Why Do You Blog? A 3-Step Guide to Getting Your Blog Back on Track

Everybody’s doing it.
You’ve known since age six that that isn’t a good enough reason to follow the crowd. But that seems to be the very reason why many companies created their blogs.
Your company probably needs a blog for many reasons, and what everyone else is doing is just a small fraction of the number of reasons why.

But…why do you have a blog?

This question should be easy to answer. If you can’t answer it, I guarantee you’re blog is failing. Or at least flailing. You might be creating great content, but it lacks direction. You might have readers, but you aren’t converting them. You’re working hard, but it’s not paying off.
It’s because you have no blogging compass.
You need a true north. Here’s how to find it:

1) Create a content vision statement

When we develop a content marketing strategy for a client, it always includes a content vision statement. In just a paragraph or so, this statement sets the tone for the blog and the content that will be included on it. It’s the essence of the blog; it’s mantra. It’s difficult to go astray when you create content with the vision statement it mind. You can also include the statement on your blog so your audience gets the same clear picture of what they can expect to find.
Answer these questions in order to start developing your content vision statement:

• What is the tone of the blog?
• What topics will we be writing about?
• Why should my audience want to read this blog?
• What is the blog’s unique offering?

2) Know your audience

In your journey to creating an outstanding blog, you need to constantly refer to your buyer personas. These are the people you want to read your content, so you need to write content for them. That sounds simple, but internal politics, egos and personal interests can often get in the way of this. If you can get everyone on board with creating content for the reader, you’ll be vastly more successful.
If you don’t already have buyer personas created, it’s worth the time and effort. They’ll be useful across all of your content marketing efforts. If you want to start by creating mini buyer personas to help guide your blogging efforts, here are a few key questions your buyer personas should answer about your audience:

• What are their personal attributes (for example: age, gender, background, job title, hobbies, responsibilities)
• What are their top challenges and frustrations?
• What motivates them?
• What are the barriers that might stop them from working with your company?
• Who or what influences them?
• How do they prefer to consume content?

3) Set goals

When establishing your goals, think in specifics. Everyone is blogging for the same end result—to increase business. While that’s a good goal to have, there’s much more to it. Think beyond the ultimate result to give your blog a solid purpose and unique offering to prospects. For example, your blog goals might include:

• Increasing awareness about your product/service
• Establishing your expertise
• Differentiating yourself from the competition
• Educating your prospects & customers
• Engaging with influencers in your field
• Expanding your online authority
• Increasing brand awareness
• Generating new leads

Vet content

Once you’ve gone through these steps, run every content idea through a simple test by answering these three questions:

• Does the idea fit within the vision we established for the blog?
• Is the idea something that our audience wants to know more about?
• Will writing about this topic help us achieve one or more of our blog goals?

If a content idea is blog-worthy, you’ll be able to answer “yes” to all three questions. If the answer to any of these questions is no, work on refining the concept until it’s a better fit. And if it doesn’t work, don’t force it. Creating content that doesn’t align with your blog direction, audience and goals doesn’t make sense. Move on to something that’s going to move the needle.

Blog with a purpose

It’s amazing what happens once you work your way through these steps. The content team becomes less stressed. The audience becomes more engaged. The blog starts becoming more successful. Your business starts seeing the results. Suddenly you’re no longer following the crowd. You’re leading it.