“It’s Nothing Personal”: Using Social Media for Business

Social Media for Business

We live in a world dominated by interconnectivity. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter allow users to directly interact with their favorite brands, which has opened up a whole new range of options when it comes to using social media for business. Forget the days of status updates about your dinner last Friday; it’s time to use these platforms to boost your business.

To be clear, we won’t be covering marketing and advertising on social media in this article. That is definitely a super important aspect of building your brand, but we’ve already spoken about it. Instead, we will be focusing on what you can do to make your brand likeable and approachable in a more organic sense.

Why Do We Love Social Media?

While it is pretty obvious that social media is generally a well-liked invention, it’s important to understand why this is so. This is what will help you guide your efforts in creating your strategy for using social media for business.

New New New

The first reason we love social media so much is that it is constantly updating us with new content. Humans love novelty, so anywhere that we can get frequent and new information is going to be a great place to hang out.

How does this relate to using social media for business? Well, social media is a great way to crank out new content. If you have a clothing line, you can post about different pieces from your collection several times a week. If you’re a restaurant, you can post different menu items.

This keeps people interested in your brand. If you have a website where everything just sits, it is really rewarding upon first discovery, but the novelty wears off. Social media allows you to keep things fresh, even if it’s just by promoting things which already exist.

In order to keep this novelty going, aim to post at least three times a week on whichever social platform your audience loves.

Humanizing Your Brand

The second reason we love social media is that humans are inherently social creatures. We crave interpersonal connection, and social media gives us the opportunity to get a ton of it without the anxiety of going out and meeting face-to-face. Though we still need in-person interactions, social relationships are a great thing for your brand.

You see, we tend to forget that brands are run by people. We come to see businesses as little more than logos and products. You can counteract this by using social media for business and giving your brand that personal appeal.

Social media allows you to directly interact with your current and potential customers. They can ask you questions, and you can answer. You can wish someone a happy birthday, tell them how great they look in your company’s new dress, and build a human connection with them.

Of course, it’s going to be very difficult to connect with every single individual, but the good news is, you don’t have to! Just interacting with some of your customers will send the message that you care, and even the people who don’t get direct responses will see that you are a brand run by people. People like people, so this is a win.

When it comes to building this connection, it’s hard to say exactly when and how to best do it. The point is to act like a person, and people aren’t rigidly scheduled or robotic. A good place to start is to set a small goal like five interactions a week.

The Takeaway on Using Social Media for Business

Social media has us hooked for good reason. It is a constantly updating whirlwind of social connection, one in which you should be involved. To start, aim to post three times per week, and try to respond to three to five of the people who interact with your page.

I know you’re busy running the business, but trust me, this is worth your time. That said, if you’d rather just focus on what you do best, you could always hire a knowledgeable marketing team. We’d be delighted to help you out.

A Simple Guide to Marketing on Social Sites

Social sites

From the days of Myspace to the current landscape of nearly 200 (or more) social media platforms, social sites have really grown into something, haven’t they?  It used to be that sites like Facebook and Instagram were nothing more than a collection of peoples’ pictures and random thoughts, but now they are thriving, self-contained communities with ecosystems that rival the entire Internet. They’re also a huge contributor to any successful business, which is why today, we will be discussing the basics of marketing on social media.

Why Market on Social Sites?

Before we delve into the how, let’s talk about the why. As an insightful and intelligent business person, I’m sure you’re wondering “why should I invest my time and money into selling on sites like Facebook when I could just pursue other marketing strategies? How do I know it’ll work?” Those are great (and common) questions.

Here’s the deal with marketing on social sites: it works like magic – which is to say, it’s often mysterious in how it works, but there are foundations and best practices for attracting followers and delighting customers.  Worldwide, there are about 3.5 billion people using social media. That means that when you advertise on social sites, you are broadcasting to a huge audience.

In addition to the pure scope of social media advertising and marketing, there is also the added benefit of creating a more personal relationship with your potential customers. When you interact with people on these platforms, you aren’t just a generic brand, but a personality to which the consumer feels directly connected.

