4 Insights to Creating Consistently Engaging Blog Content

What is it about wildly successful blogs that inspires visitors to interact, share, and come back?

As a new Sensible Marketing intern tasked with writing my first blog post, I mulled this over before poking around on the web for some answers!

So, you’ve just invested time and creative brainpower to craft content only to have your enthusiasm fizzle out after little end user interaction. Don’t be discouraged, from what I can tell, you’re not alone! I’ve hand picked the following four suggestions to help us both in our challenging adventure to writing consistently engaging blog content.

1. Figure out what your visitors want to know.

Yep, this may seem obvious but it can’t be overstated! Becoming laser focused on your exciting new offer will distract you from identifying what visitors are really interested in. Are you focusing on your needs or your buyers needs? Are you answering questions specific to your buyer personas?

If you have not yet defined your buyer personas, or are wondering what in the world a buyer persona is, I recommend getting started with Sensible Marketing’s four part series on developing buyer personas. Before you take pen to paper to plan out that next post, work backwards. Consider the questions asked by your buyers and focus on answering them.

2. Keep it simple.

Your content should be approachable and friendly for any reader, regardless of their level of experience. The blog you’re creating is for them, so keep the industry jargon to a minimum and try to be relatable. For those who default to formal writing like me, this can be a challenge! Try reading your post aloud, this helped open my eyes to how dry my writing can be. After you’ve written your first draft, put it aside and take another crack at it tomorrow, through a fresh set of eyes.

3. Promote on the channels your visitors are already engaging on.

Blogs are meant to be shared. For most of us, visitors aren’t checking in daily to see what’s new. The blogosphere is expanding daily and well-informed readers have access to a ton of options. If you’re not pushing your content out, readers will be hard pressed to find it. Some points to consider:

• Define appropriate channels. Once you have defined your buyer personas, identify which platform(s) they are interacting on. LinkedIn? FaceBook? Twitter? Each platform is different and each post should be tweaked to reflect the appropriate platform-specific tone and message. It can be tempting to splash exciting news across all active digital and social media channels, but take time to strategize. Try posting at different times of the day to identify the peak interaction times of each platform.
• Optimize navigation. Make it easy for website visitors to find your blog by featuring it in your navigation bar. Do all that you can to enable their search process. With so many visitors accessing content via mobile, your website should be mobile friendly and easy to navigate.
• Establish a promotion process. What is the first step you take in promoting your new blog post? If you have not yet formalized your promotion process, now may be the time to set one up. If you send out an e-blast to your contact list promoting your new blog post, but aren’t getting any interaction, it may be time to switch it up. You may want to try these 5 Innovative Marketing Tactics to Re-Engage Dead Email Subscribers.

4. Be reliable – consistency matters!

With the best of intentions, you’ve embarked on a blogging journey just to find that other responsibilities are getting in the way of content production. Days pass and turn into weeks, weeks into months, and before you know it the momentum you generated has died out entirely. Commit yourself to a reasonable blogging schedule and stick to it! Remember, your visitor is setting aside their valued time to read your posts and expects to derive value, consistently.

Now, I was surprised to discover that Blogs are ranked as the 5th most trusted source for accurate online information. Delivering clear, useful, and educational information that answers your visitor’s questions will build a relationship of trust over time and keep your visitors coming back! Make a conscious effort to implement these four suggestions to realize higher visitor interaction on your blog.