Practical Tips to Make Your Blog More Useful & Interactive
Posted on 29. Mar, 2012 by Lee Odden in Blog, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, tips
It’s amazing how a meme can turn into a stream of content when it resonates well with a community. Recently I was sent a set of interview questions and one of the questions asked about building blog community. I took my response to that one question and turned it into a blog post, “How to Increase Business Blog Readership, Traffic & Community” that was well received. In fact, that post prompted two different social media chats to ask if I’d be a guest host on the topic: #smchat and #nptalk. Thank you for inviting me!
Now I’m turning the questions from those chats and my answers into yet another (unique) blog post full of practical tips.
The questions and answers from those chats provide tips for bloggers that want to provide a more meaningful and measurable experience for their readers. These tips range from process and efficiency advice to ways of inspiring more user generate content, content repurposing and growing subscribers.
Q: Do you think blogs are influential in building community – in other words, if you build it, will they come?
A: Blogs as a hub surrounded by spokes of social participation are excellent for building community
A: The key is to empathize with what motivates people to discovery, engage & share content. Mesh that insight with your editorial & promotion
A: Great content isn’t great unless people read and share it. Blogs must promote content to grow community.
Q: How do you determine the niche solution your market needs to develop “go to” resources for that solution?
A: Developing resources for niche solutions can start by understanding audience pain points. Know your customer & make things that help them.
A: Monitor popular niche content in your category to see what topics are not being covered, problems not addressed, then make & solve for your niche.
A: Create a resource that you would want to use yourself & others will want to use it too. Be editorial not self promotional.
A: Niche list blog post resource example: 25 Women Who Rock Social Media (4,291 RTs)
A: Niche list blog post resource example: 22 Social Media Marketing Management Tools (2,599 RTs)
Q: A keyword glossary and editorial plan keep content on track, but does it create community?
A: Re: keywords and community – why make it hard for interested people to find your content?
A: Search keywords & social topics data come from real behaviors & conversations. They inspire editorial that resonates with readers & search engines alike
A: Bloggers writing purely for self expression with no monetization goals don’t need to bother with keyword glossaries and editorial plans
A: If bloggers have commercial & business accountability, then empathizing with desired audiences by creating editorial that speaks their language is good business
A: Two useful resources: SEO or Social for business blogging? & Dynamic Duo of Business Blog Marketing: Optimize & Socialize
Q: Is it better to gather a community on social media and drive to your blog or directly on your blog itself?
A: Where you gather community depends where they want to gather. Understand customers, implement & promote content accordingly. Adjust.
A: A hub and spoke mode allows both blog community & off blog community in social channels. Spoke communities help promote blog content.
Q: What other tips do you have for driving blog traffic/readership?
A: Create content people can’t find anywhere else
A Tips: Create comprehensive collections of resources – unique
A: Give to get. Praise others, give kudos and recognize others in your industry. Never underestimate the power of ego.
A: Engage – ask questions, respond quickly and qualitatively. Engage off your blog too – 10 min a day, every day
Q: What are some ways we can make their blogs more interactive for readers?
A: Interactions with blogs starts with interesting content. Empathize with audience interests, prompt them with ?s. Ask!
A: Collect the best comments and curate that into blog content. Spend time on other blogs too. 5-10 min a day.
A: Surface participation to recognize those who display desirable interaction behaviors. eg top commenters, top shares, etc
Q: What is the best way to go about sourcing user generated content?
A: To be efficient, I maintain 10-20 blog posts in development & add to them a few min at a time
A: As mentioned, guest posts work well. Create contests where content contribution is an outcome. Recognize “winners”.
A: Ask questions on social channels like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or G+ & compile the answers. Make it easy to answer.
Q: What is a good way to attract industry influentials to guest post on a blog?
A: Make valuable comments on their blogs, RT their tweets, get on the radar. Build your credibility & what you stand for.
A: Industry influentials tend to be BZ so make it EZ to contribute. If a guest post won’t work, offer an email interview.
A: Try asking 10 thought leaders 1 easy question and compile that into 1 post. Follow up with a guest post offer.
Q: Should you respond to all comments on your blog or only questions?
A: Responding to comments depends on opportunity to create value. Questions need answering. Adding to statements OK too.
A: I don’t think you need to reply to every “great post, thanks” comment, no. But when opportunity for opinion arises, take it.
Q: Do you find there is a difference in engagement if you ask more questions in your blog posts?
A: Asking questions does inspire more feedback in the comments – but only if natural & genuine vs. “gimmick”
A: A history of asking & answering questions with your blog community will create momentum, an expectation of conversation
Q: How can I get more social shares on my blog posts?
A: Make interesting content (defined by readers not just you), optimize for social share, promote it & shares will come.
A: It’s also worth asking “why” you want more social shares. Make a distinction between quantity (social proof) & quality.
Q: What types of posts typically get the most re-shares, comments, traffic, etc.
