How to Create a Blogging Strategy for Your Studio

With approximately 77% of internet users reading blogs, the case for business blogging has been sufficiently made. In 2019, merely having a blog is not enough to successfully engage your community. The internet is too crowded, and there are countless other blogs competing for your community’s attention – even for local studios.

While the level of detail will vary, if your studio has a blog then it’s worth your time to create a documented blogging strategy. Blogging can be as simple or as complex as you choose to make it. With that, there are some common components most blogging strategies should consider.

Purpose

On a micro level, every blog post should have a purpose. Beyond that, your studio’s blogging strategy should be rooted in your studio’s “why”. Why do you have a blog? Why does your studio exist? Your blog’s purpose is at the intersection of these two questions.

Audience

One of the most important aspects of any business strategy is considering the audience, otherwise known as your customers. While your customers are all unique, there are typically similarities and patterns you can identify. Do your customers get coffee at the same place after class? Are many of them around the same age and socioeconomic status? Ask yourself questions like this to determine a “persona” and think of that persona when creating content.

Companies that blog generate 55% more website visitors than those that don’t.

Learn how to build an efficient marketing calendar for your studio.

Content

Your purpose and audience will largely influence the blog topics. However, an effective blogging strategy is much more than choosing which topics to write about. The words you use matter – most notably, they affect your search engine optimization (SEO). Based on your market knowledge, keyword research and your blog publishing platform, every blog post should focus on a keyword or series of keywords. These “keywords” are ideally commonly-searched-for terms and highly relevant to your studio’s local market. Effective content tells a great story, but it also addresses the science of modern search engines.

Tools

For your studio’s strategy to be executed, you need reliable and proven tools. Publishing and marketing tools are endless and everchanging, but there are a few baseline tools to consider in your blogging strategy. Perhaps most importantly, the first tool to consider in building your blogging strategy is your blog publishing platform. Many website management platforms include high-level blogs as well. WordPress is one of the most popular examples of such a site, offering SEO-friendly websites and premium blog publishing tools.

Once you have the blog developed and individual blogs posted, the next tools to consider are the promotional tools. From email to social networking, promotional tools for your blog posts are endless. In the beginning, a consistent dose of email and primary social networking channels may work best. Your studio’s promotional strategy may consider MailChimp or HubSpot for email management, and mediums like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for social sharing.

Defining Success

The “success” of your blog can only be determined by you. For many studios, a successful blog is one that keeps members engaged. For some, a successful blog is one that actively generates leads. If you are interested in detailed metrics, most of the aforementioned tools have some form of reporting.

Your blogging strategy, like all aspects of your business, should be tailored for your studio. In this digital era where the average internet user opens ten blogs per day, readers can immediately sense if your message isn’t authentic. Be yourself, share your studio’s story and recall your purpose each time a new post is in the queue.

Are you ready to take your studio’s marketing strategy to the next level? Check out our Marketing Calendar Template!