I believe strongly in the power of effective blogs to generate new leads and customers for businesses. There is simply no substitute for a good piece of content engaging your target audience and compelling them to take action.
Unfortunately, too many Houston businesses are missing out on this opportunity to grow their business. You might think it’s not worth the time, no one is going to read your blogs, you do not know what to write about, or there are too many other businesses in such a large city to try to connect with.
Yes, there are more than 100,000 businesses in the Greater Houston area, which makes it seem difficult to deliver your message to the right prospect at the right time. However, blogging is a proven method to make that connection with potential customers.
If you have the right mindset about blogging and put in the energy to build a blog that supports your brand, you will see long-term results fueling your company’s growth for years to come.
Three Steps to Effective Blogging for Your Houston Business
Take note of these necessary steps to build an actionable blog that captivates your audience and engages them in your company’s product or solution.
1. Follow a Content Marketing Strategy
A content marketing strategy is the backbone of an effective blog supporting your business. Without a plan, you could be writing about topics that no one is interested in, sending the wrong message to your audience, and wasting a lot of time and resources.
The strategy to support your content should include these essential elements:
- Keyword research to know what your audience is searching for online.
- Deeper-level research to strategize blog topics that target hot zones of high demand and low competition.
- A mapped-out Buyer’s Journey to send a specific message to your audience at each stage of their journey deciding whether to purchase your product or solution.
One of the misconceptions about blogs is that each piece of content should aim for a universal audience. In actuality, you do not want to cast too wide of a net aiming for all 100,000+ businesses in Houston and miss your company’s target audience.
Instead, content should be strategized to target a specific persona at each stage of their journey. Then, you can send a targeted message hitting their specific pain points during their search for a solution to their problem.
2. Be Consistent with Your Blogs
A common shortcoming for Houston businesses is a lack of consistency to their blog content. Right now, your team may only blog when they are inspired, when there is a big Houston event that fits your brand, or around holidays/company events.
A content marketing strategy will keep you on-track staying consistent with your blog content. This is critical for two main reasons:
1. You are sending the right message to your target audience that you are engaged in the market, are thinking of their problems to present a solution, and that your company is active.
2. You will improve search rankings by sending a message to Google and other search engines that your website is active, and you are serving up good content that addresses real issues that people are searching for.
Consistency builds upon itself. Consider this advice from a Houston-area fashion blogger who turned her blog into a full-time business.
“I think people always underestimate how much work it takes to build an audience and establish yourself,” said business owner Katy Atlas to the Houston Press. “There are overnight success stories, of course, but the most successful bloggers get that way because they’re devoted to producing fresh, quality content regularly for years.”
3. Choose the Best Distribution Platforms
Now, your blog is supported by a strategy and you are consistently executing the strategy. But, optimizing your blog for search engines is only half of the battle.
To get more of your target audience to your website to read your blog content, you need to strategize the best distribution platforms to pull in readers.
Social Media: which platforms provide the most reach for your business?
Email: how often and what’s the right message?
Link building: are there opportunities to place a blog link on another website?
Concerning social media, you need to understand where your audience is to know how to reach them. A B2B company is not likely to find prospects on Instagram. However, a B2C company will likely convert more customers through an effective Instagram campaign.
Once you understand how to reach your audience with your blog content, you will see more leads and opportunities to grow your business.
Consider Marketing Refresh to Fuel Your Growth
Our digital marketing agency is committed to seeing Houston businesses grow through an effective content marketing strategy. And, I am passionate about supporting your growth through effective blogging.
Let us support your company through an effective strategy that is executed consistently to create speed and momentum. I will make sure that your blog content supports the plan to generate new leads and customers for your Houston business.
To get started, contact our marketing agency to discuss your needs and how we can work together to support your business objectives.
