Blogging is a cornerstone for lead generation at successful B2B companies.  Let’s face it, unless you have a product used by millions of people, there is only so much fluffy marketing material that can be created. Marketing copy can be updated as often as you like, you can post new webinars and case studies, but there are only so many ways to say the same thing.  There simply isn’t a lot of depth to marketing fluff. But a blog doesn’t have that limitation.

This is where blogging can really shine for marketing teams.  Blogs can create industry champions and leaders. It can take a company from a relative nobody to a knowledge leader in a very short time. Blogging creates interest, it creates trust, loyalty and it creates leads.

So what are some characteristics of a great blog?

Blogs Create Value.  A great blog allows its readers to walk away with new insight into their industry, a problem or it can align their thinking with yours.

Don’t Spam.  A blog should not promote a company’s own product or service in an overt fashion.  Its fine to talk about how a customer had a big win or how excited your team is a bout a new product release, but don’t tell you audience they have to “Buy Now!”.

Don’t Be Boring. Don’t drive your target audience away with boring content. Be personal, be creative and use visuals every time.

Spread The Word. Push your blog content to other sources. This is where it can start generating leads, interest and awareness. Good blogs get shared regularly because sharing of the content creates value for the people sharing it and their network.

Leave The Nest. You want your audience to run into you everywhere they go online. This needs to be backed up by a great marketing strategy.  If you’ve been blogging for a little while, its to to leave the nest and start pursuing opportunities to guest blog. This can lead to some really exciting opportunities for creating recognized thought leaders for your company.

A Blogging Experiment – Woohoo!

In the spirit of following my own guidelines, I’ve been working on leaving the nest as well.  I’ve done some guest blogging on various websites which has garnered new traffic. This has led to an invitation to blog with Search Engine Land. This is the leading publication on all things SEO. I’ll be blogging with some of the industry’s heavy hitters on SEO and Conversion Optimization. I like a good challenge, but this is awesome and intimidating.

I’ll be posting on the results of that effort in future blogs here. I pray I just don’t fall flat on my face. It should be quite a learning adventure!