Think Outside the Blog

Get Your Business to ‘Think Outside the Blog’

Before 4 years it has been declared that the blogs are dead. Here it means that the blog page of the company is over. Here you will find the bold claim that the innovative companies are moving to the media organization approach, and they are modeling themselves as the news provider similar to the BBC.

Time has proved that many innovative companies are experimenting with the layout of the websites and pushing their content to the central position. But if you consider the scenario of B2B technology space then many organizations have not done so. They have still kept their homepage, resources, and services pages to be dynamic. This is an acceptable scenario. 

The main aim of this article is to discuss the traditional mindset of where the website’s blog page is located and can commonly filter into what sort of content a company would produce. I would like to tell the audience that the blog section is not at all dead. But if your business wants to do something big by using its content marketing strategy then you should learn to think outside of the blog. 

2022 is the year when you should focus on elevating your content:

B2B content marketing earlier used to focus only on blog writing. But the world of internet marketing has changed a lot and the mediums and formats that businesses now have at their disposal are a lot much richer and engaging for the audience in multiple ways. 

2022 is the year when you should set higher ambitions for your website and marketing content. It’s not that difficult to do so. It just requires a little bit of planning and implementation too. 

You can kick up your content using these techniques:

Monthly editorial meeting

The content which is present in the strategy of your content marketing should never be ad hoc. You need to set up the content calendar which can be considered as a good start. The next step would be setting up the monthly editorial meeting for discussing the content which you will be published in the next month.

Who should be there?

In the editorial meeting, you have to include the decision-makers who are the people from the marketing team, experts of products, representatives from sales, and other representatives from other area in the organization. This person would be having very good input about the content which needs to be produced.

It is very important to keep these points in your mind:

  • Who is it for?
  • What is the purpose of this content?
  • What reader is looking for in the content?
  • What is the form which the content will take?

All of the above questions should be considered as the main topic in your editorial meeting. This is where the thought outside the blog will happen. This does not mean that you will never write another blog again. It would be a matter of allowing yourself to think about the alternative ways of producing the content.

What form of content should you think of?

Video

The consumption of video is continuously growing at a rapid speed. It is estimated that the average person is spending at least 100 minutes watching online videos every day in 2022. This has increased about 80 minutes from the year 2019.

So, what are you waiting for? Think about the blog content as they currently produce and how some of these ideas can transform the video content? How difficult it would be to produce the videos? It would be much easier than you think.

You will need to set up the Channel on the YouTube  and then have to begin experimenting by taking advantage of the blog post which has already been written. You have to use this video as inspiration.

Webinars

In times of remote working, a webinar is a very good idea. It is a superb way for selling your expertise. It would be very interactive and will generate lots of leads. Various easy-to-use apps are available, and the fact is that a lot of people are working from home. So quickly you can produce valuable webinars which can create engagement, interest and most importantly generate leads.
Webinars similar to the video content are not difficult to set up as you might be expecting. It is very much easier to set up the webinar as compared to the video. It can be created by making use of the video conferencing tools, which can then combine with Microsoft PowerPoint which is a presentation app. Take out some ideas for the blog and then turn it into a presentation and this way, your webinar is ready for boom and driving traffic.

Podcasts

Podcasts are again a new innovative medium for content. Maybe your mother has already started one. You can take inspiration and learning from your mother and then you can also start your podcast. If you are a charismatic speaker and thinker in your organization then you need to get on the call using good video conferencing software. You need to hit the recording and your podcast will start. It is not that hard to start the podcast. It just needs proper planning. If you are good at little management also then also you would be able to start your podcast. If all of your things are properly organized, then there is a very high chance of the lead conversions from your podcasts.  

If you are thinking of starting the podcast, then you need to choose the host for introducing the episode. You should have to be consistent with the content. You have to outline your topic and have to make sure that whoever is on the podcast will know in advance what they need to talk about. They should be aware of the structure of the chat. This will help in saving a lot of time when it will come to edit the episode in the flawless conversation. You can use various free software like Audacity for editing the recording. There are also other platforms like Anchor which is also free and can be used for publishing podcasts. 

