5 tips to increase your blog subscribers fast

So we’ve all been told how important blogs are to a marketing strategy. After all, they’re excellent pieces of content that help us address prospect’s pain points and educate them in short, concise and interesting ways.

But too many marketers still aren’t making the most of their potential. So here you go… no more excuses, follow these simple rules and within a couple of hours you’ll have a blog that’s ready to start bringing in warm leads and nurture prospects through the sales journey.

1. Understand personas

This is one of the most important aspects of content creation – you have to know who you’re writing for. I don’t mean job titles or general demographics. Who your audience really is should shape your entire content strategy. Consider:

• What are their likes/dislikes – important for choosing themes
• What their pain points are – important for choosing topics of discussion
• What social networks/websites do they like and at what time do they visit – important for your distribution strategy

Obviously, everyone is different but having a picture of your ‘typical’ prospect that’s based on research will go a long way to maximising your blog’s (and other marketing efforts) success. If you have more than one demographic you want to engage with then have a blog strategy and persona document for each.

2.       Use effective headlines

If blog content is the tool that will keep your audience reading and hopefully complete the final call to action, the headline is what’s going to grab their attention in the first place. However you choose to distribute your blog – search engine results, social networks, third-party websites etc. – the title must make them take notice. To maximise the chances they’ll click on your post the title should include either:

• Numbers
• Questions
• The word ‘infographic’

Once again, every demographic is different so it’s worth recording each blog’s performance using metrics such as views and call to action success rate. Regularly look for common trends that tie the most successful blogs together and use these tactics more. Again, trends change so don’t stop measuring and don’t be afraid to think outside the box.

3.       Quality content

This might seem like an obvious point but the fact is that people won’t want to keep receiving or searching for your blog if the content isn’t insightful and engaging. There are two key points to make here.

1. Content can’t be fluffy – no one cares about your trip for ice cream at the weekend. Address business pain points that affect your target audience

2. Content can’t be stuffy – this is a blog, not an essay. Have fun with it and speak one-to-one with your readers like you would with friends or family. If you can, try and find a relevant theme that you can weave into your blog’s message

4.       Link to your blog from your website

Once you’ve created your blog, be proud of it. Make sure there’s an obvious link to it from your website. That way prospects who want to know a bit more about your expertise can have a look at what you have to say about issues that affect them.

It’s also useful for people who have read one of your blogs they found particularly interesting and want to find it again or direct colleagues to it.

5.       Right distribution channels

Now that you know the kinds of publications/websites/social networks that your target audience likes to use you can maximise your distribution efficiency. Distribute the article through their favoured media at the time they’re most likely to be viewing it.

Remember, trends change so you have to continuously analyse this information to make sure your distribution strategy remains relevant.

Marketing automation software is an excellent tool to help you distribute content at the relevant time and on the appropriate channels. By scheduling posts in advance you don’t run the risk of forgetting a post and it frees you up to focus on growing the business and other primary duties. If you’d like more information about how to use marketing automation software, download our free guide – it’s packed with tips and insights about how to set up automation effectively and maximise efficiency.