Have you planned to start a company blog and aren’t sure where to begin? Maybe you’ve created a business blog and haven’t been able to attract the audience and exposure that you intended?
Companies start blogging for a variety of reasons and things don’t always turn out as hoped. The good news is that when it comes to creating content that builds credibility and confidence, there’s a fundamental format that I’ve used over the years with great results: new business, inbound recruiting, speaking gigs all over the world, a book and credibility across multiple industries.
However, this kind of content template depends on planning, sequence variety. In other words, it’s not a “one off” tactic and not the only format you should use. It’s also not a silver bullet.
What it is, depends on the content itself and how you use it. As with a planned blog content calendar, outcomes from structured blogging formats can include more social sharing, comments and referred traffic from links and social networks. But those things are not the most beneficial.
While marketers often focus on the measurable, it’s the intangible outcomes that matter most. When you create content that empathizes with the problems a specific audience is having and then provide credible, interesting solutions, it instills confidence. Creating that kind of content on a regular basis builds trust and an affinity for the things you want your brand to be known for. It supports your brand as the “first choice” for whatever it is that you have expertise in.
A structured blogging format is a great starting point that can be customized with your own flavor of creative expression. But I know that when many people start out blogging for their company there are uncertainties. Hopefully, this basic template will be as useful to you as it has been for the people I’ve shared it with on an individual basis.
Opening
- Statement or observation of a problem
- Recognize what audience the content is for
- Provide supporting statistics from a credible 3rd party
- Transition to potential solutions
- Include a unique image
Body
- Explain why the solution(s) are important and relevant to the audience for the post
- Provide the tips(s): what is it, how is it used and why is it important
- When appropriate, give examples with visuals
- Link out to a past posts and/or 3rd party resources
Conclusion
- Reiterate the opening observation (in a different way)
- Summarize the tips given
- Make it relevant to the target audience
- Ask a relevant question on the conclusion to inspire readers to interact in the comments
Whatever your reason is for creating business blog content, following a format can help create the structure that builds confidence with readers and confidence in your own blogging ability. There are many ways to write a great blog post and undoubtedly, you will discover or create many of them if you stick with it.
It’s OK to use a blog editorial plan, keywords and planned social media promotion with your blog posts. But don’t let your business blog become defined by those things.
With the posts you write, think about how they will resonate with your target audience. How will it help them advance their own goals? When you can create functional value as well as an emotional or empathetic connection with readers, your blog will be easily found, consumed and shared with a greater audience each and every time you click “Publish”.
So what’s stopping you from taking this format out for a spin? I hope you do and share what the effect is after several posts.
If you’re a new blogger, have you tried using a template or format before? How did it work for you?
