The best thing about a blog is that just having one is a step towards creating a more powerful, recognizable brand.Many businesses use content marketing through blogging a major part of their strategy, so you are already ahead of the game

Many businesses use content marketing through blogging a major part of their strategy, so you are already ahead of the game

So how do you become a blogging superstar, and get that brand up and moving? Here are some must-have tips to get started.

Build Bigger, Better Content

The common advice used to be that if you write it, they will come. That hasn’t been the case for a long time now. Creating content is about building something amazing that stands out from the crowd because everyone and their mom have a blog these days. Want to brand through blogging? You better be ready to go for the gold.

Having posts that really push the line will get you further, and one amazing post will equal to about ten ‘meh’ ones. Try expanding out into interesting new territories: slideshows, infographics, comics, expert roundups, series posts, extensive tutorials, etc.

Get Social (The Better Way)

There is nothing quite as annoying as a blog Twitter or Facebook account that only publishes links to their blog. Maybe those posts are incredible, I wouldn’t know…I never click on them. And if you look at the analytics that comes from those kinds of accounts, neither does anyone else. People may hit the favorite or like button, but they will probably forget they ever saved it to read later.

Your social accounts are a way to engage and connect with your potential audience. It is a place to show off your authority, likeability, and the tone of your brand. You should be interacting in a normal, one on one way. That doesn’t mean you can’t (or shouldn’t) share links, but make it about more than that. Here’s a good list of social media tactics to build your blog and drive traffic.

I would recommend setting your posts to automatically post on social media. Then use a tool like Buffer to remind every few days for the first week. Everything between should be written in the moment.

Brand Through Color

Choosing the right color for your brand is probably the biggest concern as far as design goes. So why do so many brands choose the same color scheme? I have lost track of the number of modern startups that are going with blue, blue-green and green, it is insane.

You want to stand out, but also present an image that is true to your brand. There are some great color wheel tools out there that will let you select a unique palette that speaks to what your blog is all about.

My personal favorites are the ultra-simple Paletton wheel and the more thorough Adobe Color Wheel. The first is a nice way to just get a look at how the different colors mesh together and look in a sequence. You can get any shade or tone between two extremes. The second is great if you want to share your palettes, or look at those created by other designers. The gallery can be pretty inspirational. Head there if you are having trouble deciding on what colors to use.

Build Your Own Assets

Don’t spread yourself thin: It’s easy to focus on social media activity (which brings results at this very moment) and forget about building something long-term and solid that would become a solid traffic source one day.

An essential brand asset you should start with is definitely an email list: Your subscribers will become the core of your community, coming each time you call them.

GetResponse is the most efficient platform to build an email list. Its automation toolset is impressive and lets you automate your communication with subscribers in a most powerful way. Besides, GetResponse has come up with powerful marketing tools including webinars, analytics and landing page creator empowering your email marketing.

Spread Your Authority

Whenever someone tries to claim that guest blogging is dead, I roll my eyes and submit my latest guest post to one of the many sites I am lucky enough to work with. Guest blogging is one of the easiest ways to spread your authority beyond your own blog, connecting with audiences who are interested in what you have to say, but may not have come across your site before.

Branding is all about authority, because you have to prove you are the best of the best, and no one else competes. Writing for other sites that readers already trust is a great way to do that.

Monitor Your Brand Effectively

You have got to be able to properly keep track of what is being said about your brand, and to be up on the latest 411 at all time. Having a couple of tools on hand will make that a lot easier.

Google Alerts is a must use app for reputation management all across the web. It will keep an eye on reviews from other sites, Yelp comments, even obscure mentions on little forums and message boards. You will always be able to watch, and (if necessary) comment.

Cyfe is an all in one business dashboard that pretty much does anything you want it to. I like it for watching social media, analytics for different pages, and finding out what content is most popular. That helps me to narrow down my brand focus and start catering to what my audience is responding to.

Get That Editorial Calendar In Order

This isn’t exactly a branding tip, but it is a blog management tip. Which means in the grand scheme of things, it applies.

You should have an active, well-maintained, organized editorial calendar in place at all times. You can just use an Excel or Google Drive spreadsheet if you like. But I like Trello for the job since it is so easy to edit, share, get comments, assign tasks, and just about anything else you can think of.

It is one of those tools that is there for one thing (project management), but can be customized to fit just about any need.

Do you have any advice to add on branding your blog? Let us know in the comments!

Anna Fox is the blogger behind Hire Bloggers, social media marketing enthusiast, and stay-at-home mom.