6 ways a blog can help your business

Your business is ready for action – you’ve executed your business plan, purchased all your supplies and overhead, designed business cards, have a website and social media presence that’s true to your brand, but your phone still isn’t ringing. Implementing a strategic digital marketing plan, with blogging as a key feature, can help solve this problem. According to an analysis by Hubspot, 80% of companies that saw an increase in customers use blogging in their digital marketing strategy, furthermore 69% of companies say a successful blogging campaign increased their lead generation.

Blogging is a multi-purpose tactic in digital marketing

• Assists SEO efforts

Blogging is one of the most effective tools at boosting your SEO quality. When a blog post is effectively structured to address a buyer’s problems, it will draw people who are already interested in your products to your website, increasing your leads. Effective content positions your website as a relevant answer to your customers’ questions. According to Oberlo, businesses that produce 16 or more blog posts per month experience 3.5 times more traffic than blogs that produce fewer than four posts and in 2021, 70% of online marketers say that content creation is their most effective strategy, according to Optinmonster. Analysis shows that those adept at both blogging and SEO will be the most effective at implementing a blog into digital strategy.

However, one mistake that inexperienced bloggers make is assuming that blog efforts will immediately pay off. When first starting a blog, you should brainstorm at least 40 to 50 blog post topics. According to Traffic Generation Cafe, a blog could experience an increased traffic rate of up to 77% after reaching 52 blog posts. In blogging, the turtle wins the race; publishing quality content at a slow and steady rate will increase your web presence and lead generation.

• Increases credibility in your industry and with customers

One of the toughest battles when building a brand is establishing credibility with your target audience, whether you are a business-to-business or business-to-consumer business. Social media is a large factor in building a personality for your business and a long-term relationship with your target audience, but blogging remains more effective. Blogging plays a role in each step of the buyer’s journey, from providing awareness to your services to convincing the buyer that your services are needed. This is why it is ideal for small businesses, according to LinkedIn; new and emerging companies need extra effort to build credibility and brand image, and blogging is a very effective way to accomplish this.

Your brand builds a reputation of reliability and credibility within your industry by consistently producing quality content that is engaging and educational. According to analysis by Forbes, statistics in a blog post increase the credibility of the post, and therefore your brand as well. By increasing your brand’s credibility, you increase the likelihood that your content will be linked on another website, which is one of the most important indicators in a search engine ranking your website. Blogging is one of the most effective ways at building the credibility of your brand because it provides the opportunity to show your targeted audience that you know who they are, what they need, and that you are qualified to solve their problems.

• Further establish your business brand

Many businesses have the misconception that social media is the key way to establish the voice and personality of your brand, but nothing can match the impact that blogs have. Blogs offer the opportunity to not only implement SEO, but also tell the stories that brought your brand where it is now. If done properly, these opportunities to share the heart of your business can implement SEO practices as well as provide a personal touch to your business. This relationship provides a connection that cannot be matched on any other online connection; according to Oberlo, inbound marketing generates three times as many leads as paid advertising. Blogging provides a high level of customization that allows you to speak directly to your target audience; including utilizing a unique design throughout the blog and website, creating an about-me and showcasing your multimedia content. In addition to customizing the website itself to reflect the personality of your business, a blog allows you to extend your reach with guest blogging. By inviting other industry experts to write blog posts for your website, you increase your exposure to other audiences as well give your audience insight into the trust and respect you have from others within your industry.

• Drive traffic to your website and generate more leads

The ultimate goal of blogging, and all digital marketing, is to increase the generated leads from social media and other online marketing paths. Blogging is arguably one of the most important aspects of creating an effective digital content strategy. Organizations that blog actively increase their ability to generate leads by 126%, according to FirstSiteGuide. Furthermore, organizations that blog over 16 times a month receive 4.5 times more leads than those that produce four posts or fewer, according to GrowthBadger. Blogging offers the chance to educate and prove yourself useful and knowledgeable to prospective customers, without ever meeting them in person. In addition to providing the answers Googled about through SEO, which drives traffic, quality content that educates and shares important knowledge with the reader will be linked in other websites, which increases traffic and SEO efforts.

• Cultivate relationships with customers through an email subscription

Most marketing strategies operate on the idea of simply putting the message or call to action in front of as many eyeballs as possible; television commercials or flyers are examples. However, digital marketing operates primarily on an inbound mindset. Inbound marketing draws your target audience by producing quality content on information that they need. However, once an individual is on the blog post, there are many opportunities to convert that individual from a web visitor to lead. On average, a blog post has 3 or more calls to action within it, but there is no limit to how many a blog post may have, according to Databox. These calls to action could include downloading content, redirecting to another page to generate more web traffic, or, ideally, an email subscription. Once an individual has signed up for an email subscription, they are much more likely to be converted to a sale. In 2022, 50% of people buy from marketing emails at least once per month, according to Salecycle. In business-to-business email marketing, 81% of marketers said their most used form of content marketing is email marketing.

• Create content for social media

Another area businesses often struggle in is developing an effective social media strategy. Similarly to your blog, social media provides an opportunity to find your buyer persona and cultivate a relationship with them. Despite this, social media accounts are oftentimes just utilized as free ad space, which works against them because the algorithms will oftentimes categorize their posts as spam. Blog posts are a great way to publish content that will resonate with your target audience, as well as prompt engagement and redistribution through shares. Additionally, blog posts usually contain information or media that can be repurposed into social media graphics or other content.

Blogs are one of the most powerful tools in a digital marketing strategy.

Though often overlooked, a blog is an essential aspect of developing any digital content strategy. A blog can build trust within client relationships, contribute to your social media effort, reinforce your brand with your target audience, drive traffic to your website and generate leads, and much more. Whether you have a business-to-business or business-to-consumer company, small or large, a blog can make a huge difference in your businesses’ online performance. For many companies, blogging is a great extension of the marketing tools already being utilized.

As an experienced digital marketer, I am able to create and implement a digital strategy for your business at a cost effective price to ensure you get the maximum return on your investment.  Check out my ‘Hire Me’ page to discuss how I can help optimize your business’ web presence.