A: Reshares, comments, traffic are all different KPIs (key performance indicators) There’s no blanket “type” that hits all.
A: Start w/ content that solves a problem for readers, resonates with interests, trends & that’s easy to share.
A: People will rally around decisiveness, so take a stand. Be a leader on key points & your blog will attract shares & attention.
Many blog readers are bloggers themselves, so what are some of your best tips for creating a more meaningful and measurable experience for your blog audience?
Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.
© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Practical Tips to Make Your Blog More Useful & Interactive | http://www.toprankblog.com
Practical Tips to Make Your Blog More Useful & Interactive
Posted on 29. Mar, 2012 by Lee Odden in Blog, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, tips
It’s amazing how a meme can turn into a stream of content when it resonates well with a community. Recently I was sent a set of interview questions and one of the questions asked about building blog community. I took my response to that one question and turned it into a blog post, “How to Increase Business Blog Readership, Traffic & Community” that was well received. In fact, that post prompted two different social media chats to ask if I’d be a guest host on the topic: #smchat and #nptalk. Thank you for inviting me!
Now I’m turning the questions from those chats and my answers into yet another (unique) blog post full of practical tips.
The questions and answers from those chats provide tips for bloggers that want to provide a more meaningful and measurable experience for their readers. These tips range from process and efficiency advice to ways of inspiring more user generate content, content repurposing and growing subscribers.
Q: Do you think blogs are influential in building community – in other words, if you build it, will they come?
A: Blogs as a hub surrounded by spokes of social participation are excellent for building community
A: The key is to empathize with what motivates people to discovery, engage & share content. Mesh that insight with your editorial & promotion
A: Great content isn’t great unless people read and share it. Blogs must promote content to grow community.
Q: How do you determine the niche solution your market needs to develop “go to” resources for that solution?
A: Developing resources for niche solutions can start by understanding audience pain points. Know your customer & make things that help them.
A: Monitor popular niche content in your category to see what topics are not being covered, problems not addressed, then make & solve for your niche.
A: Create a resource that you would want to use yourself & others will want to use it too. Be editorial not self promotional.
A: Niche list blog post resource example: 25 Women Who Rock Social Media (4,291 RTs)
A: Niche list blog post resource example: 22 Social Media Marketing Management Tools (2,599 RTs)
Q: A keyword glossary and editorial plan keep content on track, but does it create community?
A: Re: keywords and community – why make it hard for interested people to find your content?
A: Search keywords & social topics data come from real behaviors & conversations. They inspire editorial that resonates with readers & search engines alike
A: Bloggers writing purely for self expression with no monetization goals don’t need to bother with keyword glossaries and editorial plans
A: If bloggers have commercial & business accountability, then empathizing with desired audiences by creating editorial that speaks their language is good business
A: Two useful resources: SEO or Social for business blogging? & Dynamic Duo of Business Blog Marketing: Optimize & Socialize
Q: Is it better to gather a community on social media and drive to your blog or directly on your blog itself?
A: Where you gather community depends where they want to gather. Understand customers, implement & promote content accordingly. Adjust.
A: A hub and spoke mode allows both blog community & off blog community in social channels. Spoke communities help promote blog content.
Q: What other tips do you have for driving blog traffic/readership?
A: Create content people can’t find anywhere else
A Tips: Create comprehensive collections of resources – unique
A: Give to get. Praise others, give kudos and recognize others in your industry. Never underestimate the power of ego.
A: Engage – ask questions, respond quickly and qualitatively. Engage off your blog too – 10 min a day, every day
Q: What are some ways we can make their blogs more interactive for readers?
A: Interactions with blogs starts with interesting content. Empathize with audience interests, prompt them with ?s. Ask!
A: Collect the best comments and curate that into blog content. Spend time on other blogs too. 5-10 min a day.
A: Surface participation to recognize those who display desirable interaction behaviors. eg top commenters, top shares, etc
Q: What is the best way to go about sourcing user generated content?
A: To be efficient, I maintain 10-20 blog posts in development & add to them a few min at a time
A: As mentioned, guest posts work well. Create contests where content contribution is an outcome. Recognize “winners”.
A: Ask questions on social channels like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or G+ & compile the answers. Make it easy to answer.
Q: What is a good way to attract industry influentials to guest post on a blog?
A: Make valuable comments on their blogs, RT their tweets, get on the radar. Build your credibility & what you stand for.
A: Industry influentials tend to be BZ so make it EZ to contribute. If a guest post won’t work, offer an email interview.
A: Try asking 10 thought leaders 1 easy question and compile that into 1 post. Follow up with a guest post offer.
Q: Should you respond to all comments on your blog or only questions?
A: Responding to comments depends on opportunity to create value. Questions need answering. Adding to statements OK too.
A: I don’t think you need to reply to every “great post, thanks” comment, no. But when opportunity for opinion arises, take it.
Q: Do you find there is a difference in engagement if you ask more questions in your blog posts?
