The rise of blogging outreach has been impressive to observe, although many look at it with a short-term view in their marketing mix: 70% of all new blogs fail, quit or end within 12 months.
The returns from effective blog marketing are multiple - and they always come, if worked for. Sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly.
The most important thing to consider with your blog marketing is this: am I still asking questions before I post?
For me, effective blog marketing hinges around asking six questions before I write a blog post for myself or a client, and I learned this six-question formula in journalism college back in 1996. It's simple, straightforward and succinct:
'Who, What, Where, When, Why, How'
These six questions should be an integral part of your blog marketing, infusing each and every blog post you write. Here's how:
* Who
Who is the blog post for? Consider your audience before writing a blog post - and tailor the content for them.
* What
What is the blog post? A storytelling post, a How To post, a List post? Write it with one main style and structure.
* Where
Where is the blog post being shared? Using social media platforms to share and spread content is a critical element.
* When
When is the blog post going live? Use content marketing tools such as Hootsuite to work out optimal posting times.
* Why
Why are you writing the blog post? Is it for personal, professional or profit reasons? Or all three? Work out your motivators.
* How
This is the big one. How does this blog post add value to your audience's day? If it's spamming, selling drivel, start again.
Without analysis pre-blogging, how can you hope to measure your blog marketing success on an ongoing basis? Like any marketing activity, effective blog marketing needs solid strategic structure.
Unless, of course, you're happy writing a flog blog, which hammers broadcasting selling messages to an invisible audience.