Blogging is a powerful marketing tool and an increasingly popular tactic in a smart marketing strategy, especially for business-to-business marketers. I know because I launched my blog to promote my marketing consulting business one year ago. Here's what I've found:
1. Your blog is your brand. A blog can dramatically increase your visibility online, with blog posts sometimes earning higher search engine rankings than your website. View your blog as an extension of your company's branding and design and write it accordingly.
2. Content is king. High-value content is the key to success. Create and share content that showcases your expertise. Think about your content from the perspective of the people you want to engage. What do they care about? What information, knowledge or perspective can you provide that they will value?
3. Write what you know. Narrow your focus to specific topics and write about the subjects you know best. I've found it's easiest to write posts on topics where I have the deepest knowledge: B2B marketing, direct marketing and marketing strategy.
4. Keep keywords in mind. If one of your blogging goals is higher search engine rankings, identify the top search keywords that relate to your business and include those terms in your posts.
