Blog writing services – what we do and how we do it
As a copywriting agency, a big part of what we do is provide ‘done for you’ blog writing services. Which sounds relatively straightforward but is actually quite an intricate process. After all, our expert clients need the work we produce to read like they wrote it – only better.
And they need it to deliver real results, adding value for their audience, building trust and loyalty, and ultimately moving people along the buyer journey towards a place where they are ready to, well, buy.
Over the last four and a half years, we’ve written over 1,000 blog posts for dozens of businesses ranging from local Bristol-based startups to SMEs operating out of a dozen countries around the world. And we’ve learned a lot about what it takes to consistently create high-quality posts that deliver results.
TL:DR
- The strategy session – getting to know you and your audience
- Brief creation – drawing out your expert knowledge
- The writing process – adding our copywriting magic
- Additional services – social sharing and lead magnets
The strategy session – getting to know you and your audience
Before we begin work with a new client we always hold an onboarding and strategy session. This allows us to get clear on the processes that will define the way we work. But more importantly it’s a chance to get to know our clients inside out.
We need to know not just what they do or sell but the benefits their services or products add for their clients and customers. We need to understand what makes them different, what their brand personality is, what their goals are and so much more besides.
We also need to understand the audience they’re speaking to. What are they looking for? What are their pain points and their aspirations? Are they aware of the product or service on offer or do they need educating? What might stop them from engaging with our client?
Only then can we begin to formulate a strategy for their blog. Do we need to focus on one particular audience group e.g. the decision maker rather than the user? Are we trying to engage people early in their awareness journey or those ready to make a purchase? What objections can we handle with a blog post? Where can we add the most value?
“The clients we work with are, without a doubt, experts in their fields. But experts usually have such depth of knowledge that they can find it difficult to see the wood for the trees.”
Brief creation – drawing out your expert knowledge
“How can you write for us, if you aren’t experts in what we do?” That’s a question we often hear from prospective clients. And it’s a fair point. We don’t profess to be experts in financial modelling, men’s skincare, app development, Spanish property or leadership development – all subjects we’ve written blog posts about.
That’s why the briefing session is so important. It’s where we use a journalistic approach to draw out the information we need to create credible and engaging posts. This isn’t always the information the client thinks is the most important but the information that their audience is interested in. Our job is to put ourselves in the shoes of the reader, using what we’ve gathered about them in the strategy session to ask “Would I read this? Would I care? What’s in it for me?”
The clients we work with are, without a doubt, experts in their fields. But experts usually have such depth of knowledge that they can find it difficult to see the wood for the trees. They try to pack too much into each post, making it hard for readers to navigate. Or they pitch too high, assuming everyone has the same base knowledge as them rather than explaining important concepts.
As an agency, one of our core skills lies in picking up new subjects quickly, pulling out the most enticing, useful, informative nuggets and packaging these up in a way that makes each and every post engaging and valuable for our client’s audience.
The writing process – adding our copywriting magic
Once we’ve extracted the information we need from our client, the writing team gets to work. There’s no formula here, as each post needs to be bespoke to the client, showcasing their expertise clearly and authentically in their brand voice.
One thing that is common to all the posts we write is that they combine the client’s expertise with our understanding of what makes a blog post engaging. From the title to the opening paragraph, the structure and the subheads, and the call to action at the end, we do a lot more than string a few grammatically correct sentences together.
Although content marketing is all about adding value for the reader, it also has to deliver a business benefit. Our clients may be experts at what they do but they’d be the first to admit they’re not copywriting experts. Our job in writing blog posts for them is to balance the needs of the reader with the needs of the business, keeping strategy at the heart of all we do.
Once a batch of posts has been written, it is edited and proofread by another member of the team before being shared with the client. We use Google Docs to make the process simple, allowing more than one member of the client’s team to add their comments. Once this is done we get the amends done ready for the client to start publishing.
Additional services – social sharing and lead magnets
The thing about blog posts is that they’re only useful if people are reading them. While some of our clients have a well defined SEO strategy, which we use to inform the way we write, others rely on social media engagement. This means they need to be using social media consistently, which many simply don’t have time to do.
Our ‘social sharing copy’ uplift gives our clients three short pieces of copy for each blog post, which they can copy and paste onto their LinkedIn or Facebook feed with a link to the post. They don’t need to think about what to write – it can be trickier than you think to come up with a couple of catchy lines to introduce a piece of content – and they can share each post multiple times without sounding repetitive.
We can also create lead magnets related to the blog posts we are writing – downloads that allow our clients to capture email data and nurture a relationship with potential customers and clients. These include checklists, ebooks, guides and more.
Blogging is a powerful tool for any business. According to DemandMetric, companies that blog produce an average of 67% more leads each month compared to those that don’t. But just bashing out 1,000 words every now and then isn’t enough in a world where over 4 million blog posts are published each day. That’s where we come in.
If you’re ready to transform your blog into a tool that helps you establish your expertise and grow your reputation online, get in touch for a quote today.
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