You know that feeling when you read a brand's blog post and think to yourself, "This is awesome. Who can I tell?!" I sometimes find myself sending certain posts to a whole list of my marketing friends. That's when I know I've hit gold.
When this ritual happens consistently with posts from one particular blog, I begin associating its name with content I love. I add them to my RSS feed; I follow them on Twitter; I begin to trust them, even defend them as if they were a friend.Any and every business can develop relationships like this with their blog readers, and it all starts with amazing content. (And even if your team doesn't have the bandwidth to write a lot of awesome content consistently, you can always get professional writers to write great content for you through affordable services like Zerys.)
To inspire all you business bloggers out there, we've curated a list of some of the most entertaining business blogs on the internet. Check 'em out, and let us know if you have other favorites in the comments!
1) EAT24
Blogs with a lot of personality are always entertaining, and EAT24 does an amazing job of not holding theirs back. (...At all.) Their blog is called "Bacon Sriracha Unicorn Diaries," and as if that wasn't reason enough to read it, they consistently post hilarious content with a brand persona reminiscent of DiGiorno's Pizza going rogue on Twitter.
Some great posts from the EAT24 blog:
- A Breakup Letter to Facebook from EAT24
- Top 5 Reasons to Stay Out of the Kitchen
- Egg Rolls Destroyed Our Inbox: The EAT24 Story
2) Priceonomics
Every post published on the Priceonomics blog is in-depth, well-researched, statistics-based, and totally engrossing. (Can you tell we're fans?) Although their writing is what they're famous for nowadays, it wasn't always that way.
Rohin Dhar launched the blog in 2011 to offer price guides for overused goods because they were sick of getting ripped off. Over the next two years, they expanded their blog content to cover topics like Airbnb rates versus hotels, the lives of can collectors, and what happens to stolen bicycles -- and they were such viral hits that Dhar decided to "double down" on producing great content. He wrote in November 2013: "We just need to write smart things and hopefully a small fraction of our audience will hire us for data-related services."
The folks at Priceonomics prioritize putting out amazing content for free -- and they really set the bar high. Dhar says, "I definitely keep in mind Hacker News when writing an article even if it has nothing to do with tech. Whenever I write a sentence, I consider how the logic could be torn to shreds in a Hacker News comment. If I think it could, I know to tighten up the argument." Their content doesn't necessarily promote data sales, but they've successfully gained a huge following through their consistently great content.
Some great posts from the Priceonomics blog:
3) LearnVest
LearnVest's blog on personal finance is a wealth of statistics, charts, stories from real people, and useful, actionable advice. They publish meaty posts every day written by anyone from professional financial consultants and personal finance bloggers to college students and couples planning a wedding.
While many other personal finance blogs are about rebuilding your financial life, LearnVest's blog covers a much wider range of topics and are aimed at people in any financial position. For example, while they have a lot of posts on digging yourself out of debt, they also have posts on how to not blow your inheritance.
Some great posts from LearnVest:
- 12 Drinking and Dining Hacks From Restaurant Insiders
- 5 Affordable Alternatives for Lavish Vacation Destinations
- 6 Ingenius Work Perks That Save Employees Serious Cash
4) Pinterest
Pinterest does something really cool with their blog: Many of their posts are curations of users' own pins. These posts are called "Pin Picks," and each one features a series of hand-picked pins in a certain category, like camping. We absolutely love how user-centric these blog posts are. The folks at Pinterest really understand how to cater their entire website -- including their blog -- to us, their users.
Some great posts from Pinterest's blog:
- Pin Picks: Top 5 ideas for emergency prep
- Pin Picks: 10 ways to trick out your bike
- 10 Ways Pinners Are Celebrating Mom
5) Unboxed Thoughts
This isn't your typical company blog: Instead of hiring writers to report on industry news and topics their audience is interested in, Prosek Partners made its blog a place for their creative team to write their thoughts, opinions, and insights. The purpose is to "unleash the voices of our own people," according to the About page. "Coming from a team of professionals who work all day to keep messages and client communication in a neat and tidy box, we aimed to create a place where the lid can hang open and topics can be discussed without a ceiling."
It's rare that a company is willing to relinquish control of the publishing rights on the company blog and trust their employees to post thought-provoking conversation starters at their leisure -- especially in an industry like public relations. It's not just a diary of employees' thoughts, though: Their goal is to show clients that they are creative storytellers who apply passion, energy, and personality to their work. Plus, we think their willingness to reveal the human side of their company is pretty awesome.
Some great posts from Unboxed Thoughts:
6) The Date Report
With titles like "How I Got Over My Breakup with Oysters, Jack and Cokes, and a Book Launch Party" and "All the Reasons to Date a Cat Person, As Told By Cats," offline dating site howaboutwe 's blog takes risks on topics and language where most businesses (even online dating sites) would shy away.
But these topics work for their audience: Young people who are looking for relationships are probably also looking for relationship advice, tips for online dating, fun date ideas, and so on. The Date Report covers all of that -- and their writing voice kind of makes it feel like it's your best friend giving you advice.
Some great posts from The Date Report:
- The Complete Guide to Sending a Follow-Up Message
- 10 Ways Science Can Make You a Better Flirt
- What He Really Thinks About Your Online Dating Profile
Which business blogs inspire you? Share with us in the comments!
This article originally appeared on HubSpot's Marketing Blog.