People come to blog posts for help, education, entertainment, or research. I’ve compiled tips on how to write a blog post for your business that your audience is going to want to read! 

Listen to your audience

You’ll want to write content that is interesting or helpful to your audience. Find out their struggles and questions then write blog posts that answer them.

For example, Beginning Boutique sells fashion clothing and found out that their customers want help with outfits to stay cool in the heat and glam at the same time. They wrote a blog post called ‘Outfits To Beat The Heat This Summer’. Here the brand explains and educates their audience whilst promoting their products subtly. 

You can find out what your audience is saying through Facebook Groups, Facebook competitor pages, Quora, in your own blog comments section, or talking to your customers. 

Research

Use websites like Buzzsumo or search engines like Google to research for blog post ideas. Start typing into Google a question and see what it suggests. 

Here I have typed ‘What camera should I buy’ and Google suggestions have appeared with questions that are frequently asked. If I was a camera shop, I would write blog posts with each of these titles answering each of these questions by explaining about camera equipment, why certain lenses are useful, plus direct links to the products. People can go directly from the blog post to the product to purchase. 

Another great website is Buzzsumo. Here I typed into Buzzsumo ‘leather sofa’ as a potential blog post idea for a boutique. Buzzsumo has listed the top blog posts with ‘leather sofa’ in the title, alongside their engagement analytics. From this, I can find out and understand what blog posts are getting the most attention. 

Don’t go for the hard sell

Don’t go for the hard sell. You may not even realise it because you’re so attuned to listing off the features of a product but this kind of sales tactic can be dated and ineffective on its own. Write about your products in a creative way. Definitely explain the benefits and features of the product. Think benefits and features are the same thing? Nope. Features are the details of the product - example: This handbag is made of Italian leather so it’s long-lasting and tough. The benefit of the handbag might be that it can still look good after spillages and scruffs if you’re a new mummy with a toddler that’s unpredictable. See how much more relatable that is? 

Timely content

Have you ever been in a situation where you missed out on a great opportunity to write about your products and wanted to kick your own ass? I know I have. A marketing calendar is what you desperately need! Use a marketing calendar to mark down any national or social holidays, upcoming promotions or sales, events, and news. Having an idea of upcoming events can help you plan content ahead of time and when they’re most effective. 

For example, Net-A-Porter wrote a blog post in August, during wedding season titled, What To Wear To A Wedding. The blog post not only included full outfit ideas to help customers but also these products were stocked by Net-A-Porter. This made it easier for the customer to purchase and know that they’re new outfit is going to be great! 

Would I read this? 

And lastly, before you hit publish on a blog post, honestly as yourself - Would I want to read this if I was my customer? Is it helpful or entertaining?

These tips are just some ideas on improving your blog content for the benefit of sales.