One final benefit of using social media as a means of marketing is that it can have a crossover effect with other marketing strategies. People who like your brand on social sites are likely to talk about it with other people in real life, and social media can even help boost your SEO. Boosting social pages on all your print and digital materials will further enhance your presence and reach.  You get quite a bang for your buck with the proper use of social media.

How to Market Using These Sites

Ok, so you’re still with me, right?  Here’s the deal.  There are a couple hundred platforms out there, but we only really need to worry about the top ten.  It’s not likely you’ll be able to spread across multiple platforms.  That would require an enormous amount of effort and budget.

So how do you actually start marketing on these social platforms? I’m so glad you asked, because I’ve been dying to tell you.  Start with your target demographics and put in the legwork (or hire us) to research typical demographics for the following platforms:

  1. Facebook
  2. Twitter
  3. Instagram
  4. YouTube
  5. LinkedIn
  6. Snapchat
  7. Reddit
  8. Pinterest
  9. Google+
  10. Tumblr

Figuring out your target audience can be tricky.  If you’re trying to sell a fancy wine, you’re not going to want to be aiming at broke college kids. Develop some buyer personas and learn who your audience is.  Do some research about what platforms they use and when they are likely to log on.

Once you have this figured out, start planning posts out by the week. If you are going to be posting 3 times a week, aim to make the posts somewhat related to the days and times you’re posting. This will make it easy for your audience to follow along and will help keep them engaged.

What kind of posts are we talking? Well, an easy and efficient way to go is to create posts that link directly to other content, such as a blog or product page. This lets you get your brand out there without being overly pushy or sales-y.

Warning!  Don’t let this be the only kind of posts you create.  That would be too boring, unless you have an amazingly talented blogger.  Facebook really doesn’t like it when you lead people off the platform, so if that’s all you’re doing, you won’t get as much reach. 

Making posts that are likely to connect with the audience emotionally is a must on social sites. If your targeting parents to sell kids clothes, throw in a few posts about how great kids can be (or how terrifying and funny it is to be a parent of ever-growing children).  If you’re talking to broke college students about your restaurant, talk about how super it would be to eat something other than Ramen tonight.

This allows your audience to feel a connection with your brand on a more human level. Everyone knows a sandwich place wants them to buy sandwiches, but when the sandwich shop talks about their dog-friendly culture, it takes on an element of sincerity and humanity. This is what separates you from the competition.

How to Start

Putting off things like marketing on social sites can be easy. It can seem so complicated from the outside, but the reality is, it’s quite simple once you start. Make a business profile, learn who you’re trying to reach, and start planning your posts.

If you like a bit more structure, try planning out posts in a spreadsheet. This will make your post creation easy and seamless and allow you to stay consistent.

Of course, you could always hire someone to manage your social media marketing and help you through the process.  Partner and account director, Rachael Herman, is a social media expert, proving success on multiple social channels across a variety of industries over many years.  Her secret?  Well, she won’t tell me.  She says, “every social engagement specialist has their own methods.  My way wouldn’t work for you, and yours make me jealous.”

Now, there’s a lesson to eat away at the mind’s walls of uncertainty.  Thanks, Rache!

If you’re looking for some help from an engagement specialist, schedule a chat with Rachael.  She’s happy to consult and won’t hassle you with sales pitches.

Google for the Gram: Using Social Media SEO

Social Media SEO

There’s a good reason the kids are calling this digital space we all love the ‘interwebz’. It is a unique realm where everything is connected, from endless Wikipedia rabbit holes to social media SEO. Yep, it turns out you can use that Facebook page for far more than finding out what your old college friend cooked for dinner last night; you can actually use social media to get more hits from search engines. Ready to learn how? Then grab my hand and let’s delve into the magical world of social media SEO.

What is Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing is a broad term that encapsulates any use of social media sites to promote a product or drive traffic to a site. Social media SEO is a simple extension of this type of marketing, wherein the postings on social media are used to raise your company’s webpage ranking on major search engines. This can be done in a few ways, such as:

  • Incorporating links into posts which boost SEO
  • Building connections on social media sites which affects relevant search results
  • Making your site/profile optimized for social media searches

Social media SEO is a fantastically efficient way to multitask. It’s kind of like when your daughter tells you she can write a paper while she watches TV, and you learn that it’s actually possible.  It’s the same when you realize how much social helps your brand and SEO, especially when you see that it saves time and money.

