One of the top questions I get is about blog posts and how much a company should mention its services or products.
I’ve gone back and forth a bit on this over the years, but for the most part I’ve always felt that blogging is very much a first conversation with a potential customer.
When you meet someone for the first time you usually don’t jump right to the end of the conversation and act like you’re best friends. You get to know them. You ask questions and learn about who they are.
With blogging, a reader is often reading a post and that is their very first interaction with your brand. They may not even know what website they’re really on until they read the post.
Blogging Strategy: General And Broad Industry Questions
So when we discuss blogging strategy with our clients that’s how we approach it. We look at what the target customer might be asking in a general or broad sense in relation to the industry. That’s the sweet spot for blogging.
So for example, a plumbing company might be targeting homeowners looking to do renovations. With a blog for the plumbing company we would cover common questions about plumbing, but also questions about renovation and even more topics about caring for and improving your home.
You still want to touch on topics your target customer is looking for, but you’re not getting specific about your services. You’re not talking about why your services are better than the competition…net yet.
Social Media Strategy
The same approach usually works best on social media. Some people, usually long time followers, will ask you questions about your services and products, but for the most part you’re in the get-to-know-you stage of the relationship. And you’re working on getting new followers.
So the best approach is to focus on the general and broad questions your followers and would-be followers have about the industry.
So the plumber might share some insight into the home improvement industry. Maybe a tip for the areas of the home that can provide the best return. Or maybe a tip on buying older homes and what to look for. Maybe a DIY guide for installing a new fixture on a bathroom sink.
There are lots of things you can touch on that will help your potential customers. You earn their trust and once you have it they will dig deeper into who you are and what you can potentially provide them. More on that later.
Email Marketing
Email marketing falls kind of in between. You’ve likely already interacted with a person for at least a little while before they subscriber to your email list.
They may have followed you on social media. They may have read one of your blog posts and subscribed for more. It’s kind of in between so you can approach it like that with your emails.
I like a newsletter approach. You can share some of your posts and some other content that is similar. And you can also mix in a little more direct marketing like information about your services and products. You can start leading them to the main pages on your website.
Your Main Website Pages
This is where you want to sell your services and products to customers. When someone goes from a blog post or from your social media channels to your main website pages they’re ready to learn more about what you can offer.
Blog posts and social updates aren’t about repeating what you say on your homepage and other main pages. You need to focus on earning first conversations with your potential prospects. That means talking about the topics they want to discuss in early conversations. It’s about the general and the broad topics in your industry.
You have the experience in the industry and the knowledge in your industry to touch on those topics. With a bit of research you can really stand out from anything being discussed in the industry.
From there you can lead readers and followers into your main website pages.
Final Thought
This is how we view the process for earning new customers at Ghost Blog Writers. Some channels like blogging and social media are about the first conversations you have with customers. From there they work their way into the main pages on your site where you sell them on your services and products. It’s what’s worked for us at GBW and what’s worked for our customers.