Blogs demand constant attention. But we all have those times when something happens: Someone promises to write a post and then can’t deliver, a rush project comes along that takes you away from the time you set aside for writing or you simply run out of ideas. The best way to avoid the panic and frustration of not having content for your blog is to be proactive and fill the pipeline so that you always have a post ready to publish. Here are seven tactics that can help.
1. Create an Editorial Calendar
It goes without saying that being proactive means planning well in advance. Rather than struggling constantly to come up with topics, create an editorial calendar with proposed topics that extends at least one quarter. The longer out it goes, the better. Keep it flexible so you can make course corrections along the way. Sometimes, you may need room for an organizational announcement or a new product launch. Shifts in sales and marketing priorities can also open up new avenues for blog post topics.
2. Pre-Fill Your Pipeline
Front-load your blog writing so that you have several posts ready to go at any time. This is especially important if you’re launching a new blog. In the earliest stages, you must establish a cadence and give readers a reason to come back and visit often. If you plan to post twice a week and miss a post early on, you’ll lose readership loyalty.
3. Choose Themes With Legs
Instead of thinking in terms of one-off posts, develop topics around themes with lots of potential for multiple posts. For example, you could approach account-based marketing (ABM) strategy from multiple angles, publishing posts about defining ABM, determining when an ABM strategy is appropriate, laying out the operational requirements for ABM, providing tips for getting started and so on.
4. Enlist Your Coworkers
Divide and conquer. Do you have internal subject matter experts willing to write blog posts for you? Most people enjoy the recognition that comes with seeing their names in lights in a byline. If you have potential internal bloggers who lack confidence in their writing talents, assuage their fears by offering your editorial skills. Assure them that you’ll clean up their writing to make sure they make a good impression.
5. Look for External Influencers
In past blog posts, we’ve talked about the tremendous power of influencers in B2B content marketing. Demand Gen Report’s 2019 Content Preferences Survey Report confirms that buyers view industry influencers as highly credible sources of objective information and perspectives. As you look for influencers, consider customers, partners, analysts and journalists as well as technical experts for specific products, solutions or trends you want to highlight in your posts.
6. Curate Your Content
If there are others blogging about topics you want to cover, see if they would agree to share them as guest posts on your blog. Many bloggers appreciate the extra visibility for their posts and will be happy to oblige. If it’s appropriate, be sure to return the favor and offer to share your posts on their blogs.
7. Get Outside Help
I can’t finish this post without a shameless plug for hiring a content marketing agency to help fill the gaps on your team. If you have the budget, the right B2B agency can relieve you of some of the burden of keeping your blog pipeline flowing. They can give you as much or as little help as you need. They can write a certain number of individual posts, or you can outsource the entire blog development and execution process.
Contact our own blog editor, Holly Celeste Fisk, at [email protected] to learn how Content4Demand can help you keep your blog pipeline from drying to a trickle. Or check out another of my blog posts, 10 Tips to Overcome Blogger’s Block.