Adding a blog to your digital marketing plan can help you keep your audience updated about your business and is the perfect platform to strengthen your SEO strategy. You should take blogging into consideration whether you are a small business, a startup or you already are a successful company.
In 1996, Bill Gates made an adventurous prediction, that content would be where the real money will be made on the Internet. Twenty-five years later, we can say that he was right: Content is King. Therefore, what you need to do – so that your company can benefit from the content – is finding the right path to enter the Land of Blogs and, after that, to make sure that your content is above the competitors. A king should dominate the market, first and foremost, through quality, and always be attentive to the needs of those who visit his palace.
That being said, let’s discover together why your business needs a blog and, if you already have one, how to make it better.
Be a rock star
How can you attract new traffic or customers to your site and be more visible on the market? Well, the answer is simple: you can do that through blogging and optimizing your website for search engines.
Once you understand the importance of the SEO process and take action to improve your website in order to obtain better visibility in search results, you need to move on to the next step: blogging, a way to talk even more about the products or services your site sells.
But until then, we need to take a quick look at some statistics via Findstack:
- there are more than 500 million blog sites worldwide;
- 68.52% of bloggers agreed that blogs help add credibility to a website, and they use blogs to showcase their expertise in their field;
- 88% of businesses that do outsourcing pay people to write for them;
- 38% of bloggers publish content once a week;
- high-income and low-income bloggers prioritize content quality.
Therefore, besides the fact that it is a direct communication channel with online users and potential customers, a blog is a space to showcase what you do and what your products and services can really offer.
The more your company produces quality content, the more it will be seen as an authority in the industry. Writing blog posts about the products or services you sell is a good idea to attract a large number of customers, because you will get more visibility in search results, by using long-tail keywords, images, and videos related to your products.
In order to do this, to become a rock star on Google, an authority in your field of activity – which means that customers will be curious to hear what else you have to say, what products or services you bring out -, it is important to understand your audience, before starting to create relevant and valuable content.
Exposed to a huge amount of information, the online user is becoming more and more selective and constantly looking for content that responds punctually to his needs at a certain point. You can help him find exactly what he is looking for, by writing long-form posts that give you the opportunity to explore a topic. The more complex your posts are, the more ideas you’re likely to generate.
Don’t be afraid to send readers to another website, because linking to external sources, like studies, statistics, and analyses, will give weight to the topic you’re discussing, and help your blog gain credibility. Try to include outbound links naturally on your pages. So, look for opportunities to include helpful and relevant links directly in your content, but try to avoid using too many external links. Too many outbound links can annoy website visitors, and send people away from your blog.
Be a credible source in your industry, by using content marketing opportunities! Customers respond to leadership, and this is why you should use your blog to demonstrate your expertise in a certain area.
Kill two birds with one stone
In the Land of Blogs, the possibilities for growth are limitless. Now, we will tell you how to kill two birds with one stone (in fact, there are several, but let’s take them one at a time).
First of all, let’s talk a little about email marketing. This tool is one of your most impactful marketing channels, being a powerful way to keep a permanent place in the mind of people, so, when the time comes, let them choose you. In a nutshell, email marketing is the use of email to promote products or services, while developing relationships with potential customers. More users in your email list, more chances for your business to grow.
Back to blogging now. You can use your blog to increase your email list. Writing comprehensive, relevant, and informative articles is a great way to attract people who want more of this kind of text, and sign up for that weekly reminder. On your blog’s homepage, add an area where customers can enter their email address to get updates.
Are you still not convinced about the good relationship between blogging and email marketing? Maybe this information will convince you: businesses that blog experience twice as much email traffic as businesses who don’t, a study of over 6,000 HubSpot customers shows.
Sharing is caring
Blogging has many advantages for your business and one of them is that it offers you quality content for social media. Thereby, you will be discovered via social media. We are used to seeing people sharing stories, photos, ideas, articles, and interviews on social networking sites, like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest or Instagram. One of these can be a post from your blog, shared by someone that was impressed about how well a page was written and how much it helped him better understand a certain product, industry or area of expertise.
A well-written blog article can spread rapidly on social media, and expose your company to audiences you might not even know yet. From follower to buyer is just one step when you have quality content.
At the same time, it’s no surprise to anyone that social media presence is a must if you’re looking to reach new audiences, build your brand and stand out from the competition. In this context, blogging helps keep your social media presence going. By sharing blog posts on social media, you consistently provide quality content to online users.
Don’t forget to optimize your site and have social media buttons on your blog, so that an online user can easily find your social networking sites, and, at the same time, give them the possibility to share the articles that they find interesting.
One for me, one for you – create a win-win relationship
When you have a good business website, you are sure that your customers are receiving the information they need about your offer. Unfortunately, there’s often no room for them to ask questions, comment on content, or start a conversation. A blog can be a bridge between the products and services you promote and potential customers, so that communication is no longer done in a one-way manner.
Building a blog can help you get feedback from your customers. Open the comment sections and start conversation with potential customers. Make your platform interactive, and adopt your company’s tone of voice, which means your brand personality and values. Blogging is about building relationships. For your business, this is a great tool that allows you to examine your services and your products from your audience’s point of view. After that, you can make changes to improve your services and products, and build up trust and authority within the area your site activates. This is your win.
On the other hand, the customer can feel that it is not just a number for site traffic or profit, but an important person for your business. When your focus is on the customer perspective, when you are paying attention to online users’ problems, and when you are trying to offer solutions and answers to potential clients’ questions – by writing quality and exhaustive content, and by responding to comments -, you are creating a bonding relationship.
But be careful not to disappoint them. Be consistent! Don’t ask them to buy your services and products and then you disappear until you need to promote them again. So, set an estimated schedule for blog posts, and make sure to write with some frequency, so you don’t lose their trust.
It is like that moment in The Little Prince, where the prince meets a fox.
It would have been better to come back at the same hour, the fox said. If, for example, you come at four o’clock in the afternoon, then at three o’clock I shall begin to be happy. I shall feel happier and happier as the hour advances. At four o’clock, I shall already be worrying and jumping about. I shall show you how happy I am! But if you come at just any time, I shall never know at what hour my heart is to be ready to greet you…
That being said, take your time writing about topics that your customers are interested in, give them valuable information and advice, and, in this way, position yourself as someone they rely on and trust.
Important news is a click away
Last but not least, keep your audience updated about your business, and about important news from industry. A blog is a powerful tool to share updates in a way that shows who you are, not just what you do. So, you can write leadership stories, you can write a post about the challenges of the industry that your business is part of and how you deal with them, you can write stories about successful business models, you can present your team, and their effort for the success of the business, and you can talk about the history of your company.
On your blog you can make room for articles that present current topics generated by you, like those related to the business you run and industry events in which you participate. The creative ways to present your services are crucial to the modern business environment: write posts about new products, about conferences and events where you were invited, about everything that appears new in your business and industry. In this way, you are proving that you are a great source of information.
On the other hand, you can publish some interviews with specialists in your industry, or with members of your team.
It is important for your customers to know who is behind the business, to associate a person with a brand.
In the end, what we can say is that there are many more reasons why every company should start a blog. And that is because a blog is a marketing channel that helps support business growth, because, among others, it drives website traffic and promotes your products and services, but, at the same time, helps you build trust with your potential clients and build customer loyalty.
So, now that you know this information, what do you do with it?
Raise your hand if the following step is to add a blog to your digital marketing plan or to improve your current online presence!