Need a little business blogging inspiration? Not sure how your business could translate in the blogosphere? Wondering if you’d really have enough interesting and relevant topics to blog about on a weekly basis?
Your business blog doesn’t have to be all about your business. In fact, in most cases it shouldn’t be. The best way to offer value through your blog, keep readers coming back, position your business as an expert, and build brand trust and loyalty is to serve up content that’s relevant and useful to your readers.
Check out the blogs of five successful businesses who are nailing it for inspiration.
fitbit
Health and fitness tracker brand fitbit uses their blog very successfully to keep their product offerings (devices and apps) relevant and inspiring to people by linking them to lifestyle.
The brand voice employed on the fitbit blog is conversational, engaging and concise, and their posts tackle topics across a wide range of wellness, lifestyle and brand categories, including fitness and exercise, health, success stories, product development, challenges and product announcements.
The team at fitbit post about timely information and events that are relevant to their product and brand, such as American Heart Month, as well as general tips like how to stay motivated at home and how to make the most of your gym membership. They also utilize guest posts, and profile brand ambassadors, like ultra marathon runner Dean Karnazes, on how they use devices in the product range.
Kate Spade
Kate Spade New York is a youthful fashion brand, so it makes sense that their behind the curtain blog offers its audience a behind-the-scenes look at the brand they love.
The blog offers a mix of brand news and insights, featured and new products, as well as information about relevant, brand-aligned topics customers are interested in, such as events, recommended reading, downloadable wallpaper and more. Backstage fashion show photos promote the products in a soft-sell and inspirational tone, while posts on how the Kate Spade team spent their holidays does a great job at humanizing the brand and building loyalty.
Metricon
Metricon is an Australian residential construction company, and one of the few in the industry niche to really do a great job at inspiring customers and prospects through blogging. Their Home Truths blog is a healthy combination of business news and insight and general home and building inspiration – offering readers helpful information about building a house, and more importantly, information to help them make their house (a Pinterest-worthy) home.
Their Bricks & Mortar category covers posts such as how customers can experience their home designs online and the nuts and bolts of constructing their home; their Money Talk category offers useful and relevant information about savings and deposits; and their Design Inspiration category features tips and advice on décor, using color, and even how to decorate for festive events such as Christmas.
Coca Cola
As one of the most recognized brands in the world, Coke doesn’t need an introduction, and their Unbottled blog is, not surprisingly, heavily branded – focusing solely on business news rather than general lifestyle. That doesn’t mean to say it offers a lackluster read, though. The brand voice used across the blog is a clever mix of enthusiasm and professionalism, combining more newsy items with posts on brand innovations, awards and community outreach initiatives.
Key categories include brand news, sustainability, innovation, and history. The multi-page blog includes What’s Bubbling (trending) sections that highlight popular and featured posts, as well as calls to action encouraging readers to share their own stories, photos and videos.
Etsy
Etsy has revolutionized the world of online selling for small businesses and crafters with their digital marketplace, and the Etsy blog perfectly reflects their brand values of innovation, community, creativity and inspiring design.
Another multi-page blog, it offers information on featured shops, editor’s picks, DIY projects, weddings and tastemakers; regional blogs for Australia, France, the UK, Germany and the Netherlands; a dedicated blog on Etsy brand news; and a blog dedicated to information for Etsy sellers.
The language is light, conversational and inspiring, and reader comments make up a significant part of the content and blog/ community experience.
