If you want to make your business stand out a blog is a great way of demonstrating your prowess in thought leadership.
A good place to start is a current or controversial topic that is of interest to your target audience, with an interesting, if not unique, spin, take or insight on it that is not something that the majority are likely to have really considered before. An engaging writing style goes a long way to holding the readers’ interest so that they make it to the end. What you also need is a style and approach that exudes authority that people like, trust and want to share.
Here are our top tips:
1. Hit the ground running
Start with something that will capture your readers and run with it, such as: ‘5 things a PR and communications agency can learn from Trump’
It could be a title that creates intrigue, or a first line that poses a question that you know your target audience has. Or something that sounds controversial (even if the actual blog is not); controversy intrigues and makes people more likely to click. It also shows a bit of personality and gives readers some insight into who you really are, rather than an impression of blandness. It doesn’t matter if not everyone agrees with you; what matters is that you’ve opened an interesting discussion.
2. Keep sentences short and clear
You don’t want your reader to lose attention before they get to the end of a long sentence. Do not use more words than you need to get your idea across. Keep it punchy. Powerful writing does not necessarily require decoration.
3. Beware fillers
Take, for example, the word ‘just’. It adds nothing extra to the sentence. Worse than that, it weakens what you want to say.
No ‘J-words’ allowed here. Your sentence will work perfectly well without it.
4. Be topical and current
If a reader can relate to your blog post they will like it more, so cover issues that are of the moment for your audience. It will also mean that you have now given them something interesting and insightful to say in the morning meeting or when they write that amusing ‘original’ Tweet.
At Keeble Brown, much of our work revolves around current affairs. We stay on top of what is going on in our clients’ world. This is reflected in our blogs. We comment on topical news adding our analysis and insight. When we blog for clients it’s vital we hit the mark for their audience, use their corporate tone of voice, cover the right issues, and add critical insight.
Make your reader think. Don’t just regurgitate, be brave – add something new, be controversial. The best writers are those that are bold.
5. Stay on topic and don’t distract.
Don’t confuse your readers by going off at a tangent or by breaking up text with a chunky website link. Reference relevant news stories by using hyperlinks.
Images are a good way of referencing current news. A relevant image can serve as a visual guide through the text, breaking it into digestible sections and sparking the imagination of the reader. They can also add much needed comic relief when discussing more serious matters.
6. Get it out there
Lastly, a well-read blog is a successful blog. Promote your blog by sharing it on social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Use your friends and colleagues as a starting point for sharing. Monitor likes and re-shares. Gather information on who ‘likes’ your blog post and use this information to tailor future pieces.
Those are our top tips to writing a successful blog.
For more information on our services, or if you’d like us to blog for you, contact: zara.williams@keeblebrown.com
