Blogging for business has been around for a good long while now.
With all the newfangled social media content and creative videos coming out, blogging seems almost Stone Age by comparison.
Does anyone still read them? Do businesses get any benefit from writing them?
With all of these moving images bouncing around our screens, it’s enough to make you question the value of words on a page.
But, as it turns out, blogging is the third most common content marketing strategy in 2021. (HubSpot)
This could either mean a lot of marketing budget is going down the drain or that blogging still has value for business
Here we show you why we believe it’s the latter.
How blogging has evolved
Remember the days when blogging was all the rage?
It was around 10 years ago, when the internet was ruled by fashion-savvy mums making enviable livings from posting about their days.
This type of personal blogging is definitely becoming a thing of the past, as lifestyle and fashion influencers have moved to more visual channels such as Instagram and Tik Tok.
But while blogs that focus on celebrities are phasing out, blogs that focus on the reader are going strong.
Think about all those times a day that you type a random question into Google.
You’re normally looking to solve a problem of some kind, like how to do something or because you want to read up about a product or service.
A lot of the time, you will find your answer in an article posted to a blog.
As a business, you can tap into this type of blogging—also known as content marketing—to connect with your audience and even to drive sales.
Let’s explore how.
What blogging is good for
Engage your customer
Blogging is a great way to engage your ideal customer, the type of person who you want to buy your product or service.
Whatever product or service you’re selling, you have an expertise in that area and a wealth of knowledge to share with curious readers.
Blogs don’t need to be salesy. Simply by being informative and useful, they can be very effective at helping your readers make a purchasing decision.
Use blogs to:
- Explain how to do something
- Solve a problem
- Compare different products
- Show a new way to use something
- Share useful but little-known facts
- Discuss the origins or benefits of a material or ingredient
- Review or recommend products
Reach the top of Google results
Businesses that blog get 55% more website visitors than businesses that don’t(HubSpot).
This is because when you share an article on social media, people click on it.
This tells Google that people find your site useful and Google will be more likely to put your page higher on search results.
So, for example, when people search for things like your business name, your product, or even just a question that is answered on your blog, your site can be among the first in the results.
Marketing activity that helps you get to the top of Google results is called search engine optimisation or SEO.
Even coming into 2022, blogging is still one of the best and cheapest SEO strategies.
Not sure you get how the whole Google ranking thing works? Here’s A Quick and Easy Introduction to SEO.
Collect leads
Leads are contacts that you can market to and turn into customers.
If you want to increase your sales, you’ll need more leads, and blogging is a great way to do that.
Blogging has been shown to increase leads by 67%, making it one of the most cost-effective lead generation tools (DemandMetric).
Calls to action at the bottom of your blog can invite customers to learn more by getting in touch with you or by signing up to things like informative webinars or product release updates.
How to blog (the right way)
Step 1:Strategise
Your blog can be more effective and require less effort with a content marketing strategy.
Strategising gives you the opportunity to think about what type of information your audience is looking for.
A content marketing strategy will also save you time because it lets you plan for the future and schedule posts, rather than scrambling for ideas at the last minute.
If you have the budget for it, partner with a marketing agency. They can help create an effective content marketing strategy and write your blog posts for you.
Step 2:Write
Write blogs that help your audience by giving them useful information.
How-to posts and Step-by-step guides are still some of the most popular on the internet because they are valuable to your audience.
Blog post topics also need to be timely and relevant to engage your target audience. Topics should sync with things like new product releases, holiday periods, and even news or trends.
Tips for writing blogs
- Use subheadings to break the text into scannable sections
- Keep paragraphs short to make text easier to read on screens
- Write in simple language so your posts are accessible to people of diverse backgrounds and reading skills
- Include a call-to-action at the bottom
Step 3: Share
One way to make sure your blogs don’t get read is by not sharing them!
Your blogs won’t even get discovered unless you share them using your social media accounts or an email newsletter.
Choosing the right marketing channels for your blog is essential to success because different audiences hang out in different places for different reasons.
Don’t forget the important step of promoting your posts, and you will be on track to blogging to benefit your business.