In this post, we’re revealing how to set basic business blogging goals to make your content marketing more effective and manageable.
These four questions will help you outline some of your most basic—and most important—content goals.
TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:
[00:59] Introduction
[02:29] Why are You Blogging?
[04:34] Who is the Target Market/Audience for Your Blog?
[06:10] What Topic or Theme Will You Focus Your Content On?
[07:36] What Goals Do You Hope to Accomplish With Your Blog?
[09:31] Develop a Purpose Statement for Your Blog
[10:43] An Example of a Purpose Statement
[12:11] A Few Tips on Setting Business Blogging Goals
[13:49] Bloopers
[Meghan] Basic business blogging goals and strategy give your blog direction and guide your content creation. And that means more effective content, which is better for your audience and your business.
Unfortunately, planning and strategy often overwhelm business owners. They don’t know where to start.
However, today we’re simplifying the process for you! By answering just four questions, you’ll set basic blogging goals that drive your strategy, content, and workload.
And, by the way, you can use these questions to guide your vlogging or podcasting goals as well!
[Theresa] Blogging means different things to different people. So, to clarify, a business blog is a section on your company website where you post informational or entertaining articles to attract your ideal prospects.
With that in mind, what should we be asking to make our blog as successful as possible?
Need help with your content strategy? Here's how to easily identify the goals for your blog, vlog, or podcast. Click To TweetRelated: What to Do Before Launching a Blog, Vlog, or Podcast
Answer These Questions to Identify Your Business Blogging Goals
1) Why are You Blogging?
[Meghan] The first question to ask is: why are you blogging?
Are you blogging for brand awareness? To rank higher in search? Maybe to get more opt-ins?
The reasons why you are blogging determine your strategy. Your “why” leads to more strategic, effective content.
And, it’s important to define your why in terms of your business as well as your audience. You are blogging to support your business, but your customers are the focus. So, their needs are at the top of the list.
[Theresa] That’s a good point. You’ve got to consider your audience. Otherwise, you won’t create content that is customer focused.
Your prospective customers really don’t care about your business goals. They only care about their needs.
You won’t generate leads if your blog’s strategy is all about your business.
[Meghan] True! It’s critical to strike a balance between your reasons for blogging and your customers’ needs.
[Theresa] Getting to the heart of your “why” can be tough.
[Meghan] Sometimes the basic questions are hard to answer. So, here are some additional questions to ask yourself to get those creative juices flowing:
- What do you want your blog to be known for? (You know, what is your business the resource for in terms of topic and information?)
- Why does your audience want to consume your content? What’s in it for them?
- What do you plan to gain from your blog? (For example, website traffic, leads, clients, revenue, donations, or community members)
- What do you care about and value?
- What is unique about your brand?
Spend some time reflecting on these questions to come up with a few reasons why you’re blogging.
[Theresa] Don’t skip this step. Understanding why you’re blogging makes your blog planning easier in the long run. Just keep in mind that this exercise will take some thought and time.
To make this activity more manageable, block off an hour here and there. You don’t have to do it all at once. Take breaks and give these questions time to marinate.
What’s next?
2) Who is the Target Market/Audience for Your Blog?
[Meghan] The second question to help you define your business blogging goals is: who is the target audience for your blog? Who are you trying to attract to your website and brand?
If you want a successful blog, you’ll need to know who you’re creating content for!
[Theresa] This is where the avatar comes into play. Creating a customer “avatar” means developing a detailed persona or description of one or two people who fit into the category of your target market.
Having an avatar helps you select topics and write content that attracts the appropriate people to your blog.
[Meghan] Ideally, you have a very good understanding of your audience and potential customers. However, this isn’t always the case.
For instance, sometimes it’s easier to focus on a main struggle of a specific audience. For example, your target market could be people with chronic foot pain.
Anyway, we reviewed a few alternatives to the customer avatar method in episode #24 if you want to check that out.
[Theresa] If you don’t know your target market all that well, definitely check out that episode.
The objective here is to identify those people who are most interested in your area of expertise or in the problems you solve.
Getting more niche will improve your content strategy and make your blogging goals more defined and easier to achieve.
[Meghan] As they say, the riches are in the niches!
3) What Topic or Theme Will You Focus Your Content On?
Now that you know your why and who, it’s time for the what. What topic or theme will you focus on? What will your blog content be about?
You’re working on a high level strategy. So, don’t get wrapped up in too many details at this stage.
This isn’t the time to delve into specific keyword research. Instead, summarize the general subject or the main problem that your blog addresses.
[Theresa] For example, the theme of my Theresa Cifali blog is helping entrepreneurs to achieve their goals through productivity, planning, and time management.
It took time, editing, analyzing, and help to come up with my blog’s focus and theme.
So, you may not knock this one out of the park on your first go! But writing your thoughts down will start the process of honing in on an overall topic.
