Blogging for business can be tough when you run a service-based business. It can be hard to determine which topics you should write about and how to appeal to local customers. When you don’t have specific products to write about, you can find yourself suffering from writer’s block and struggling to create content on a consistent basis for your service-related company. If you want help to increase the effectiveness of your inbound marketing efforts, bear the following content creation tips in mind.

– Create buyer personas for individuals or companies who might take advantage of your services. Which business sectors are they in or what sort of lifestyle do they lead? When you start developing buyer personas for specific customers, you’ll soon discover a wide array of topics you can write about.

– Use a tool like Google Trends to supercharge your inbound marketing strategy. Combine your market niche and a buyer persona description in Google Trends’ comparison tool, e.g. plumbing + condominium complex (trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=plumber,condominium%20complex) to uncover a variety of popular search topics you can write about.

– Combining your service-based business with event marketing analysis is a great way to discover inbound marketing ideas for your company. Use a tool like Eventbrite to search for up-and-coming meetings and conferences in your area. When you see the types of events being held in your local area, you can create inbound marketing blog posts specific to event attendees, e.g. plumbing problems to avoid on your wedding day or most common plumbing problems for restaurant owners. Searching for blog post ideas via a tool like Eventbrite can spur your creative juices and increase your search engine optimization too.

– A great way to improve the effectiveness of your inbound marketing strategy is to develop partnerships and brand loyalty with local companies who can refer customers to your service-based business. Write blog posts about businesses in your local area and link to their websites, e.g. 5 Coffee Shops in (your town) Every Plumber Should Know About. This increases your local SEO while potentially attracting the attention of coffee shop owners who might someday need your services. Share your posts on social media and @ mention the handle of the coffee shops you’ve written about. This increases their goodwill towards your company and increases the odds they’ll recommend your business the next time they hear about someone needing your services.

Integrating these tips into your inbound marketing strategy can significantly improve the effectiveness of business blogging for your service business. When you develop and deploy a detailed content marketing plan for your company, you’ll be surprised just how effective blogging can be for customer acquisition.