Engaging your Audience

Blog Brainstorming generated by Gemini

What makes a good blog post?

It's amazing what generative AI comes up with sometimes. All I said was to create a comic art image of a person typing on a computer with the screen showing, blogging about what makes a good blog. And Gemini hits it right on the head. I didn't ask for a bulleted list, but there it is. (Kudos to Gemini on the details of the background and desktop. I mean, come on, now!)

This week we were supposed to read several blog posts from three different learning and development sites and observe what makes a good/engaging blog post and why. So let's analyze that using the points Gemini so graciously provided.

1. Catchy Headline

What makes a good headline? How do you grab someone's attention? If you are to believe YouTube culture, you need to hook your reader in just a couple words. You need to pull at their base levels to get those clicks. But is that accurate? Let's look at Julian Stodd's Learning Blog. Examples of his blog posts include "Safety and Shelter: Research Kickoff", "WorkingOutLoud on Organisation as Ecosystem", and "The Power of Eclectic Connection". None of them really "hook" a reader like sensationalist headlines would. But they do provide information that is relatively clear and to the point. You have an idea of what you will be getting and reading about if you were to click through to the article.

2. Engaging Intro

In journalism, the first sentence is to sell the facts. In blogging, the first sentence is to sell a perspective or personality. You are trying to make and maintain a connection to and build rapport with your reader. There are various ways you can do this. On ATD's blog (Association of Training and Development), you can find quotes - “Corporations are victims of the great training robbery.” You can find provocative thoughts - “New year, new you!” What about “New year, new leader?” You can find perspectives - "I’ve been around the L&D block long enough..." All of these intros provide intrigue to entice the reader to continue reading.

3. Value Driven Content

The most important part of any engaging blog post is to provide value for the reader. That is the WHY behind any educational blog. We read Learning blogs to learn. Meaning we write learning blogs to teach. The content doesn't necessarily have to be dry, logical, and research based. People learn in many different ways. Just look at Kolb's Learning Styles. You want to write less about what you did and more about how it helps the reader. For example, look at The Learning Guild's posts about generative and agentic AI. Ashley Cook discusses how AI needs to be more human centric using intentional design. Greg Wright compares traditional, generative and agentic AI, exploring use cases for agentic. We can all expand our personal learning networks the more we write and read.

4. Strong Call to Action

There is a common mantra used in sales - ABC - Always Be Closing. Blogs must have a strong closing. What is the major takeaway you want for your readers? Are you presenting a challenge? Marketing a product? Advertising an event? Asking for reflection? What final thoughts do you want to share? Remember, you don't want to write just to fill a page. You want to write to fuel a transformation.

The big takeaway I wish to impart is engagement isn't just about clicks. It's about the conversation that follows. By being intentional with our design and human-centric in our delivery, we can turn a simple blog post into a catalyst for growth. Which of the L&D blogs we explored today resonated most with your learning style? Let's keep the discussion going.