B2B Blogs | 4. Take Action

Even the best-laid plans fall apart if you don’t follow through. Now is the time to translate your plan into action.

Your goal is to post one blog article each week for 12 weeks. Designate a specific day for every post to appear, and you've established a simple schedule of publication deadlines. Finally, create a master list of topics, assign article owners/writers/editors, and note each article’s publication date.

For example, our sample company’s basic plan looks like this:

3 Month Blog Plan (Phase 1 – Oct-Dec)

Strategy:  Focus on top 3 revenue drivers
Goal:  1 post per week (12 total)
Distribution:  Product 1 = 7    Product 2 = 3     Product 3 = 2
Topics:  See list (illustration)
Schedule:  Every Tuesday, by 8am EST
Article owner:  Lead engineer
Article writer/editor:  Consultant

Article numbers reflect the intended publication sequence, and they can readily be linked to specific publication dates. As you can see, the objective is to publish seven articles focused on Product 1, with five articles related to Products 2 and 3 injected every few weeks. At the end of 12 weeks, each product will have received coverage proportional to its contribution to the bottom line.

B2B blog plans need to remain flexible and adaptable. Often, you’ll find interesting ideas that you want to tackle but which aren’t on your blog schedule. Feedback from customers and new products, challenges or issues will prompt new ideas. Add these to the list, decide whether to address them now or later, and incorporate them into your plan.

Try to avoid letting transient trends or this week’s hot topic pull you off magnetic center. You created a plan for a purpose: to market your business and promote your top revenue drivers. Focus on your primary goals and manage how other issues flow into your plan, so you remain flexible but in control.

As you approach the end of your first three-month cycle (Phase 1), take time to map a fresh plan for Phase 2. Pull out your original topic list and update it with fresh ideas that reflect changes in your business, products, customers and marketplace.

It's your choice. Continue developing short-term, three-month plans, or bite the bullet and extend your plan to six or 12 months.

So what does your Phase 1-B2B blog plan look like? Feel free to share your results and recommendations.

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Related: B2B Blogs
1. Do You Have a Plan?
2. Pick a Strategy
3. Generate Topic Ideas
5. Expand Your Focus