rock your business blog
DESCRIPTION
Creative yet inexpensive Internet marketing techniques such as blogging can build a company’s online presence, spawn brand loyalty, and generate leads/results. Through comprehensive SEO techniques and other inbound marketing methodologies, companies can increase website traffic and be top-of-mind for those discussing similar topics.Because a corporate blog is a place for customers, prospects and like-minded individuals to share ideas, it reinforces a company’s image and brand as a thought-leader. This session will discuss what kind of content you can create to attract your customers, how to bring people to your blog and how to keep the momentum going. We’ll also cover how you can measure your success so you know what works and what doesn’t.TRANSCRIPT
Rock My Business Blog
Karen Rubin
HubSpot Product Owner
Slides: SlideShare.net/HubSpot
Twitter: @KarenRubin
AgendaI. About HubSpot & Inbound Marketing
II. Five Keys to a Successful Blog1. Identify Target Personas
2. Create a Mix of Posts
3. Write Great Posts
4. Sustain It
5. Spread It
III. How to Measure Your Blog
3
What’s HubSpot?
• Founded in July 2006 from research at MIT• Cambridge, MA• 2,500 customers, 100+ employees
Outbound Marketing
800-555-1234AnnoyingSalesperson
Inbound Marketing
Content SEO Social Media
Rethinking MarketingOutbound Marketing• Telemarketing• Trade shows• Direct mail• Email blasts• Print ads• TV/radio ads
Inbound Marketing• SEO / SEM• Blogging• Social Media• RSS• Free tools/trials• Viral videos
Interruption Permission
Exponential Effects
Blog
SEO• More Traffic• More Links
Social Media• Even More Traffic• Even More Links• More Content
AgendaI. About HubSpot & Inbound Marketing
II. Five Keys to a Successful Blog1. Identify Target Personas
2. Create a Mix of Posts
3. Write Great Posts
4. Sustain It
5. Spread It
III. How to Measure Your Blog
Key #1: Identify Target Personas
Kadient photo by: David Meerman Scott
Your Content Pulls in Your Personas
“Create the kind of online content that your buyers naturally gravitate to.”
- David Meerman Scott
Author of The New Rules of Marketing & PR
www.webinknow.com
What Keywords Will Attract Your Personas?
• Fill posts with them• Build an archive of content full of them
How We Pick Keywords: Keyword Grader
A Word of Caution• Writing for your personas
DOES NOT mean writing about the products and services you sell them
• Write about the things they want to learn about
Key #2: Create a Mix of Posts
Flickr Photo: jek-a-go-go
Plan a Mix of Posts
News
Feature
Video
Photos
Opinion
Many Types of Posts Get Traffic
Post Page Views
Did You Graduate From Link Building High School Yet 11,270
State of the Twittersphere - Q4 2008 Report 8,768
You Oughta Know Inbound Marketing 7,498
6 Tips for Making a Business Marketing Video 4,211
Twitter in Real Life: The Follow Back [cartoon] 4,137
Raisin Bran – Basic, Everyday Posts
• How to posts• Rich in keywords• Get good at
whipping them out
• Make sure they’re useful
Flickr Photo: greeneyesmilw
Spinach – Healthy, Thoughtful Posts
• Should establish your site as a thought leader in the industry
• Put time into them
• Don’t do too many
Flickr Photo: ulteriorepicture
Roasts – Big Blog Projects
• Lots of work• Lots of links,
discussion and attention
• Pick them well
Tabasco – Posts That Start Fires
• Make a bold statement
• Be prepared to defend yourself
• Lots of comments and links
• Too many of these posts could lose trust
Flickr Photo: ANOXLOU
Chocolate Cake – The Sweet Stuff
• These posts make your blog fun
• A chance to poke fun at yourself
• Lots of traffic/links • Often video, images
Flickr Photo: scubadive67
Key #3: Write Great Posts
Flickr Photo: Olivander
No Need to Be Hemingway
Just follow a few simple rules.
Photo: Wikipedia
Tips for Post Structure• Use Headings• 500-800 words (or
shorter!)• Lists are OK (just
not too many)• 1 idea per post
Blog Topic Ideas• List of 5 ideas, trends or thoughts• Publish a list of links• Take a recent experience and share it• Answer questions you received recently• Comment on other blog articles• Turn a press release into a blog article• Check your email outbox
Always Add a Photo
• Flickr• iStockphoto• Shoot your own
How to Search for a Flickr Photo
Go to Advanced Search
Then search for CC licensed photos
Where Do You Get Ideas?• Everywhere• Keep a list• When you learn something,
flesh it out• Ask your readers
Write Great Headlines
How to Write Great Headlines• Write the headline before the article• Imagine the reader won’t see the article• Surprise people• No spelling errors!• Use your keywords
Blog Article Titles
• Funny: “GoDaddy's 16-Step Checkout: Brainless Marketing At Its Finest?”
• Enticing: “12 Quick Tips To Search Google Like An Expert”
• SEO: “Free Advertising on Google”6th Most Popular HubSpot
Blog Article
Key #4: Sustain It
Flickr Photo: michalo
Pick a Publishing Schedule• Once a week? Every Monday
and Wednesday?• Stick to it• The goal is to build up a body
of keyword-rich content (create an asset)
Different Ways of Doing Posts• Email interviews• Video interviews (conferences, office visitors,
clients)• Guest posts from people with similar blogs• “Best of” lists• “How we do it” posts
Should I Hire People?
It depends.
Pros:• You don’t have to do the work• You hire a “professional writer”
Cons:• Nobody knows your business like you do• You don’t build your personal reputation• You don’t participate in the conversation
Key #5: Spread It
Flickr Photo: felipearte
Think of Blogging Like a Job Search
Would you sit at home and wait for a call?
Take Comments Seriously• Make sure you comment back• Find out who the people are
• Follow their links• Subscribe to their blog, follow them on Twitter
Use these links
Why Leave Comments?
• Karma
• Get noticed by other bloggers
• Get noticed by other blog readers
• Get links back to your blog
• Thought leadership
Tips on Comments
Increase the value of the article:
• Share an example• Add a point• Add a useful link• Disagree• Ask a question• Use your real name (not company)
Publish on Social Media
• Post directly• Post via twitterfeed.com automatically
• Post to your status• Post automatically via a feed to your fan or
profile page
Also consider LinkedIn, other sites.
Where Do You Link to Your Blog?
• Your homepage• Press releases• Business cards• Email signatures
AgendaI. About HubSpot & Inbound Marketing
II. Five Keys to a Successful Blog1. Identify Target Personas
2. Create a Mix of Posts
3. Write Great Posts
4. Sustain It
5. Spread It
III. How to Measure Your Blog
Metric #1: Subscriptions
• A measure of you blog’s total reach• A “sticky” number
Metric #2: Pageviews
• Great for media sites selling display advertising• Potential problems for your business:
• Doesn’t measure RSS• Weak measure of engagement• What’s the business value of a “view”?
Metric #3: Comments
• Quantitatively, a good indicator of engagement• Qualitatively, a great way to listen to market
Metric #4: Inbound Links
• Measure the SEO impact of your blog• An indicator of your blog’s role in outside conversations
Metric #5: Conversions
Thank You! Any Questions?
Karen Rubin
Product Owner
HubSpot
Learn more about HubSpot:
http://www.HubSpot.com/Demo
Free tools:
http://Grader.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/karenrubin
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karenrubin