You've heard of blogs. You've heard that businesses blog. But did you know that blogs are a powerful B2B marketing tool? According to HubSpot, companies that blog get 55% more website visitors, 95% more inbound links, and 434% more indexed pages than companies that don’t blog. And if that’s not enough, how does showing up as the thought leader in your industry sound?

Below are some quick tips to get you started, including blogging in your B2B marketing strategy – it is easier than you think if you have a strategy and plan in place.

#1 – Generating Topics 

Kick start your blog program by holding a brainstorming session to develop a lineup of blog topics. Plan for at least a blog posting per week and generate enough topics for the first quarter of your program (roughly 16). Here are some ways to generate blog ideas:

• Be a problem-solver
• Include search terms your target audience might use
• Use blogs to educate many potential customers at once
• Use questions from prospects and customers as the foundation for blog posts
• Comment and address industry and market specific trends

What to avoid: Don’t pitch your products or take the ‘sales’ approach. Also avoid overly long and detailed blogs.

#2 - Optimizing Blogs

There's no point in writing a blog if it doesn't attract an audience. Here are some tips that will help pull in readers:

• Use catchy, newsworthy titles
• Include compelling images
• Include at least 2 company keywords per blog
• Utilize social media sharing links
• Use calls to action that make your readers think and act
• Link to other areas of your website

#3 - Promotion

Get the word out about your blog by: .

• Linking to your blogs from employee email signatures
• Using website banners and call out buttons on your homepage
• Sharing on social media
• Posting and uploading to free blog directories
• Posting on LinkedIn accounts
• Grow those groups!

#4 – Keep The Content Coming

Success with your blog is a commitment to delivering fresh, new posts on a regular basis. Develop a blog calendar that outlines deadlines for all bloggers. If you put in the time to develop a schedule, your blog will become a platform for engaging with your customers and drastically improving your search engine rankings.