Blogging Strategy 101: The five Ws of business blogging

Like me, you probably think blogging is the bee’s knees. I’ve already discussed my top 5 benefits of blogging for business (check it out if you haven’t already read it).

In this article, we’ll lay the foundation for a successful business blog, by exploring the who, what, when, where, and why of business blogging, or as I like to call them – the 5 W’s of blogging strategy.

Answering these questions early on (preferably before you start) ensures you create a brilliant blogging blueprint, not a barmy blogging blunderbuss.

When am I blogging [frequency]?

Blogging for business is an investment. A long term blogging strategy requires consistency and commitment. Whacking out three half-hearted posts sporadically over the next six months will not cut the mustard. Content marketing and SEO improvements take time, and quality is an absolute must.

As a bare minimum, businesses should be blogging monthly – preferably weekly – to boost their search engine rankings, making sure that their site content remains relevant, fresh, and engaging for their audience and ideal clients.

Why am I blogging [purpose and goals]?

Perhaps your blogging strategy is to shout about your fabulous product or service, to increase your web traffic, perfect your ‘filtering-out’ process, or convert prospects into client inquiries. Or maybe another reason entirely.

Whatever your reasons, being clear on your motivations for business blogging helps you to determine your goals, and objectively assess whether blogging is the right mechanism to achieve them.

For someone with a broad audience who wants high-impact and quick visibility ahead of a product launch next month, starting a brand new business blog wouldn’t return the results they’d want in a short time frame. Their funds and efforts would be better spent on specialist, highly targeted advertising.

Whereas, for someone wanting to boost their SEO over a 6-month period with weekly blogs on relevant topics to increase traffic to and inquiries from their website, blogging would be an excellent way to achieve this goal.

***Seriously, if this is you, get in touch today, you absolute dreamboat***

Keeping your goals in view also focuses your mind when you create your content pillars and make your content plan that lies beneath your blogging strategy (don’t worry, it’s not as complicated as it sounds).

Who am I blogging for [audience]?

I’ve talked about this before in my blog on writing SEO-friendly content, but I’ll reiterate quickly. Knowing your audience is the best piece of advice anyone (copywriter or otherwise) can give you.

Painting a picture of who you’re trying to attract, their personality type, pain points, what keeps them up at night, and what solution they’re looking for is imperative. It speeds up what can otherwise be a painful process.

Why does it matter? Because when you try to appeal to everyone, you end up appealing to no one. Your content becomes oh-so-vanilla it’s instantly forgettable. Really getting under the skin of your ideal clients makes you memorable, relevant, and identifies you as one of your client’s ‘people’.

I was talking to an artist the other day who paints exquisite watercolour pet portraits. Her content gets a lot of engagement on social media, but the engagement comes from fellow artists and creatives, not necessarily potential customers. I asked the simple question: who buys your portraits? She replied that it’s often people who have lost a pet and want a keepsake and that those clients are her favourite because her work is all the more meaningful.

We talked a bit longer, and she said ‘you’re going to tell me I should focus on those people aren’t you?’

And I said yes, and no. Yes them, absolutely. But also people in their social circles. We all have a friend or family member whose pet means the world to them, and we’ve all experienced the overwhelming loss when someone (human or animal) passes away. When the worst happens, people want to help, and do something to refocus that sadness into happy memories.

And that’s what her paintings do. They allow those people to remember their pets in their prime, share treasured memories, keeping their pets close after they’re gone. Her paintings give friends and families a way to offer some peace, closure, and a thoughtful gift to a loved one at a difficult time.

Therefore, a logical content pillar would be ‘life after losing a beloved pet’ – creating community around loss, sharing memories, and supporting loved ones through grief.

Where is my audience [customer journey]?

As a business owner, you’ve probably heard the phrase ‘customer journey’ or ‘sales funnel’. In a nutshell, a customer journey is a roadmap a person follows from finding you online to making their purchase, a process of conversion from lead to customer.

Your content has different jobs to do depending on where that person is in their customer journey.

In my line of work, there are four typical stages in my relationships with my audience:

Strangers: People new to me, my business, and my content
Prospects: People who are curious about me, my business, and my content, and want to see how I do things
Clients: People who choose to work with me, and
Promoters: Clients and former clients who tell others about me.

People within each stage of the process require different things to progress. As a result, my content varies between attracting potential clients who are new to all things Adminspiration, curating that relationship by showing I understand their problems and pain points, engaging those people and earning their trust by demonstrating my expertise, encouraging them to take the leap and work together, delighting them with the content I create for them, and empowering them to achieve their goals and tell the world about me.

What am I blogging about [content pillars and themes]?

Answering the when, why, who, and where questions lead you to your answers to the biggest and best blogging strategy question of all – what on earth am I going to blog about?

By understanding why you’re blogging, who you’re targeting, and where they are on their customer journey, you can assess and predict what they’ll need to take that next step in your sales process.

And that, my friends, is what informs your content plan (a blog on that is coming soon).