How to Use Social Media to Boost Search Engine Traffic

As stated above, social media can boost SEO in a variety of ways. One of the easiest and most obvious methods of social media SEO is optimizing the post itself for search engines. Having a well-crafted post on social media ups the chance of that post being discovered by potential clients when they Google related terms.

Another beautiful little crossover between social media marketing and SEO lies in the fact that social media is itself a type of search engine. More and more people are turning to social media sites when they want a new pair of boots or a sweater for their dog. People want to know what their peers think about potential products, and the human element of social media means that a search on Instagram is a great way to find out if indigo is the right shade for Mr. Waffles.

If you’re going to be using social media marketing, why not capitalize on the SEO side too? Social media will really give you insight into who your audience is and what they’re looking for.

One final way social media is relevant to SEO is that search engines are starting to factor in social media when ranking search results. While Google has said that social media is not a direct factor in ranking, there is plenty of evidence that it indirectly impacts actual ranking factors, and pretty dramatically.

As if that weren’t enough, SEO is a constantly shifting game. Any good SEO marketing strategy will consider the changing nature of the business and adapt, and if trends continue, it is highly likely that social media likes and shares will become direct factors in search engine rankings.

This means that you have a great opportunity to get ahead of the competition by building your social media now. The best part is, even if the social media factors don’t end up being incorporated directly into search algorithms, the work will benefit you in many other ways including helping you:

  • Build your reputation
  • Reach more customers
  • Learn what makes your customers tick
  • Retarget audiences for increased loyalty
  • Sell more products and services

The Takeaway on Social Media SEO

Synergy is everywhere on the internet. This is especially true when it comes to marketing. If you want to maximize on your investments in this area, social media SEO is a great way to go. It’s easy, it’s efficient, and unlike the endlessly streaming clips of store-bought cookie reviews I watched last night, it will make you feel like you’re maximizing productivity. Now go get in on this Google-Social crossover episode.

Black Friday Shopping and Cyber Monday Deals: Tips for Success

black-friday-cyber-monday-marketing

Like it or not, it’s the most wonderful time of the year yet again – the holidays. With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, it’s time to start thinking about Black Friday and Cyber Monday, whether you are a business owner or consumer. These two days are what kick-off the holiday spending spree, so it’s important you are prepared for what is to come.

Most businesses do most of their sales during the busy holiday season, which is just one reason why it is so important to get all your ducks in a row, so to speak. If you aren’t careful, the holiday shopping season can sneak up on you, causing unnecessary stress. To be successful with Black Friday and Cyber Monday, specifically, you must learn how to appeal to the mass of willing shoppers looking to spend their hard-earned money on your goods.

Enter: Digital marketing. In order to draw in both new and existing consumers, you must know how to use various digital marketing tactics to your advantage, such as SEO, advertising, social media, and web design.

Plan Ahead For Black Friday and Cyber Monday

If you ask any small or large business owner, the key to success with the holiday shopping season is to be prepared – very prepared. Over the last several years, it seems sales start earlier and earlier, with people lining up for Black Friday deals not long after the turkey has been carved. This means you must be ready for shoppers, well, now.

No need to panic if you are feeling a little behind, social media is here to help. Social media is no longer just about connecting with long lost high school friends; it is much, much more than that. Today, social media is a business owner’s secret weapon, and their ticket to success during the holidays.

Social Media: Your New Best Friend for Black Friday Shopping and Cyber Monday Deals

A great place to start is to create events for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday on whichever social media platforms you are using. This is an excellent way to get your brand on people’s minds, and who doesn’t love a fun holiday shopping event? There are many different directions you can take, such as Sip and Shop events or offering special deals on these days.

Once you have a better idea of what you want to do for these busy shopping days, it’s time to promote. Relying on a wide range of digital marketing tactics will help you with a lot of this. From content marketing to SEO, and of course social media marketing and advertising, find what works best for you and run with it.

Don’t Forget About Branding

This part is often overlooked, but we can’t stress the importance of focusing on branding during the holidays enough. Branding is your opportunity to create a specific identity for your business, which we like to think of as the soul of your company. During the holidays, you must get in the spirit and rely on your brand design to do the talking for you. With so many options out there, making your brand stick out from the best is an absolute must. The last thing you want is to fall through the cracks because of poor branding or a weak digital marketing campaign.

