How to Create Better Marketing Content for Blog Posts

When you're starting a blog, it can feel like all of your digital content marketing is going to get lost in the wilds of the internet:

Even partway through the last decade, there were around 130 trillion known web pages. That's a shocking figure. It's one which will have since shot up too.

This means, when you blog, you are competing in a vast playing field. Here are a few tips to help you create better marketing content for your blog posts:

1) Consider your audience

You are writing your blog to promote your business. But, as far as your audience is concerned, you are writing for their benefit. It is a mistake to forget this.

Make sure that your content offers your audience value. Otherwise, they'll ignore it in favour of content which does.

Think about what your audience's problems are and offer content which solves them. Don't constantly push your products and services.

Instead, write posts which set out your audience's problems and offer your knowledge – and by implication and reinforcement, your products and services – as the solution.

2) Set yourself apart

Take a look at the kind of content your local competitors are posting. For example:

• Do they write lots of short posts? If so, creating longer, more in-depth content could be a great way to make your content unique. Posts of around 2000 words are also more likely to feature on the first page of Google search results.
• Do they post irregularly? Consistency could be your friend here.

3) Think about format

Another good way to distinguish the content you offer from your competitors' is to consider different formats. You could make yourself unique by offering:

• Infographics
• Video content
• Blog posts

An additional advantage is that some audiences – and demographics – prefer to interact with different types of content. Using different formats will boost your engagement with them.

4) Plan your publishing

Smart SEO and content marketing go hand in hand. Working out what, how, where and when to publish your content is a big part of making your blog an effective marketing tool. Consider:

• Channels – you should always publish on your website and blog. Depending on the format of your post and industry, you will also want to publish it on select social media channels.
• Content strategy – having a content strategy in place will help you avoid spamming the same topic. It will also help you know what times of the year you are going to post about certain topics.

5) Never skimp on quality

Your blog posts should always be:

• Well-written – if you don't have a natural writer within your team, hire one or use a professional marketing agency. Poorly written content is detrimental to your brand.
• SEO savvy – choose good keywords and use SEO best practices if you want your content to be found.
• Consistent – consistency in blog release timing has been shown to be less important than being consistent in terms of the quality of the post you deliver.
• Link only subtly – you can include links to your services at the end of your article or perhaps once or twice naturally within the text.

6) Strike a balance

One of the ways to create better content marketing content for your blogs posts is to intersperse marketing content with your more informative or educational posts. A rough rule of thumb might one marketing post for every three informative ones.

There are several different types of posts which are good opportunities to do outright marketing:

• Product releases or new services
• Events you are hosting or attending
• Company updates (may only be relevant for larger brands)

If you are in the art or fashion industry, for example, you might not need to do this. People come to you for your own style. They want to know about you.

In most industries though, people need to know that you can solve their problem for them. Show them you know your stuff, and they will be more likely to buy the solution you offer too.