Companies with blogs have 55% more website visitors than those without blogs, according to Hubspot.
It can be a surefire way to entice customers to your website and get them engaging with you on social media.
But you shouldn’t produce content just for the sake of it, or because everyone else is doing it. It needs to be driven by the needs of your customers.
What do they want to read?
How can you share knowledge, information and advice that they will find valuable?
Write with purpose
Before you even think about the types of blog posts you could be producing, the purpose for doing so needs to be clear in your mind.
If you’re just creating ad hoc articles that are poorly disguised sales pitches, you’ll never reap the rewards.
Commit to blogging regularly and with purpose, and you will build an asset that will differentiate you from your competitors who are (hopefully) only giving it a half-hearted attempt.
See what sticks
Once you’re clear on the purpose of your blog, it’s by no means an easy feat to pump out fresh content all the time. So, I hope the ideas below help you identify what might work for your business.
Sticking to the same format for every blog will become repetitive and uninspiring, which I’m sure is not what you’re hoping to achieve.
So change it up. Try a few different ideas and see what sticks.
Which formats get the most views, shares or comments?
Your customers are your target audience, so take the lead from their engagement.
B2B blog post ideas
1. Demonstrate real-world results with customer case studies or success stories
2. Highlight or compare the best tools/apps/software for those operating in your industry
3. Answer frequently asked questions
4. Produce event write-ups to share the key talking points and insights for those that might have been unable to attend
5. Interview someone influential in your industry
6. Summarise key findings from recent industry research in a way that is easier to digest
7. Demonstrate thought leadership by talking about trends or predictions for your industry in the next 12 months
8. Share top tips that address a problem your customers face, adopting an instructional approach that helps them achieve something, e.g., 10 tried and tested ideas for your B2B blog or 12 steps to creating content your audience will want to read
9. Cover industry news or hot topics and put your own spin on it, giving your opinion on the impact it is likely to have
10. Give an insight into your company culture with ‘behind the scenes’ or a ‘day in the life’ content that helps customers connect with you on a more personal level
Repurposing blog content
Once you’ve tried a mix of these and you’ve found what sticks, don’t stop there.
Think about how you can repurpose your most popular blog posts to get your content in the hands of more people and gain further traction.
If interviewing someone influential in your industry was a hit, pull out some quotes from their interview and turn them into images for social media.
Or the next time you interview someone new, ask if they’d be comfortable with a video interview.
And if those simplified research findings went down a treat, see how your customers would respond to a visual infographic.
But don’t rest on your laurels and assume that your customers will seek out your new content themselves.
You have to tell them that it’s there and why they should read it, so make sure you share it far and wide.