Your brand story is your bread and butter. It’s what allows your customer base to see exactly what you stand for and how they can benefit from your organization. Having a strong and emotional brand story is key to obtaining transformative results that can take your brand to the next level.
One way to transform your brand story online is to add blogs to your digital marketing strategy. Creating content marketing plans that include blogs will help put your content in front of more people and establish your organization as a thought leader in your industry.
Blogs should be more than posts telling people about what your organization does. Blogs, and all of your written content, should tell your audience and potential audiences what value you can bring to their lives. They offer practical and easy solutions to existing problems in a way that fosters engagement.
To create a successful blog post, you first need to understand your organization’s purpose and audience to answer the simple question of “why effectively.” Why does your organization exist, and why should your readers care?
Let’s dive into what digital marketing companies mean when they say to start with the “why.”
How To Create Purpose in your Blog Posts
What it Means to Start with Why
In his book Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, Simon Sinek argues that if you want to execute your organization’s leadership effectively, you must first have a firm grasp on why you exist and the unique problems you wish to solve.
He breaks down this hierarchy in a “Golden Circle” composed of 3 pieces:
- Why is not about making money. ‘Why’ is a purpose, cause, or belief. It’s the very reason your organization exists.
- How an organization does what they do. These are the things that make an organization unique and set them apart.
- What an organization does. These are products sold or services you offer to your customers.
While these principles help guide leadership discussions, they are also relevant in digital marketing. Each of these aspects are critical to executing your brand’s strategy, but it’s essential to start your strategic planning with the “why” to best understand how to utilize your strengths.
It can be easy to start with the “how” or the “what” by offering a long list of the solutions and services you provide, but your reader wants to know right from the jump what value they can take away from your expertise. They need to understand your “why.”
Look at how to develop your organization’s “why” and translate that into engaging content that has your audience returning for more!
Define Your Purpose, Audience, and Tone
As a digital marketing agency, before we even begin writing, we want to answer the question of “why” with each piece: Why are we writing this blog, and why would someone care to read it?
From blogs to website content and social media posts to email marketing, it’s essential to lead with the tangible value you offer. Showcase your purpose first, then back it up with how you do it and what you use to do it.
One of the first steps you should take before creating content is to grasp three major touchpoints of your business.
- What is your purpose?
- Who is your audience?
- What tone do you want to communicate?
Defining your purpose directly addresses your “why.” Your purpose is the value you bring to your customers in your defined niche, not just the services you offer or the products you sell. It’s an authentic stance your organization makes to meet your customers’ needs.
Next, knowing your target audience is so critical because it will determine how and where you choose to define your purpose. For example, if your audience is Gen Z, you would probably benefit more from creating content and advertising on TikTok than on Facebook. Defining your audience helps you understand how your customers feel about specific topics and allow you to cater your content directly to them.
Finally, the tone you use to communicate your “why” is directly influenced by your purpose and audience. Is your brand soft and caring? Do you sell products that are rough and tough? Are you trying to educate and inform about a topic, or is your primary goal to sell a product?
These factors influence the tone you use across your digital marketing platforms and mediums.
How to Build a Content Outline
Once you’ve defined your purpose, audience, and tone, you can use those insights to generate your blog content. Blogs should include attention-grabbing intros, short, digestible paragraphs, and thoughtful conclusions that let the reader know precisely what action you’d like them to take.
Tip! Readers want to be guided through your content as efficiently as possible. Long paragraphs can lead to reader fatigue, so don’t be afraid to break up the page with bulleted lists, images, infographics, and other visual pieces that will keep your reader scrolling!
Then, follow through with SEO keyword optimization throughout every piece of content. A well-optimized blog is more likely to rank higher when your audience is searching for the services you provide. The higher you rank, the quicker your customers can find your content and benefit from the solutions you offer.
Who will do your Content Marketing?
Once you have a solid grasp on your “why,” “how,” and “what,” you can begin to strategize the “who.” Who will create your content? Will it be managed in-house or outsourced to a digital marketing company? Each has its pros and cons depending on your organization’s ability.
Consider the strengths of your team and your company budget. Full-service digital marketing can create a better user experience (UX) for your audience and help optimize your branding.
Smooth Sailing with fishbat
If you’re ready to see the difference strategy-infused marketing can make in your organization, contact us today! We can help you define your “why” and optimize digital strategies that increase conversions. Explore fishbat’s range of content creation and digital marketing services today!