The holidays are a festive, fun-filled time of year that bring out the best – and sometimes the worst – in all of us. For business owners, learning how to navigate Black Friday and Cyber Monday in a way that represents your brand truthfully can be challenging. Stay true to who you are, plan ahead, focus on outstanding brand design, and don’t be afraid to use social media to your advantage. These few little things could be the difference between finding success this holiday season and missing out on tremendous growth opportunities.

And remember, have some fun! Life is far too short and naturally stressful – it’s up to you to ease the burden with humor, joy, and gratitude.

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, it’s time to start thinking about Black Friday and Cyber Monday

What is Adaptive Content and How Can I Use It?

adaptive-content-marketing

We’ve all heard that “content is king.” But, what is content without marketing? Hence, our focus on content marketing as its own service. With this aspect of marketing comes many buzzwords, one of which is “adaptive content.” This buzzword is essential for any digital marketing campaign as it refers to a multi-faceted strategy that can change the results of your marketing campaign with diligent effort.

Understanding The Basic Definition Of Adaptive Content

The key to understanding adaptive content is embracing the effects of change. Content that automatically adapts to circumstances and mediums is considered adaptive. It delivers a personalized experience that makes content marketing more effective overall. It is the heart of any digital marketing campaign because it flexes to meet user needs.

Why Is Adaptive Content Considered Flexible?

Think of how many different devices you use in a single day. Cell phones, tablets, computers, smart TVs… all these display content in a different format. The perspective of the user is flexible just as the size and shape of the screen are changeable. This means content delivery must be just as flexible to convey the best display.

It’s flexible because its delivery is only one piece of the puzzle. Not only must it flex to fit your brand design, but it must also flexibly speak to the audience. This refers to tailoring content to match your audience, not just the device they’re using. In other words, the future of adaptive content is content marketing to the extreme.

Breaking Down Content Marketing So It’s Adaptive

Content Marketing is about reiterating your brand image across the web so that it’s not only consistent, but accessible. Making your content adaptive requires three things:

  1. Desirability
  2. Viewability
  3. Quality

To be desirable is the first goal because content has a lot of competition. It must stand out from the crowd as a unique yet popular offering. Viewability refers to giving them readable content on multiple devices. And, well, quality speaks for itself. Without quality, your readers just won’t come back.

Integrating Adaptive Content Into A Digital Marketing Campaign

Content that is adaptable not only speaks to a consumer in its substantive state, but also in its words. This means that content changes in two ways: how it’s displayed and what is displayed. The ultimate goal of adaptable content is to make sure it speaks directly to your consumers in a personalized manner. So, how do you integrate adaptive content into a digital marketing campaign? It’s not simple, it requires a marketing firm that understands the intricacies of all aspects of digital marketing.

We say this because digital marketing is also multi-faceted. Adaptive content is just one aspect of that realm with which we must keep up. There’s also search engine marketing such as PPC, social media content distribution, and blog development.

Are You Making It Or Breaking It With Adaptive Content?

The only way to truly make adaptive content work for your business is to consider all the aspects of the equation. It involves looking at the type of device, the context in which it is being used, and the audience you are catering to. You can deliver content all day, but if it isn’t readable in all circumstances, then you are breaking the connection with your visitor.

This break can only be resolved by employing the digital marketing services of a professional agency skilled in all aspects of the adaptive content equation. This means they know search engine optimization strategies, the technical side of delivering on multiple devices, how to create and reuse content to your advantage, and the essentials of a positive user experience.

How to make Google work for your business

You’re working hard. Your website is well-organized, mobile-friendly, and pleasant to look at. It’s littered with relevant keywords, and your audience enjoys reading your blog.

Still, you struggle. You’re working for Google — trying to understand what the boss wants you to do but ultimately feeling confused. Every small business owner and every marketer has had moments of frustration and confusion surrounding digital marketing. But don’t let that feeling last too long.

Why? Google isn’t just for searching, and it isn’t just the pesky service that ranks your website. No, Google is a tool for your business. Don’t let Google be a burden. Learn how to let it help you.

