Why Your Blog isn’t Generating Leads
Many business owners that I’ve spoken to question the value of a blog - usually because they don’t have the time. But, as I’ve shared before, blogs have a lot of value from traffic to SEO and even generating leads. When you say “LEAD GENERATION”, which is what most businesses want, ears generally perk up. BUT, if you’re not doing it right, you’re going to miss out on all the value a business blog can bring. What does not doing it right look like? Well, let’s talk about it.
Here are five reasons why your blog isn’t doing what you want it to do
You’re not promoting it
I actually had a client tell me he was less concerned about social media. This isn’t the field of dreams. If you build it, they will not all come. I mean they might, but it’ll be a helluva lot slower than if you promote it. Promote it on social, email, Every time you create content, promote and repurpose it to get even more mileage.
You’re too sales-y
Blog content is NOT a sales pitch. I had to constantly remind an old boss of this. Blog content is there to be helpful and informative. Be honest. Build trust. Don’t just try to sell to people. Inbound 101 tells us that people do not want to be sold to, so don’t use your blogs to do that.
You lack a voice
A lot of people write so they can rank. But then you get too… blergh. You want your audience to trust you. You want your audience to connect with you. If your content - not just blogs but ALL content (website content, social media, email, etc…). I was having a conversation recently with a friend about how so many people just write for the algorithms - both in blogging and in social media but ultimately, your blog - any content really - should reflect YOUR voice and be written for PEOPLE not for algorithms.
People won’t care about what you’re writing about if you lack personality - no one wants to re-read textbooks (which is what I think when I think about boring content).
You don’t tell them what to do next
Fun fact, six years ago I had no idea what a call to action was. Or a landing page. I had just landed my first agency job and would spend the next 18 months learning everything there was to know about inbound marketing. Readers need to be told what to do. It’s all well and good to put a thoughtful, informative, well-written blog post in front of your readers BUT what’s next? (Cue Hamilton “what comes next” here.)
Think about the actions you want them to take - download something, subscribe, schedule a consultation - whatever you want it to be - tell them what to do next. Every piece of content should have SOME sort of call to action.
So, as you think about how you’re driving traffic and generating leads, be sure to use YOUR voice, be sure to understand YOUR why and how blogging moves the needle for your marketing goals/business.
Once you have a plan for your blog, download our content promotion checklist to ensure that the amazing content you create is promoted and does exactly what it’s supposed to.
