What’s in a blog?

I recently helped a client realise a new blog with the aim being to showcase their team of experts and engage with new and existing customers. It got me thinking about how we can ensure our blogs are more purposeful.  Rather than being somewhere you can post all your news, features and anything else that occurs to you as a way to generate content, your blog should have a clear objective, a voice suited to your audience and relevant, engaging content.
So, let’s imagine you’re looking to position yourself as an expert solutions provider in your market rather than simply a producer or supplier. A blog can certainly help you achieve this. It’s ideal for showcasing the breadth of your industry knowledge and your trend analyses to give customers market insight.
So, here are my top tips for a purposeful blog:

• Keep your posts concise, around 300 words should do it. After all, it’s bitesize digestible chunks we’re looking for, not a five-course meal.
• Consider setting up categories to allow your readers to navigate your blog and find specific information easily.
• For organisations with a team of experts, attribute blog posts to individuals and facilitate interaction with your experts to build client relationships.
• Give your blog a title and a snappy catch-line, this allows your audience to immediately understand the purpose and content of your blog.
• Think about tone of voice: a blog is informal and subjective, unlike say a press release, so keep it light, simple and maybe inject some humour.
• Distinguish press releases and features for publication on a separate news page.
• So, you’ve drafted and published your first post, now you must ensure you are consistent by posting regularly on relevant subjects.  A content plan with topic suggestions and a schedule will help with this.