Comprised of overflow content from a presentation on blogging for business associations, this addresses inbound vs. outbound marketing, benefits of blogging, defining quality content, using content to nurture relationships with target audience, and blog strategy to support business goals.

1. KM Strategic
USING A
BLOG
TO SERVE
BUSINESS
GOALS:
January
2014
A Recipe for Success
How to “cook up” online
assets that work for you.
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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2. ITEMS TO DISCUSS
www.KirstenMeyer.com
01
Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing
02
Why Blog? The Benefits of Content
03
Blogging and Relationships
04
Quality Content
05
Writing a Blog Post: Title, Tone & Technical Considerations
06
Being Seen: Visibility & Promotion
The presentation will be followed by a brief Q&A
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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3. ABOUT KM STRATEGIC
www.KirstenMeyer.com
QUALITY CONTENT
GETS RESULTS
EMAIL
BLOGS
DOWNLOADABLE OFFERS
ONSITE TEXT
SOCIAL MEDIA
WHITEPAPERS
BRAND AWARENESS
CUSTOMER LOYALTY
HIGH QUALITY LEADS
WEBSITE TRAFFIC
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
LEAD NURTURING
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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4. 1989:
Outbound
Marketing
• Tradeshows
• Telemarketing
• Email SPAM
• Door-to-Door Sales
• TV Commercials
• Intrusive
• Captive Audience
• Annoying
Awesome Jedi Salesman photo credit:
Brad Montgomery
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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5. 2014:
Inbound Marketing
• Info on-demand
• On user’s terms
• Reviews/recommends +
• Must be findable
• Must be credible
• Must have info they need
• Limited bandwidth
• Customer initiates sale
• Quality content key
Wikimedia commons photo credit
60% of sales process
now done via online
research before
contacting sales rep.
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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6. BLOG
(that’s it for this slide; this is my “charm” segment)

7. SECTION 1: WHY BLOG?
www.KirstenMeyer.com
WHY BLOG?
1. UNDERSTANDING THE BENEFITS
2. HOW TO EXTRACT THE BENEFITS
Graphika
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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8. HUBSPOT.COM BLOG STATS
www.KirstenMeyer.com
Companies that blog get 55%
more web traffic than companies
that don’t.
B2C companies get 88% more
leads/month than those that don’t;
for B2B its 67% more.
Companies that blog convert 70%
more than companies that don’t.
Thanks for stats, Hubspot!
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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9. BENEFITS OF BLOGGING
www.KirstenMeyer.com
1. ACCOMMODATE PEOPLE’S
NEED FOR INFO ON-DEMAND
2. HELP BRAND VISIBILITY
3. ESTABLISH & SUPPORT THOUGHT
LEADERSHIP, EXPERTISE, AND TRUST
4. SEO BENEFIT
Visitors
Leads
MQL
SQL
5. CONTENT FEEDS THE SALES FUNNEL
6. LOWER COST PER LEAD FOR INBOUND
VS. OUTBOUND MARKETING
($346 VS. $135) (HUBSPOT)
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
GOAL
9

10. BENEFITS OF BLOGGING
www.KirstenMeyer.com
HOW DOES BLOGGING DO ALL THAT?
• EACH POST IS A NEW
PAGE OF CONTENT.
• EACH PAGE OF
CONTENT IS A NEW
OPPORTUNITY TO BE
FOUND.
THE GREATER YOUR REPERTOIRE OF ONLINE CONTENT,
THE GREATER YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT.
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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11. BENEFITS OF BLOGGING
End
Goal
You
Blog
People
Read
More
www.KirstenMeyer.com
RING OF HOPE
End Goals (Examples):
•
•
•
People •
See It •
•
People
Share
It
People
Read It
People
Find It
Valuable
•
•
•
Subscribe to Blog
Explore site
Visit other pages
Read more blog posts
Download content and leave
email for ongoing
messaging/relationship
Have positive impression of
your brand
Consider using your service
Remember you when they
need your service
Make purchase/ become client
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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12. IT’S ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS
www.KirstenMeyer.com
Online Content:
• It’s not about closing.
• It’s about opening doors
to new relationships and
being seen by the right
people at the right time.
• Every connection, view,
click, machine & device
leads to a person.
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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13. IT’S ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS
Online Content:
• Online relationship-building
has been likened to dating.
• Be considerate & respectful
of your date (vs. overlyeager, self-absorbed, or
awkwardly inappropriate).
• People don’t care about
your products and services;
they care about
themselves (Copyblogger).
www.KirstenMeyer.com
ME
ME
ME
ME
ME
ME
ME
ME
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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14. CONSIDERATIONS
www.KirstenMeyer.com
WOO!
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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15. CONSIDERATIONS
www.KirstenMeyer.com
• Relationships take time to build.
• Blogging also takes time:
1.5-2 hrs. per blog average on
the low end.
• Frequency: successful blogs publish
at least 2x/week.
• Despite the investment of
resources, in terms of ROI, its
difficult to beat blogging for value
and bang for your buck.
Bottom line: If you don’t make an investment, you won’t get
to first base.
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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16. DEFINING GOALS
www.KirstenMeyer.com
In order to deliver quality content, you must define your target.
•
•
•
•
What is the goal?
Who is your audience?
What do they want to know?
What action do you want them to take?
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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17. DEFINING QUALITY CONTENT
www.KirstenMeyer.com
Quality content is:
-Created with your target audience in mind.
-Interesting enough to make someone want to read it.
-Well written and formatted enough to be read.
-Findable.
-Likeable.
-Useful.
-Relevant.
-Shareable.
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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18. SEMANTIC SEARCH
www.KirstenMeyer.com
Google’s Guidelines for Content Creation:
Content is key. Good content- clear, concise,
informative – is better than bad content.
Use plain English. Write for real people.
Keep links to a reasonable number. Make
your content readable.
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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19. DELIVERING GOOD CONTENT
Quality
content
increases the
likelihood of
occurrence
at each step
towards
ranking
in organic
search results
www.KirstenMeyer.com
Being
Found
Being
Clicked
Social
Shares
More
Time on
Page
Good
Content
Return
Visits
Views
Other
Pages
More
Perceived
Value
Builds
Trust
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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20. BLOG WRITING
www.KirstenMeyer.com
PROMOTIONAL POST
VS. HELPFUL POST
(That *happens* to be from your business)
It’s the difference between an annoying commercial and a strategic product
placement in something you’re watching by choice. Except if someone is on
your site, they can leave rather than being forced to sit through a commercial.

Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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21. PROMOTIONAL VS. HELPFUL
www.KirstenMeyer.com
5 Reasons Why Jones Hardware Beats the Competition:
Hi, I’m Joe from your friendly neighborhood hardware store: Jones Hardware.
Neighborhood stores of any type are exceptional relative to your national chain
retailers (not to “name names” but, ahem, for example: Home Depot & Lowe’s.
Unlike Home Depot, Jones Hardware isn’t trying to be everything to everyone.
Where we excel is service with a smile and custom requests for people we know
by name. And Jones Hardware won’t be beat on prices. This week nails are on sale.
No one but your friends will willingly continue reading this.

3 Reasons to Support Local Businesses
1. Local Character: One-of-a-kind businesses contribute to a community’s
unique character.
2. Jobs & Wages: Locally owned businesses create local jobs and in certain
sectors provide better wages & benefits than chains.
3. Public Benefits & Costs: Local stores require comparatively little
infrastructure & make more efficient use of public services compared to big box
stores.
Examples and pictures include those specific to Jones Hardware (but not only).
The general points made have broad applicability beyond Jones Hardware. Link
to data & other sources for authority. Use author bio to promote biz.
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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22. BLOG CONSTRUCTION
www.KirstenMeyer.com
Questions to Ask Before Writing Your Post:
• Who would want to read this post?
• Can I deliver useful, relevant content in support of this title?
• Can I write this post in a way that is meaningful for the reader versus just
communicating what I want to say about my business?
• Have others written about this topic before? Can I offer a new spin on it or
improve on the available info?
• Does the subject address a need for my target audience?
• Is it worth the investment of time and effort?
• Which format is most conducive to communicating this message (video,
graphic, Q&A)?
• Who is best suited to contribute to this article? What resources (on and
offline, text and multimedia) can I draw on?
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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23. BLOG TITLE CONSTRUCTION
www.KirstenMeyer.com
A GOOD TITLE:
• IS COMPELLING
• USES A KEYWORD
• HAS A SINGLE TOPIC
• CLEARLY EXPRESSES THE TOPIC
• 8 WORDS / 70 CHARACTERS
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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24. BLOG TITLE CONSTRUCTION
www.KirstenMeyer.com
Examples of Common Title Styles:
How to (or How NOT to)
Controversial- Why Apple Will Implode by 2015
Urgent- Don’t Miss Friday’s Deadline for…
Trendy- (To Hell in a Handbasket: Intellectual
Property Rights & the Hell’s Angels)
• Use Numbers (10 FAQs About XYZ Answered)
• Newsworthy
• The Essential Guide to…
•
•
•
•
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25. BLOG FORMAT
www.KirstenMeyer.com
FORMAT FOR CONSUMPTION
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bullets
Length 400-1000 words
Images
Headline
Font types
Whitespace
Subheaders
Numbers
Signature blurb
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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26. BLOG TONE
www.KirstenMeyer.com
TONE AND STYLE
• Inject personality- you are a
person writing for other people.
• It may be “casual Friday”
professional, but it’s still
professional.
• Consider hijacking a style guide
for reference and making it your
own. (Thanks, Hubspot!)
Download
Hubspot’s.pdf guide
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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27. SECTION 4: BEING SEEN
www.KirstenMeyer.com
GET YOUR BLOG SEEN:
VISIBILITY &
PROMOTION
1. KEYWORDS & META DATA
2. LINKS
3. SOCIAL MEDIA
4. EMAIL
5. PROMOTE SUBSCRIPTIONS
6. GOOGLE AUTHORSHIP
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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28. BLOG PROMOTION
www.KirstenMeyer.com
WHAT DO YOU MEAN, ‘META DATA’?
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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29. KEY POINTS
www.KirstenMeyer.com
RECAP of KEY POINTS
Use business goals of site to inform your blog
strategy.
Create quality content for your target
audience, and create it as often as possible.
Constantly promote and share your blogs
and those of others. Read others’ blogs, use
comments & participate in the conversation.
Using a Blog to Serve Business Goals| January, 2014
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30. KM Strategic
January
2014
THANK YOU !
FOR COMING
Get in touch
by phone, email, or online at:
(+1) 714.454.6647
www.KirstenMeyer.com
Kirsten.Marie.Meyer@gmail.com
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