Man…you are one busy tech marketer!
Tasked with heading the lead generation charge for your company, keeping up with emerging trends and numerous other projects, something such as blogging can fall to the wayside. Pile on the bigger marketing challenges such as limited tools and resources (including software, people, etc.) and time constraints, it’s no wonder tech marketers not hitting their goal of posting blogs 2-3 times a week.
Welcome, Grasshopper. Our three steps will help you:
- Plan out a blogging strategy which will engage all stages of the buyer’s journey
- Streamline process to cut down on your writing time
- Make sure you keep a consistent momentum.
Let’s begin.
Step #1: create your blogging strategy by engaging your entire company.
When it comes to blogging, marketing is not a department of one. There is an outdated stigma that marketing is the only department devoted to generating leads and creating content.
With the introduction of inbound marketing, this idea is being thrown out of the window and the push to involve all departments in content creation is a breath of fresh air. From sales to customer service to tech support, each department is in-tune with a different stage of the buyer’s journey and has access to insights marketing doesn’t.
Topic ideas for department conversations:
The sales department:
- knows all about those SQLs (sales qualified leads)
- has insights into why someone does (or doesn’t) become a customer
- rocks at creating analogies by breaking technical terminology down into simpler terms
Owners, executive teams and product development:
- are perfect subjects to help explain your company’s “why” - the reason your company does what they do
- understand the thought process that goes into creating your services and products
- has been thoroughly involved in your company’s history
- envisions where the company is going in the future
Tech support and customer service:
- is knowledgeable about common questions customers ask and pitfalls they are experiencing - perfect for a FAQ piece or little known fact sheet!
- has front line experience with real customers
- can provide you with success stories, testimonials and even epic fails to use as case studies
By harnessing these glimpses into your audience’s experiences and your company’s purpose, your blogging strategy can take on a life of its own.
Step #2: streamline writing processes to cut down on writing time.
By creating a focused interviewing process, you’ll streamline your blogging. Follow these tips to avoid wasting precious time.
- Create a calendar plan to interview and record employees from each department.
- Discuss the plan and collaborate with department heads to manage expectations.
- Keep the interviews short - brief 15-30 minute conversations. If need be, follow-up conversations can be scheduled for a later date.
- Alerting employees ahead of time to the questions you will be asking will help them come prepared.
- Do not forget to audio record these sessions! This ensures you don’t waste precious time and don’t lose the dialogue.
- Use a free transcribing tool to help avoid labor-intensive listening and typing.
Once the text is laid out, all that is needed is some refining, relevant images and formatting. Done!
If this all still sounds too cumbersome, or for companies with smaller (or almost non-existent) marketing departments, there is always the option to engage an agency. Partnering with an outside agency or content writer opens up your time to focus on projects that need your immediate attention while simultaneously ensuring your blogs have a consistent voice and frequency.
Step #3: make sure to keep a consistent momentum
The issue with content calendars is that there are always other hot projects calling for your attention. A single point of contact to watch the calendar and rally the troops to make sure goals and timelines are being met is necessary.
Your blogging strategy will also be fueled by constantly thinking ahead. Take a section from each blog to create another blog grows your plan exponentially and consistently. For instance, with this blog, we could create the following blogs:
- 3 Reasons Why Customers Will Engage With Real-Life Issues
- Need Help? How to Choose the Right Partner to Boost Your Content Creation
- Repurposing Content: A Step by Step Approach for a Fresh Perspective
Your company is looking to gain subscribers, repeat readers. Think of your work as a series instead of a single novel and your audience will want to keep coming back for more.
No one said marketing had to go it alone. With some help, internal or external, your blogging strategy will develop quickly. Insight from different departments on how a lead travels through your company will give you solid content which engages each stage of the buyer’s journey and each buyer’s persona. Thinking ahead will keep your idea wheel moving and pretty soon, you’ll be producing customer-centric content like a B2B tech blogging master.
