Over the years, I have seen a lot of B2B companies get into blog writing, notably thought leadership blogs. This type of content showcases your organization’s expertise in a field or industry, so it’s no wonder more people want in on it. It’s a great way to build an email list, attract leads, and garner credibility within your industry.
The mistake many companies and organizations make is that they don’t put value the importance of these blogs. When that happens, content falls flat or worse, they hurt their credibility.
Thought leadership blogs don’t have to be perfect, but they do need to be observant and engaging. Below are some essential elements that take a thought leadership blog from being adequate to captivating.
1. Share Your Perspective with Insights and Data
There is no point in creating a thought leadership blog if it doesn’t include your perspective with the data and insights to back it up. This is how to get potential clients and customers to connect with you.
Think back to when you wrote a thesis statement for school papers and how it helped you form your conclusion. Those talking points should not only entice the reader to continue reading, but also illustrate that you know what you’re talking about. A great way to do this is to add data and draw observations and insights from it, which I’ll get into on the next point.
2. Use Sources from Reputable Organizations and Experts
It’s great to include data and insights, but it only gets you so far if it isn’t from a credible and reliable organization. The easiest way to find these sources is to pull from within your industry, so think professional associations, news organizations, and fellow industry leaders.
By doing this, your B2B elevates their own credibility by being in tune with what’s going on in their industry. The ultimate goal should be that your company becomes that source people turn to for news, insights, and, of course, thought leadership.
3. Make it Easy to Read
If you do not write for a living, chances are you may believe that good writing involves fancy words. But the key to being a good writer is to make it easy for anyone to understand. It’s hard to believe that’s how simple it is, but it’s true, especially in today’s culture.
A good rule of thumb is to write at a 5th-grade level, so a kid at that age can understand it. Why? People in very technical or jargon-heavy industries tend to forget that most people don’t understand what they do, so writing using simpler language helps them not only understand it but want to read more.
4. Less is More
I bring this up again and again in other blogs because it’s so important: please stop trying to cram every single detail in your content. If people are interested in learning more, include a link. They will go to those pages if they want to, but they won’t continue reading what’s there if it’s monotonous and long.
Ideally, a thought leadership blog should be under five minutes. It gives you enough time to illustrate your point without taking up too much of the reader’s time. It’s the thoughtful thing to do, it makes writing go by much more quickly, and you’ll encourage readers to want more.
5. Solve a Problem
All marketing content illustrates how an organization can solve a problem, and blogs should be no different with a carefully placed call to action (CTA).
When people go to read a blog, they are looking to learn something new and/or solve a problem, but not necessarily utilize your services to do that. That’s not what a company wants, but they should go in with the mindset of knowing that. The goal is to change their perception of you and hopefully change their minds later.
For most of us, it’s exactly how we like to shop in a clothing store. We don’t want the employees to bug us unless we are seeking help. When we do want help, we are expecting that employee to be more than ready to help and provide answers.
Blogs should operate the same way, with all of the company’s information and services easy to access if they need it. CTAs are meant to serve that purpose so that if someone is interested in your services, they can connect with you, but don’t shove it in their face. Instead, make it discreet. Typically, it’s included at the end of the blog and flows naturally with what’s already been said.
You can also include the link repeatedly in places that touch on the topic. I highly recommend linking internally whenever possible. If your blog ever touches on a certain topic that you’d like to expand on, linking to internal links like a previous blog, a case study, or a webinar is a great way to keep people on your website and improve SEO. And depending on the internal link, you can pull in new blog followers, email subscribers, and social media followers.
When a thought leadership blog eloquently shares industry expertise and insights and solves a problem, it has no problem getting attention.
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AFJ Digital 