How to write a marketing blog. Your two-minute read

You know what you want from your marketing blog. You want to promote your products and services, raise awareness for your brand, and drive traffic to your website. 

If your blog is witty and insightful and brimming with innovative marketing techniques and thought-leading narrative, even better – but don’t let that get in the way of the fundamentals.

The blog basics

Above all else – remember that you’re writing for your audience and not for you. If you’re writing a marketing blog, then it’s probably related to the company you work for. It needs to be an extension of your business and cohesive to your brand voice. The most effective blogs are the ones which attempt to answer an existing problem your customers are experiencing or offer a solution to new clients.

That’s not to say you can’t give yourself a “voice”. Toeing the company line is fine, but you can be original and fresh, and still deliver relevant and punchy content that both your manager, and readers, will enjoy. 

Think of a good title…

‘How to…’, ‘The Biggest Secret…’ are both educational and offer scarcity – promising the reader something in return for taking the time to read your blog. Consider throwing in a curveball. Maybe something related to popular culture? ‘How Fortnite Improved My Email Open rates…’. Who is not going to want to open that?

Tacking on ‘Your two-minute read’ just as I’ve done here, is a simple way of reassuring your reader that they’re not going to have to devote a whole afternoon to your musings.

The difficult middle bit…

If you’ve decided your blog title, then you probably know what you’re going to be writing about! Give your blog a distinct beginning of approximately 50 words, a middle section of 400-500, and an end of around 50-80 words.

Why just 500-600 words? Blogs are getting shorter, and the days of writing 800-word blogs have disappeared. People don’t have the time anymore. So try to keep it between that figure.

Blogs are supposed to be opinionated as well as opinion forming. Don’t be too clever. Readers will be turned off if they think you’re trying too hard. And don’t be too wordy, or reinvent the wheel – simply, you want to nudge the reader towards your brand and your way of thinking.

A “killer” statistic or three to prove your point always goes down well. It shows that you’ve done your research and that you know what you’re talking about. Stats help to back up your point.

Quotes are lovely when it comes to strengthening your point further – so long as it’s from someone your audience has heard of. If they’re a mover and shaker in your particular industry, then even better.

What’s your CTA?

Your Call To Action is the final demand you’ll place on the reader. If they’ve taken the time and trouble to read your blog, its best practice to offer them something of value in return.

You can send them to your website. You can link through to more blogs you’ve written. Can you offer them something more, such as a white paper or eBook?

Remember that your blog is just one of the first avenues in building a long and successful future network. Don’t be put off if you don’t get too many hits or reactions first time. It’s a snowball effect you’re looking for, and this is one part of your audience-building initiative.

Veronica Aris is Head of Sales & Marketing at The Icehouse, New Zealand’s leading business development hub.