A blog is a core component of any business marketing strategy. Often created to promote a product or service, it is easy to forget the blog itself also requires regular promotion.

As one of the best ways to connect with an audience, exactly how a business markets its blog is known as a ‘blog strategy’. For a blog to succeed, it is imperative to define this strategy clearly. So how do we do things at Turtl?

Blogging Basics

A blog gathers posts on a website in reverse chronological order. The term ‘blog’ was first coined by programmer Peter Merholz in 1999. Today, blogs have many enterprising and personal uses. They work best in support of more in-depth content or large, ongoing projects. You may even want to create a blog series for when one post cannot cover all you want to say. 

A blog can help engage readers, generate leads, start meaningful discussions and establish an online presence. 

B2B Blogging  

The intended purpose of a blog is to drive traffic and convert visitors to your website into customers, therefore driving revenue and business growth. 51% of B2B marketers who report low levels of content marketing success say it is due to strategy issues. A blog will help in identifying what your audience finds engaging.

A blog can also promote a brand or product and is a great tool to bring people into the buyer journey at different stages. It  can provide a mix of educational content for earlier stages and promotional content for those later in the buyer journey.

From an enterprise perspective, linking a blog post to a deeper message or larger theme is a good idea. But how will people find your blog? What sort of content will deliver value? How can you use other promotional channels to elevate your blog content?

Better Blog Balance 

Putting your long-form content onto your blog is a sure-fire way to make the space feel like a lecture hall. After all, how appealing is the prospect of scrolling down an endless web page bombarding you with complicated information? Not very.

Instead, a blog should lead more into what you want to do. Think of the blog as an appetizer to the main course. It gives readers a flavor of what is coming and the style of how it may taste. Though linked and complimentary of one another, an appetizer and main course are separate elements. The blog (starter) is there to get people interested in what else you have to offer with your core content (the main course). 

At Turtl, we often create blog posts to support our ‘core content’. For example, Turtl blogs often support our Turtl Docs, webinars, and even newsletters. We can create blog posts to expand on different sections of a Doc or provide more in-depth information on a topic mentioned in a webinar conversation. 

It is often possible to get multiple blog posts from one piece of core content or a single idea. These blog posts can link to your core content in different ways. In addition, blog posts can feed into other types of content produced, such as case studies and newsletters. (Scroll down to sign up for the Turtl newsletters).

Best Blog Strategy

Present long-form content in a way that will interest and engage your reader. Think about why format matters. Often, long posts are difficult to read on blogs, leaving complex subjects misunderstood by readers who skim through the content.

Using a more engaging format for long-form content allows for a more in-depth explanation of a topic. Research has shown people engage and understand information better when the content is interactive. For example, having clickable sections of a document creates a more immersive experience for the reader, hence the higher engagement. As a result, when people are more engaged, they are more likely to remember what they are reading. 

Having an optimized blog that is often updated, helps rank on the search engines. Ensuring content is not too long (or short) and contains appropriate keywords, will drive organic search traffic to your blog. The blog will then point people towards your core content, product, or project. This content can be gated or ungated. Eventhough you cannot personalize a blog for every person that visits the page, the core content it points to can be.

Create evergreen content that maintains its value, such as a guide or tutorial. This valuable content will remain relevant for audiences, encouraging them to return to your site, time after time.

Beyond the blog 

Beyond blog performance statistics, a Turtl Doc can provide you with in-depth insight into what your readers want. As a result, this helps define business goals, perform target market research, generate topic ideas of interest, conduct keyword research, and develop your overall content strategy. This information will help you see what you should be talking about on your blog.

Ultimately, the blog works best when used as a supportive tool, promoting other content, projects, and products. Remember, give your readers their appetizer before their main course.

To learn more about the psychology of attention and how personalization can help win it, check out the Doc below. Remember to sign up to the Turtl newsletters too, also below 👇.

Click to read Demystifying the psychology of attention | Turtl