3 types of blog content HR marketers should be creating
Content marketing should be a priority for any B2B marketer as they’re a great way to provide informative, insightful and supportive content to attract potential customers and highlight your services.
How? Well, not only can blogs enhance your SEO, they can also be repurposed across social media and email marketing to draw in traffic to your website, allowing you to demonstrate your brand expertise and values.
Because of this, on average, companies with a blog receive 67% more leads per month than those without.
So, what should blog content look like if you want to reach a HR audience?
Blog content #1: Thought Leadership
Thought leadership blogs highlight and explain current market trends, problems or just general need-to-know areas of interest for potential customers. They then include brand insights or solutions surrounding these topics in order to emphasise the expertise and value that your company has to offer.
This style of blog often includes angles and headlines along the lines of ‘How to…”, ‘X ways to increase…’, ‘Why you should…’, ‘Top tips to…’ etc.
Essentially, this blog type includes any kind of content that informs of your industry knowledge whilst providing valuable guidance to potential clients.
A good tip here is to be really specific on the kind of content you advise on so that it’s relevant to your audience but niche enough that it’s different to the masses of other content online. Or for a perennial topic that’s been covered time and time again, add an original angle.
Blog content #2: Industry News
If a news story appears in the media that’s relevant to your brand or services, it’s a great move to repurpose the story in your blog - summarise the piece whilst adding in your own perspective to give a fresh take on the issue.
If you can add your company’s data, opinions or world view then you’ll be adding value to the conversation whilst staying relevant and top of mind with audiences.
For instance, if the BBC published a story on a particular business, health, law issue etc., is there a HR spin you can provide? How can you weave your key messages into the narrative?
It’s essential to source and backlink the original news item and include the originators name and news - it’s just good practice. It’s also really important to re-write it fully so you’re creating something new.
Make sure you keep up to date with the latest industry news so that you can respond straight away, keeping your insights timely, fresh and still of key interest to audiences.
Blog content #3: Customer Stories
Customer success stories are great to weave into your blog. They add credibility to your brand by showing off the great work you do and when told well, they provide a deeper insight into the services you offer. This means they’re great at helping potential clients visualise the value you add.
The best way to do this? Look to the beginning of your relationships with your current customers - what problems did they have that they came to you to overcome? Explain these issues and the exact methods you used to help them (be specific where possible - add in data and quotes if you can). The trick is to make it as relatable for potential customers as possible - make sure these customer stories resonate with them so that they then envisage themselves using your brand.
It’s ideal to name the customer as it adds far more credibility. Just make sure that you have the customer’s full approval and sign off.
To sell or not to sell?
With any style of blog, it’s best to keep the selling to a minimum.
Remember that blogs have educational purposes that support your business whilst still naturally aiding sales strategies. Just to recap, 1) Thought Leadership blogs raise awareness and demonstrate the value of your brand, 2) News Style blogs keep you relevant and engaged with your target audience and 3) Customer Stories build credibility and trust.
In this context, people are looking for genuinely interesting or helpful information. Providing valuable content will support your sales strategies more than overt buying messages.
For more advice on content creation in the HR niche, get in touch. We’ve been helping HR and workplace related brands for over 25 years and we’d love to share our thoughts with you too.