How To Communicate With Your Customers via a Blog

Far too many businesses start blogs for the sake of starting blogs.

Unfortunately, this means the web is awash with ghostly wreckages that were once big content marketing ideas.

Using a blog to reach a wider audience is something every business should do, but this form of content marketing it’s just as adept at speaking to an existing customer base.
 
If you’re unsure, here’s seven ways to communicate with your customers via a blog:

​1. Understand who your customers are
Sure, you’ve got some customers who have been with you for years, but do you really know who they are?
 
The more you know about your customers, the more you’ll be able to create blog content that speaks directly to them.
 
If possible, send out a survey that asks the following questions:

• What’s their biggest challenge?
• What delights them the most about the industry?
• How do they typically consume online content? Is it via blogs, videos or podcasts?
• What forthcoming industry developments are they most excited about?

 
That’s not a definitive list, either - ask as much as you can to gain a more rounded picture of your existing client audience.
 
2. Develop a blog personality
To run a successful company blog, you’ll need to develop a digital persona for the business.
 
Every blog post you write should exude a particular character and dispense with business-speak and acronyms. Think about how you’d like the business to come across online - irreverent, serious, light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek, etc - and start developing that blog personality.
 
This will set you apart from the competition and keep existing customers away from their doors.
 
3. Showcase your products
If you’ve got a new product or service update which you need to get in front of your existing customers, use your blog to showcase it.
 
Combine non-sales copy with great product imagery and finish the piece of with a clear call-to-action (CTA), and you’ll save big time on producing expensive brochures that are usually consigned to the bin.
 
4. Give your customers a voice
Why not invite customers to contribute to the blog themselves?
 
This could be done in the following two ways:

• Testimonials. Ask customers what they think about your products and services. How did your product solve their problem?
• Interviews. Interview a happy customer, write it up and publish the finished article on your blog with accompanying photos.

 
5. Try different forms of content
Once you know more about how your customers consume content online (see tip 1), you can fine tune your marketing efforts.
 
Mix blogs with podcasts and video work to really elevate this part of your promotional effort. And, when it comes to standard blog posts, do all you can to find engaging, unique visuals to accompany the words.
 
Existing customers will devour rich content of this nature.
 
6. Combine blogging with email marketing
The content you create on your blog for existing customers needs to reach them, therefore if you already have a sizeable subscriber base on your email marketing platform, use it to distribute the blogs as they’re published.
 
Don’t assume existing customers will arrive at your blog without a bit of prompting, which also brings me onto my next point…
 
7. Connect with customers via social media
Another incredibly valuable channel through which to distribute your customer-centric blogging is social media.
 
If you invest time in connecting with customers on platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, they’ll be more inclined to engage with the content you share. Thus, blog posts that would otherwise be lost in the digital ether can instead become invaluable pieces of content that are shared and liked by countless people.
 
Wrapping up
Have fun writing your customer-centric blogs. If you’re relaxed about it, consistent and produce content that is entirely relevant to them, it’ll become one of your most trusted methods for reaching out to existing customers.

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Author Bio

Mark Ellis is a freelance writer who specialises in copywriting, blogging and content marketing for businesses of all sizes. Mark’s considerable experience at director level and deep interest in personal and business success means he’s ready to comment on anything from freelance writing to workplace dynamics, technology and personal improvement.​