Read about how marketing automation can make your job more effective. 

A few of the tools Google offers businesses

  1. Google My Business is what puts your business on the map. No, really. Claim your business, and it will be listed on Google search results and on Google Maps. Oh, and it is free!
  2. Google+ isn’t the most popular social media platform out there. However, having a page can help your SEO (Google does own it after all). Depending on your industry, you might find that your audience is active on the platform.
  3. Google Webmaster tells you how healthy your website is. If you can’t figure out why your site isn’t doing better, consider signing up for a free Webmaster account.
  4. Google AdWords is Google’s pay-per-click product.
  5. Google Trends tells you what people are searching. If you are struggling with what keywords to use, this can help.
  6. Google Analytics is a must for all businesses. The free product lets you track how many people are coming to your site and what they do on your site once they are there.

How to use Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a powerful platform that can help you answer the following questions:

To use Google Analytics, you need to set up an account. You can use your Google email address to do this. You can add other people on your account, but make sure the account is under your account information. If you ever part ways with an employee, you don’t want to lose access to Analytics.

After this, you need to add analytics tracking to your site. If you have a WordPress website, you can install Yoast Google Analytics easily. Google describes how to install Analytics on other types of websites here. Google will need up to 24 hours to process your data.

Next Steps: How to understand Google Analytics

You’re now set to view analytics. However, viewing your analytics can be overwhelming. Here’s how to make the process easier:

  1. Google has different types of reports. Use them to narrow your research. For example, audience reports tell you what you need to know about your visitors, and behavior reports give you valuable information about your content. Moz.com goes into depth about the different types of reports available.
  2. Let Google email you. You should try looking through all of the reports available. However, you set up your account so that Google emails you the reports that you think are most valuable.
  3. Set up goals. Goals are required to view your conversion reports. You can set monetary or relative goals for your account. Goals keep you on track and help you measure the success of your site.
  4. Don’t look at averages alone. Averages lie. Zoom in to look at the details of your site. This helps you know what you’re doing well, and low numbers show you where you need to improve.

What other things do you do on Google Analytics? Let us know!

At Your Imprint, we stick to deadlines, and we keep a careful eye on the small stuff. However, we do it with the big picture in mind. We never stop having fun! If you need marketing help, get a quote. Join the show! 

What is Marketing Automation and How Can I Use It?

Work smarter, not harder. It’s a mantra we all want to live up to, but figuring out how to work smart is often hard work. That’s where marketing automation comes in. When used correctly, marketing automation makes emails, social media, sales, and website maintenance easier.

What is marketing automation?

You know those repetitive tasks that are necessary for your business but also suck up your time?  Marketing automation is software that exists to do these basic marketing tasks for you, allowing you to prioritize your work more effectively.

Marketing automation tools do not take your role as a marketer away from you. Instead, they help you do your job better by freeing up your time to focus on the big picture and perfect the details.

Marketing automation programs typically assist users with:

  • Email Campaigns
  • Social Media
  • Lead Generation
  • Analytics
  • Management

Marketing automation is not just for big companies. In fact, small and mid-sized businesses are the largest-growing users of such tools. According to Nuclear Research, 95 percent of companies say they benefit from marketing automation. On average, their sales productivity increased by 4 percent, and their staff productivity increased up to 6.5 percent.

How can I use it?

Ultimately, marketing should help your business attract and retain customers. The marketing process is nuanced, but revenue should be a priority. Marketing automation tools help you convert potential customers and close the deals.

For example, an online store might send an automated email every time a user leaves the site with goods in their online shopping cart. Another company might invite website viewers to download an ebook and follow up with a thank you email.

Automated marketing should work for you, not against you. Here are a few ways to make sure it does:

  1. Think carefully about your content. Automated email and social media services should improve the quality of your content so that is more relevant to your audience.
  2. Make an effort to be personal. Write emails and social posts that demonstrate that a person created the content. Additionally, consider separating your contacts into lists. Tailor content to different groups.
  3. Consider your marketing and business goals carefully. Schedule times every season (or whenever is appropriate for your business) to reevaluate these goals and the tools you are using.
  4. If you work with a team of people, clearly communicate your goals and expectations.
  5. Be flexible. Figuring out what works for you will take time and experimentation. Embrace the challenge, and track what works.