Audio versions of blogs

If you are thinking about reducing the volume of the content of the blog, then it doesn’t mean that you will not be able to do a little more with the content. When you are adding the audio version of the blog then it is considered as an extra way for which the people will consume. It will be more accessible and will also enable the differently-abled person to consume your content easily.

When you are starting the podcast that it also means that you are investing in decent editing software and a microphone. Let’s put it to use in the further recording in your latest blog and put it out in the piece of audio.

eBooks/Guides/Long Form

This kind of written content is similar to the industry reports, eBook guides, and technical whitepapers and they are still relevant as several years ago. When these are done well then these will be excellent lead generators. When specific and researched information then the reader will not go anywhere else. This is a great way for showing expertise.

Now, this is the time when you can turn this long piece of content into an interactive webinar. By this, you would be able to send invites to your mailing lists. Then you can push all this on social media. This will generate a crowd from the people who would be interested in this. This will probably turn into new leads.

Create experience at a distance

The extraordinary business will always stand out because of the user experience which they are creating. That does not mean that they would have moved online. Organizations of all sizes and industries of all kinds have transitioned themselves into semi-virtual services where they are offering online services without losing what is making them special.

Whether you can serve your customers online or not, you have to consider the virtual experience for them. Just having a website for managing online transactions will not add any personal touch to the customers. If you want your customer to value your organization then you have to give the best user experience to your website.

If you offer them a small gift in-person then do that thing replace and replicate the online gifts? If you are offering a free coffee in the lobby then you should include a 5$ gift card with the purchase of a certain amount.

Various opportunities for personalizing the user experience

The more you can tailor the approach, by making use of the customer’s names in the prebuilt forms and recommending them the services and products based on their past purchases, the more your customer will be feeling cared for and comforted.

Similar to the videos, experience is also having the capability of making money from it. You would be able to present the live training session or the virtual webinar. You can also hold the mini-conference for which you will not be charged for admission.

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It did not need to be directly related to the mainline of business. If you are confident about culinary skills, then you can offer the online cooking class. You can also pull the NPR and start tasting wine for your business. You can also donate some of your proceeds for a good cause so that goodwill and your participation could be maximized.

Few more Ideas:

  • Q&A session with virtual happy hours
  • Fundraisers online
  • Website accounts/profiles for the customers, with personalized landing pages
  • Spotify playlist for the public featuring the music in the rotation in the office
  • Freebies like teabags. Branded pins, candy, and stickers, etc. need to be added in orders
  • Handwritten thank-you notes and a 30-second video for thank you

Reward to most loyal customers

Your customers are always deserving recognition especially those who are local to your business. You have to reward them with a free product or service or a discount code. You can also ask them to join your premium list of mailing so that they will receive special updates and newsletters which are featuring bonus content, exclusive offers, sneak peeks, and so on. As they will become preferred customers now, they will enjoy receiving the latest services and products from the company. They would be notified before the general customers about the new offerings from the company.

Many people always love to earn these kinds of benefits. They are also willing to pay for them. That also means that the bottom line has been a booster that can allow the customers to pay for their rewards. It is the same business model which credit card companies, airlines, and many other recent patron accounts and Kickstarter campaigns are using for driving customer loyalty, interest, and retention.

Other ideas to consider:

  • Different reward program for tiers
  • Rewards or discounts for referrals
  • Secret page on the website which can be accessible only to the people who are having the right code or the people who know where to look

Live Chat Sessions

Live chat is the most effective and fastest way for connecting to online customers. It will help the visitors on the website to find the information which they required. They can also gather useful information for the business and then they will initiate the sales service and customer conversations.

Live chat sessions are the most essential part of doing business online. In this virtual world, it is no longer a nice but necessary component is the online experience. It is very equivalent to the capable friendly front desk receptionist who is greeting people when they walk to the physical location of the business.

Live chat uses

  • Clear up queries regarding features and product
  • Clear explanation of the pricing and incentives
  • Connecting visitors to the right departments and specialists
  • Inviting visitors to take advantage of the exclusive deals
  • Answer FAQs
  • Offering real-time support to the various issues of the website
  • Seamless online transactions
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