Blogging regularly is hard, and coming up with new topics on a regular basis is even harder. Here are 9 types of blog posts that will help develop closer customer relationships and make your customers feel like they’re in the know.
How to’s
There are a few different types of How-to posts, but all of them have the same effects. They build trust in your business, establish you as an industry leader and keep your name on the top of people’s minds when looking for help in your field.
What to look for when hiring someone to do what you do – Transparency is trustworthy, so if you let potential customers in on what to look for in your business you give them the knowledge to make a good choice. By blogging about what is and isn’t commonly included in a quote, you help people understand why cheaper may not be better. Blogging about the processes of your business leaves people feel like they won’t be ripped off. The more information you give, the more customers will trust you to do the right thing.
How to do something that you do – Let you customers know what’s involved in doing your job. If you go into detail about how to do something you do, it gives customers a chance to see the level of skill and knowledge that justify getting someone else to do it for them. Of course there may be people who feel they can DIY, but mostly you’ll encourage people to give you a call to take care of it for them.
DIY tips – There are some people who are going to DIY no matter how reasonable your pricing and how easy you are to work with. By sharing DIY tips, you can help them get it right, and build yourself as the “go-to” for your industry. So when they need someone for a job that they can’t or don’t want to DIY, you’ll be the first they think of.
Business insights
When I talk about business insights, I’m talking about insights into the more personal side of your business. By letting customers get to know you, you develop a relationship that runs both ways and help to create advocates out of your fans.
Staff profiles – Staff profiles can be a little tricky as you don’t really want to overshare, but giving a bit of insight into your staff is great. My main guidelines would be to not give away any personal information and keep it light. Cover a few of your hobbies and what sort of thing you like to do out of work. Then if you need a bit more, give some background information about your time in the industry and what you love about it. Just keep in mind that you’ll have no control over who sees the information.
Industry events & awards – Every industry has conferences and educational events and awards nights and a whole plethora of things you can add to your blog. Remember, it’s just for your blog so it doesn’t have to be a technical summary of what was covered. Instead, maybe a photo of your team’s table at an event, a post with a photo of any certificates or trophies you win, or a photo from a team bonding event.
Funny office stories – Every office has them, those funny or strange stories that happen that give the whole staff a laugh or just break up the day. Be selective though- although everybody in your industry may be hugely amused by someone buying a 4 inch gasket instead of a 3 inch, it’s not going to entertain your customers. If you don’t have anything funny that ever happens in your office, check out sites like Not Always Working and keep an eye out for industry related cartoons then link to them instead (remember to link to them, don’t steal them and repost).
Business Notices
I’m a huge fan of publicising any changes to your business operation as much as possible. Your customers don’t always look where you want them, so if you put information on your social media pages, on your website and in your newsletter – they’ll be able to find it wherever they choose to look
Changes to business hours – Whether you’re closing early next Thursday for a training session, having a seasonal change of hours, or changing your hours permanently, it’s a good idea to do a blog post to give people a heads up. The last thing you want is people turning up to buy from you, finding you closed and going elsewhere feeling let down by you. So if you’ve got a change of business hours coming up, add a short blog post to the list of places you display the change.
Holiday events, celebrations and closures – Holidays are a great theme for a blog post. Whether it’s a “happy whatever” type post, a notice that you’ll be closed for a certain time, or a post asking for input from your users. i.e.: what’s your favourite chocolate for Valentine’s day or Who are you dressing as for Halloween. There are a million different ways to incorporate holiday themes into your blogging.
Sales and specials – I’ve deliberately put sales and specials last, because although it’s great to post sales and specials for your clients, if you overdo it, you’ll drive people away. However, if you have an annual sale, or if you’ve got an extraordinary special going then share it with your blog readers. Preferably, share it in a way that gives them a heads up. For example do a post telling them that you are having an annual sale a week or so before you start advertising elsewhere, or share a “blog reader only special”. It doesn’t have to be anything huge, just a little thing to make your blog readers feel special.
Is there anything else that you like to see on the blogs of your favourite businesses?
