Blog editorial strategy and management ✍️

The PitchBook blog launched in 2013 to promote new product offerings and platform features, highlight company culture, and catalog the startup’s evolution.

Background

With no overarching strategy to guide decision-making and no set editorial process, management of the blog changed hands and teams over a period of years. Voice and tone were inconsistent, new posts were published on a haphazard schedule, and the channel languished. Little was known about the blog’s readers, what they were seeking, or whether those needs were being met through the content on the page. This was reflected by low traffic and lead-generation.

My approach

To revive this owned-channel and drive leads, demos, and sales, the PitchBook blog needed a champion. Between 2019 and present, here are some of the ways I’ve helped reinvigorate the PitchBook blog:

• Developed the blog’s first-ever channel-specific content strategy, outlining key audiences, content pillars, content formats, processes, goals, and more

• Created a monthly editorial calendar to ensure an ideal content mix, set a publishing cadence, and effectively allocate resources

• Worked closely with SEO manager to develop SEO-first mindset for content creation, including a process to optimize net-new blog posts and resurface historically high performing blog posts

• Manage creative team resourcing to support the blog across writers, editors, designers, and multimedia pros

Outcome

In 2020, blog traffic increased by 64% YoY to 448,000 unique pageviews and generated $5.5 million in first-touch revenue.

In 2021, blog traffic rose again, by 49% to 677,000 pageviews. More than 3,100 leads and 250 demos came through the blog that year, and first-touch revenue attributed to the blog reached a new high-water mark of $6.2 million. The majority of leads (69%) and traffic (61%) generated by the blog in 2021 were earned organically.

Several years into the blog’s new and improved era, and we’re still building on our successes. As of December 2023, we’re at +14% leads and +23% revenue YOY. For YTD metrics, the channel has generated 4,412 leads, 304 demos, and $10.4 million in first-touch revenue through late-Q4 2023.

Writing SEO-informed, people-first blog content

Staying close to the craft is a priority—it’s one of the most fulfilling and exciting parts of my role. Since 2019, in addition to managing strategy and operations on PitchBook’s blog, I’ve also authored 60+ net-new, SEO-informed articles across educational topics, trends, and product offerings. A few of those articles can also be found below.