Do You Have a Lead Generating Blog? Tips From 5 Company Blogs

Inbound marketing truly can change relationships between companies and prospects.

One tool that continues to educate website visitors and helps generate traffic is your blog. One thing for sure is that the same boring and stale content will quickly put your readers to sleep.

Companies shouldn't think of blogging as just another unnecessary element that's wasting their time. Blogging impacts your business. Companies that blog experience a 55% increase in traffic over those that don’t. Okay, so you've probably seen that statistic on every other article about why you should blog.

Consider this advice from HubSpot's Pamela Vaughan, “Businesses that blog more than once per week gain blog subscribers at twice the rate of those who blog just once per month.”

Just because you publish an article once a month, won't always constitute as a blog. You need to keep your audience actively engaged. Use your blog to create connections.

Have you just started blogging? If so, you might not even know where to begin. Or what you're doing right or wrong. Here's a look at 5 business blogs that are successful.

 5 Companies with Lead Generating Blogs

Yale Appliance & Lighting

Learn about Yale Appliance:

"We have been around since 1923 as a family-owned company and have survived and grown through Great and not so great depressions. Service is not even about a low pressure environment, where clients can choose between every major brand without hassle or be protected by the industries best price guarantee.

It's quite simply actual service. Delivery and product service are the largest departments within Yale at 65 people and 25 vehicles. It is our commitment to you to deliver properly without damage and fix problem products quickly.  Buying an appliance, lights and plumbing at Yale is about the sales and especially the service experience."

Their Blog

Yale Appliance credits their blog for changing the way they've done marketing. Not only did it triple their website traffic but it has helped them generate qualified leads. Your blog is your biggest resource for educating readers. It's important to keep your content updated and engaging. The sole purpose is to educate them.

Which leads me into one of the elements I love about their blog. Yale Appliance provides their readers with some sort of direction. Don't be afraid to tell your visitors or blog readers what to do next.

The best way to do that is to show them content relevant to what they just read. Not only do they provide a related articles section, but they also include below the post CTAs. Below post calls-to-action are great for increasing lead generation efforts.

According to research in our ebook, Dissecting Calls-to-Action that Convert, below post CTAs boasted an impressive62.1% click to submission rate. That shouldn't be a surprise, because those readers who complete an article are more interested.

Yale Appliance actually worked with Marcus Sheridan a.k.a The Sales Lion to develop an inbound marketing strategy that would attract and target their audience. I also love the fact that they know what articles generate the most views.

Often times, companies will just write about whatever comes to mind. There needs to be a strategy. Yale Appliance has found that reviews and ratings, as well as identifying which appliance is better to fit the needs and wants of their target audience.

Also, don't be afraid to showcase your writers. It helps your readers to develop a connection with members of your company. Blogging and inbound marketing is all about creating lasting relationships.

Click here to check out their blog.

Godfrey-Hoffman & Hodge 

Learn about Godfrey Hoffman:

"Godfrey Hoffman is a multi-disciplined firm offering a full range of Land Surveying, Civil Engineering, Planning, Design & Permitting services. Our main office is located in North Haven, Connecticut, and our 3rd generation family business has operated since 1924."

Learn about Hodge:

"Hodge an affiliate of Godfrey-Hoffman, was acquired in April of 2010 and has been the trusted name in surveying in the Farmington Valley since 1925.

Our goal is to provide our clients with fast, accurate & quality services to help them achieve their goals while also reducing project time and costs. We accomplish this through the use of today’s most advanced technology, state of the art field & office equipment and our staff of highly trained experienced professionals."

Their Blog

What should your visitors get from reading your article? What you want your readers to take away from the article but not be nearly as important as what you wanted them to. Don't be afraid to summarize your article. It will bring all of your points together. This is one aspect that I love about Godfrey-Hoffman's blog. They include a key takeaways section at the end of every article. Ensure that they're getting the most important points of the article.

One thing I see all the time are cheesy stock photos. Don't use them. Just stay as far away as possible. Cannot find a photo for your articles. Consider using a site like Creative Commons. It's a great way to find photos that can be used for commercial use. Also, don't forget to give them credit.

Your blog is also a great way to target your local market. Don't be afraid to use localized keywords to attract your audience. Identify what keywords your audience is using. If you're a company that works with other companies and homeowners in Connecticut, ensure that your localizing your content to fit their needs. Consider adding a state, county or town in your title.

Click here to check out their blog.

PeopleMetrics

Learn about PeopleMetrics:

"Founded in January, 2001 with a simple idea – that companies with engaged employees are far more successful than those with disengaged employees. PeopleMetrics helps organizations transform the customer experience.

In addition, we offer market research services to companies in the healthcare and technology sectors. We help companies better understand their market landscape so they can allocate marketing resources in the most optimal way. Our research consultants are extraordinary and you will love working with them."

Their Blog

Who would have guessed that PeopleMetrics had just started using HubSpot? I love the layout and formatting of their blog. Not only does your content need to be relevant, but it needs to be easy to digest. Why? Because your blog plays a big factor in pushing your leads towards your lead generating efforts.

Your blog should be seen as an outlet where you can showcase your expertise. There is no one that knows your industry better than you.

Formatting for me is key. I know you and everyone else hates reading a giant block of text. How can you expect your readers to effectively capture the most important information you're highlighting? Most likely you won't. I love that PeopleMetrics uses bullet points and images to break up the content. Making it easier to digest.

Another thing I love is that they make it easy for their blog readers to subscribe. Make it easy for your readers to find the content you're publishing. The most convenient place is in their inbox.

Click here to check out their blog.

Force Management

Learn more about Force Management:

"Dedicated to improving our clients’ sales performance. Established in 2003 by managing partners Grant Wilson and John Kaplan, Force Management specializes in sales transformations that help B2B sales organizations increase revenue, improve sales margins, and gain market share."

Their Blog

Engagement with your readers is key. If you didn't already know this, remarkable content gets shared. Your main objective should be to develop content your readers will share. It doesn't matter whether one person or 33 people share your content. That one share is expanding the reach of your content.

Getting your content shared, also depends on the placement of your social sharing buttons. Are they easy to see and find?

This isn't a scavenger hunt or Where's Waldo book. Your readers don't have all day to find your social sharing buttons. I love that Force Management puts theirs at the beginning of the blog article. Think of your social share buttons as little calls-to-action. They're just asking readers to share the article.

Click here to check out their blog.

Network Depot

Learn more about Network Depot:

"Network Depot has provided the Washington, DC metro area with IT services and support since 1991.

Our team works with small to mid-size businesses to provide them with IT support, managed services, network and server management, and IT consulting. It's always been our goal to provide enterprise-level IT practices and solutions for every business."

Their CEO, Rich Forsen has a great saying, "We're in the business of customer service and IT is just how we deliver it."

Their Blog

Through their blog, Network Depot tries to showcase that they deliver a level of quality that hasn't been seen before. Your blog isn't just something you update and create new content for whenever you feel like it. You need to take into consideration blog frequency.

Unfortunately, this is something most companies don't even consider. It's important to have a schedule. Do you have a blog editorial calendar? If not, you might want to consider developing one to keep you and your content on track.

Ask yourself these questions: Am I going to post once a day? Three times a week? Twice a month? Set a schedule.

Don't leave your blog readers hanging. Dedicated blog readers will come back to your blog on those scheduled days. If you haven't guessed, I love how Network Depot, maintains their blog frequency. They publish content on their blog every Tuesday and Thursday around 1PM. Besides, having a schedule gives you something to stick to. Make it a goal to publish content x amount of times per month.

Click here to check out their blog.

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