A: Asking questions does inspire more feedback in the comments – but only if natural & genuine vs. “gimmick”
A: A history of asking & answering questions with your blog community will create momentum, an expectation of conversation
Q: How can I get more social shares on my blog posts?
A: Make interesting content (defined by readers not just you), optimize for social share, promote it & shares will come.
A: It’s also worth asking “why” you want more social shares. Make a distinction between quantity (social proof) & quality.
Q: What types of posts typically get the most re-shares, comments, traffic, etc.
A: Reshares, comments, traffic are all different KPIs (key performance indicators) There’s no blanket “type” that hits all.
A: Start w/ content that solves a problem for readers, resonates with interests, trends & that’s easy to share.
A: People will rally around decisiveness, so take a stand. Be a leader on key points & your blog will attract shares & attention.
Many blog readers are bloggers themselves, so what are some of your best tips for creating a more meaningful and measurable experience for your blog audience?
Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.
© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Practical Tips to Make Your Blog More Useful & Interactive | http://www.toprankblog.com
6 Tips For More Effective Email Marketing Campaigns
Posted on 25. Oct, 2011 by Ashely Zeckman in B2B, B2C, Blog, content marketing, Email Marketing, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, tips
Does Your Inbox Look Like This?
We’ve all received them and we’ve all sent them. They can be given but they can’t be taken back. It’s a single action that can cause people to unfriend, unfollow, or unsubscribe. What are they? Emails! Emails can inspire, engage, or excite your prospects or customers but can have the opposite effect of what you were aiming for if you don’t follow some simple rules.
Creating an effective email marketing campaign is not always an easy task. However, there are a few things to keep in mind that may help take some of the fear out of launching your own campaign. Not every campaign will be successful but if you’re good about analyzing results, admitting shortcomings and making changes, who says you can’t learn from your mistakes?
#1 – Please, Please, Please Don’t Spam!
It’s 8am on Monday and you’re frantically trying to catch up on emails from the weekend. A subject line catches your eye “Thank You For Meeting Me.” This must be from someone you know, right? WRONG. Once you open the email you receive a message on ways you can generate millions of dollars without lifting a finger. All it requires is a “small” investment on your part. Although this is an extreme example of spamming, it is important that you keep this example in mind when creating your own campaigns. Be honest about who you are and try to offer something of value.
#2 – Have A Plan (Or Else)
Nothing hurts an email campaign more than inconsistent messaging and lack of direction. Your sales and marketing message should be aligned and you MUST have a plan for distributing your content. Email campaigns should always be written for your target audience. If you are targeting different decision makers in different industries, guess what? You will have to adapt your approach to meet the needs of your customer segment.your prospect base customer segment. Email is not always a “one size fits all” solution, but it should still follow a consistent process with end goals in mind.
#3 – Easy On the Eyes – Fuel For the Brain
Your email is likely 1 of 1,000 sitting unread in your prospect’s email inbox. If you have written a subject line that is compelling enough to get them to open, it’s important that you keep their attention, or they’ll just delete or move on to the next message. Make sure that your emails are scanable. Include bullet points with USEFUL and INTERESTING information. For example, an email that is 5 paragraphs long will not only lose the attention of your audience, but will cause readers to hesitate opening the next message from you that comes to their inbox.
#4 – Don’t Trip Up: Set Next Steps
So, you’ve managed to get in front of your target audience and they’ve read your email. Now what? NEVER leave it up to your audience to decide what the next steps are. Offer some sort of call to action such as a specific and relevant offer, recommending a date and time you can speak further, or a link to some useful information.
#5 – Make Content Sharable
If possible, embed sharable icons to your email communication. Why? If your audience does have interest in the message you’ve shared and would like to distribute that message to their own network it is important to make it as easy as possible for readers to extend the reach of your email message to social networks at large. Just think: If even just a fraction of your target audience are sharing your information, how many more users and prospective clients that will put you in front of?
#6 – Whatever You Do, Make Sure to Analyze Your Data
You can learn a lot about your audience from your email analytics. Whether you are using a CRM tool to send out emails (like Salesforce) or an email marketing platform (like Constant Contact) be sure to watch email campaign performance metrics as closely as you can. Of the emails sent, how many were actually opened? Which links were clicked on the most? How many times was your content shared with the users’ social network? Which offers resulted in the most conversions?
What Should We Always Keep In Mind With Email Marketing?
Email marketing campaigns are comprised of many moving pieces. By following a few simple best practice rules including plan development, setting next steps, and knowing your analytics you have the recipe for a successful and measurable email marketing campaign.
I’m curious to know what email marketing strategies have worked for your company in the past? I am also very interested in hearing about some of the challenges that you’ve faced and what you’ve taken away from those experiences. The only way we get better is if we keep learning, tweaking, and adapting the way that we are executing our email marketing strategy.
Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.
© Online Marketing Blog, 2011. |
6 Tips For More Effective Email Marketing Campaigns | http://www.toprankblog.com
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