In recent years there have been several significant changes to the way in which businesses approach the market of their prospective consumers. In the past, people had to rely on word of mouth, television, radio or some form of written messaging to reach their market; however, today we have the internet. With it has come a litany of new, exciting and dynamic ways in which companies around the world are using it to place both their value proposition as well as their branding. Creating original and creative content through blogging and sharing it through a multitude of digital channels has become one of the most effective ways to bolster brand awareness. The keys of delivering a successful blog with a high number of viewers are being educational and informative while maintaining a degree of unique objectivity. Remember, people reading your blog don’t only want a documentary, they want a little bit of opinion relating to a topic or project, how the writer felt about it, and why.

Know Your Audience

Consider strongly not only who is reading your content, but their motivations for doing so. People are looking for good ideas to emulate, elements of a successful project or strategy, perspectives form experts and thought leaders. Select common pain points within an industry or vertical and how you or your organization addressed them is a good place to start. As with creating solutions to common problems, there is a high likelihood of being noticed and creating a broad audience. Understanding what your reader persona is, and how they generally think is not only a key to a good blog, it’s a key to a successful business.

Be Original

Being original is hard. Don’t be afraid to take a few risks with sharing your opinion here and there. Your readers will appreciate you being honest and forward about your perspective as long as you reinforce it with facts and evidence. Creating hyperlinks within your blog to case studies and statistical data will strengthen you argument as well as your SEO. People can relate to an honest opinion, especially when there is good reason for doing so.

Don’t Be Long Winded

Content creation is a tricky craft. It takes a Goldilocks type of approach in many ways. Writing too much is just as bad as writing too little. People don’t usually read blogs that run on for more than a few minutes and over 300 to 500 words. Being concise and specific, with the right amount of facts is an art that can take a while to perfect. As too much information compacted in a short post will be boring and perhaps not articulate successfully the data or subjects association with the message. Not having enough data seems like an op-ed, being comprised of entirely too much personal opinion to be considered educational. Studying other successful blog posts and emulating certain elements can really make a significant impact on creating an audience and getting that first viral post.

In Conclusion

Be open minded about who your audience is and what the common challenges are. Be mindful of your messaging and data usage, never too much or too little. Most of all, try to have a bit of fun. No one ever remembers the name of their teachers that failed to peak their interest as the class always knew that the reason their content was uninteresting was because they were not true experts, they were not really interested in being there, or both. Be honest, be exciting and be yourself.