[Meghan] I’ve found it really helps to start with the problems you solve. Really think about your target market, their struggles, and the transformation your product or service achieves.
Your theme blends your experience or expertise with your prospects’ interests, desires, and goals. This way, you’ll emphasize your authority in the areas that your audience cares about.
[Theresa] Your blog must be about what your customers want to read about, not just what you want to talk about. I think that’s an important distinction.
Your blog helps take prospects through the customer journey. Remember that when you’re considering a theme.
4) What Goals Do You Hope to Accomplish With Your Blog?
[Meghan] The final question to help figure out your blogging goals is: what do you hope to accomplish with your blog now and in the future?
What are the business goals that the blog will support?
Identify specific, measurable short and long term outcomes for your blog. These outcomes will organize your actions and drive your decisions when it comes to your blog’s content strategy.
[Theresa] Setting defined desired outcomes with specific metrics and milestones is an important step.
The more specific you get, the better you can plan your work, measure your success, and analyze what’s working and what’s not.
[Meghan] Consider your blog’s why, your target market, and what you hope to accomplish with your business blog. Divide your outcomes into short-term and long-term goals.
Ask yourself:
- What milestones do I want to accomplish in the next three, six, and twelve months with my blog?
- What about in three to five years from now?
Dig into the nitty gritty with your answers! Don’t be shy. Be bold!
Your blog is an extension of your greater business plan. Consider your overall business goals and your offers. Then set specific, measurable metrics to support these things.
For example, you may want your blog to:
- Generate 1,000 more email list subscribers in 90 days.
- Double your annual donations.
- Win an award for the best industry blog within three years.
These blogging goals will be very custom to your business and to what you hope to achieve.
[Theresa] What’s important here is that you outline the accomplishments you PLAN to achieve. Planning is important to achieving the goals you set for anything, including your blog!
The plan helps you stay on track, yes. But it also helps you focus on the right work in order to hit your benchmarks. So make time to plan.
Develop a Purpose Statement for Your Blog
[Meghan] Alright, you’ve made major progress on setting the basic foundational goals for your blog! Pat yourself on the back and give yourself a round of applause.
There’s one last step. Take all of these answers and formulate a Purpose Statement or a blog summary.
[Theresa] This is a high-level summary statement about your blog based on your answers. It is meant to be a page or less, and it serves to remind you of your business blogging goals.
This is a working statement, meaning that it will change over time as you modify goals and update your information.
[Meghan] You don’t need to include every answer in your purpose statement. The idea is to capture the why, who, what in a sentence or two and then list out your measurable goals.
Your blog’s purpose statement is a terrific reference to keep your business blogging on target and intentional.
What I love about a clearly defined purpose is that it makes it easier to set goals, identify content topics, attract your ideal prospects, and rank higher in search. It can also help you analyze your progress.
I thought I’d share an example of my new blog’s purpose statement, which is still a work in progress.
The Minimal Marketer’s Blog Purpose Statement – Example
The Minimal Marketer blog simplifies marketing concepts and tactics so that small businesses can conquer one marketing task at a time to achieve their lead generation goals with less overwhelm.
Over the next year, the blog will support:
- Adding 1,000 subscribers to the email list
- Selling 200 online courses
- Increasing traffic to 1,000 visitors a month by EOY
In this statement, the “who” is small businesses. The “why” is to help these small businesses achieve their lead generation goals with less overwhelm. And the “what” is simplified marketing concepts and tactics, which is the focus of my blog content.
I’ve included some short term goals because that’s all I have for now! I’m still working on my longer term goals. But, better to get it done messy than not at all, am I right?
[Theresa] Exactly! Move forward with what ‘ya got, it doesn’t need to be perfect. Some things you’ve got to figure out as you go.
I like how the blog statement sums it all up. You can print it out and put it in front of you for inspiration. Don’t tuck it away somewhere. Keeping it front and center will help you stay on track, too.
A Few Tips on Setting Business Blogging Goals
[Meghan] We’re almost to the end of the post, but I have two more things to mention.
First, setting goals for your blog may seem trivial. However, don’t underestimate the value of planning your content!
The overall result is consistent, more coherent marketing. Like we’ve said, setting goals means that you’re more likely to achieve them. So, do this exercise even if you already have a blog up and running.
Second, don’t forget to revisit your blogging goals. This isn’t a one and done task!
Put a reminder on your calendar to:
- review your blogging efforts quarterly;
- edit your goals accordingly; and,
- set new goals annually.
Any final thoughts, Theresa?
[Theresa] I just want to stress the importance of reviewing your efforts regularly.
You need to look at the data. Set a quarterly reminder on your calendar, so you don’t forget to do it.
[Meghan] Okay, that’s it for this post! Are you going to try answering these questions or writing a purpose statement for your blog, vlog, or podcast? Let us know in the comments.
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