Is marketing automation for you?

Marketing automation might not be right for your business. Ask yourself these questions before you purchase a platform:

  1. Do I have clear marketing and business goals?
  2. Am I comfortable enough with social media and email campaign techniques to spot problems that could arise with automation?
  3. Do I need a tool for my whole team or just one person?
  4. Do I have the budget to use marketing automation?
  5. Is my team on board and willing to learn? (Read more about choosing a trustworthy marketing team.)

Marketing automation is a great tool when used correctly. To improve your workflow and your relationships with customers, consider marketing automation tools.

At Your Imprint, we stick to deadlines, and we keep a careful eye on the small stuff. However, we do it with the big picture in mind. We never stop having fun! If you need marketing help, get a quote. Join the show! 

5 Tips To Write Killer Blog Posts and Avoid the Dreaded Writer’s Block

blogging-tips

Ah, blogging. It’s supposed to be great, right? Blogging helps boost your keywords, it’s a great form of digital marketing, and it helps you connect with your audience. At the same time, blogging is hard. You don’t know what topics to write, work gets busy and the blog takes second place, and writing just might not be your forte.

That’s okay. Don’t be discouraged. Still, you can be a great blogger. Use these simple tips to improve your blogging without losing your mind.

1. Set realistic expectations.

Don’t tell yourself you’ll blog daily if you can only blog once a week. Missed expectations often lead to quitting altogether. A monthly blog is better than no blog at all.

Take time to evaluate your blogging schedule. Seriously ask yourself the following questions, and adjust your blogging expectations.

  1. Do I regularly miss blogging deadlines?
  2. Do I have clear, measurable goals for your blog?
  3. Am I helping my audience?
  4. How can I make my writing more readable?
  5. How long can I sustain my current schedule?

Feel free to ask yourself more questions, too. We won’t tell you what to do based off of your answers. Instead, we encourage you to make changes to your blog that will help you keep to a schedule, help your audience, and achieve your blogging goals.

2. Create an editorial calendar for your blog posts.

Blogging consistently matters. Blogs that are posted at the same time every day, week, or month tend to be higher quality. Your audience knows when to expect them, and that builds trust. Additionally, you know what to expect from yourself.

Keep to a consistent schedule with an editorial calendar. In addition to helping you stay on track, an editorial calendar saves you time. Instead of racking your brain for blog topic ideas every time you sit down to write, you have a pre-planned topic to dissect. Spend a few minutes once a week or even every month to plan out your calendar.

3. Ask your audience.

Not sure what to write? Ask the people who read your blog, or ask the people you want to read your blog. This doesn’t have to be weird. In fact, you can do this on your social media channels, via email, or in person with your customers.

Take note of the things they are confused about, and remember common questions. Use your blog, and your expertise, to answer their questions.

 4. Write about what you know and love.

You’re the expert. Hopefully, you’ve chosen your field because you are knowledgeable and passionate about it. Let that shine through in your blog. Go through the following questions, and answer them using your knowledge, experiences, and passion.

  1. What are my readers afraid of? How can I ease their fears?
  2. What makes my readers excited? How can I tap into that?
  3. What goals do my readers want to reach? Do I have the tools to help them succeed?
  4. What is something my readers should know or understand? How can I explain it to them?

5. Don’t be afraid to research.

Yes, you’re the expert, but you can’t know everything. Well, most of us can’t. Doing research for blog topics isn’t cheating. It makes you a better professional and a better blogger. Research when writing blogs to ensure accuracy, but also research your audience and blog topics. Research helps you:

  • Write about more topics with accuracy.
  • Stay in the loop with your industry.
  • Network with other industry professionals.
  • Come up with new blog topics.

Blogging can be challenging, and it’s easy to burn out. However, sticking to a realistic schedule as an expert in your field will help you write with confidence.

Guess what? You don’t have to blog. You should have one, but you don’t have to write it. Your Imprint offers blogging services. We’ll plan, research, and write your blog for you! Interested? Get a quote.

 

blog-editorial-template
Every blog needs to be organized. This template will help!