Why EVERY Business Needs A Blog
Why - and how - to include a blog in your marketing strategy
As you can probably imagine, as a digital marketing consultant I spend a helluva lot of time stalking businesses online and analysing their marketing strategies. And I’m constantly surprised by the failure of highly competitive companies to host a blog on their website. Whilst it’s far and few between, when I do stumble across those who manage to grab hold of this low hanging SEO-shaped fruit, I’m even more troubled by their failure to share their well-thought-out blog posts within their social media strategy. (But that’s one to flesh out later).
Sure, it all feels a bit millennial. But if the millennials have taught us one thing (and, full disclosure, I myself fall into the category) it’s how to use the internet - and its social media world - to garner attention. Not just attention but influence – another term that is inextricably linked to those whose personal brand is their livelihood. I say good luck to them.
The important thing to know is that blogs are not just a marketing tool restricted to businesses that are ‘trendy’ or ‘youthful’. Whatever your product or service, one would hope that you know the subject inside out and are an expert in the field – but that, unfortunately doesn’t automatically make you an expert in how to market it. Perhaps you’re a small business owner who runs a vegan bakery or owns a Fortune 500 corporate firm? A blog is essential to both if you are serious about upping your content marketing game. Either way, just hear me out with these 9 reasons you need to incorporate entering the blogosphere into your unique digital marketing strategy.
Thought Leadership
To have any chance at business success, the most important thing you must establish is credibility in your field. Assuming your content strategy has been well-researched and optimised to attract your target audience, blogging about your subject establishes you as an authority on the matter. While thought leadership cannot be directly connected to website conversions or specific sales, it definitely greases the wheels. Think of it as ushering a user through your strategic customer journey. Prospects who read your content and trust what you have to say are far more likely to convert; this is why consistent blogging is important in increasing the lifetime value of every customer, and generating a brand loyal consumer base in return.
SEO
When it comes to search engine optimisation, I’ll never understand why businesses overlook the value of a blog for driving traffic (and therefore business) to their website. How do people find you? How are you going to receive those extra website conversions? Believe it or not, there are even e-commerce businesses - for whom 100% of their consumer base is online - without a company blog! Let’s weigh up your options. Maybe they already know your company name and type it directly into the search bar – great, these users have high navigational intent and are therefore known as low hanging fruit in the SEO world. Maybe they fall into your custom audience, or lookalike audience, and thus have clicked on the link for an ad they’ve been strategically served which you have shelled out thousands of pounds to ensure they see. And then we have keywords - the organic search terms that your prospect can type into the search bar (this is why keyword research is SO important). Blogging allows you to incorporate your favoured long-tailed and short-tailed keywords (we’ll visit these in more depth in another blog) so that Google begins to rank your website for them. Consistently adding pages to your website in the form of blogs means you are relentlessly sending signals to Google to index your shiny new landing pages and to keep checking on your site for new content. And, unlike paid content, your blog has no time limit – it will continue to live on and be crawled by Google's ranking system, being indexed by search engines long after you have pushed it live. Not to mention it’s free - now who doesn’t love that?
Convert Website Traffic Into Leads
So, now you have all this lovely fresh traffic to your website. And the likelihood is that this traffic consists of a number of high value customers with intent to purchase (if you’ve accurately used your market segmentation to optimise your content, that is). But then, how do you push this key audience further down the marketing funnel, and guide them on the ideal customer journey? This is why it is so important for businesses to include optimised Call-to-Actions in their blog content as it’s a great - and super easy way - of converting valuable website traffic into leads. Decide what you want them to do before you start writing and then guide them towards making that decision with your copy.
Your CTA may not be implemented with the intention to generate a direct sale, often the purpose of this digital marketing tool is to simply expand your email list with interested and engaged parties to build up your customer database. Ideas for gathering personal information can only be done if you are providing something of value in exchange. Examples include free product trials, webinar invitations, free e-books, content templates, checklists or informational fact sheets.
It Supports Conversions, Not Just Sales
No one wants to feel like they are on the receiving end of a sales pitch. That’s advertising, not marketing. Your business blog provides a platform to communicate with existing and prospective clients in a very informal way. By approaching them on a personal level, you are creating relationships; this is key as these relationships typically lead these users into convert into valuable brand loyal consumers. Writing blog posts also displays your brand’s unique tone of voice or, if you don’t have one, forces you to establish it. There’s no pressure when it comes to creating a blog so you can show off your industry knowledge and solutions without the hard sell. Your blog is a major trust cue, and a conduit to establishing a mutually beneficial relationship with your audience. Don’t underestimate its power.
Gain Customer Base Insight
Thanks to the wonders of digital marketing, everything is measurable and open to marketing analysis - including your customer database. And, due to its conversational style, blogging is one part of a two-way discussion. Never forget that all feedback is valuable, even if it is opposing your own point of view. People love conflict - it’s the driver for every story - and so a bit of confrontation is sure to attract the attention of the more voyeuristic prospects. Just be sure to stand your ground. This is your owned media space and, therefore, provides you with the all-important ‘right of reply’ (the opportunity to defend oneself against public criticism). Think of it as your very own bespoke PR tool that you can use to your advantage whenever necessary. Perhaps there is a negative news story involving your business sector and you wish to defend it, or, on a more granular level, an individual customer makes a public complaint against your brand. Incidentally, spinning the latter into a positive is also a great excuse to show off showing off your sparkling customer service. It’s almost too easy.
Keep Up With Your Competitors
This one speaks for itself. If your industry rivals have a company blog and you don’t then, I’m sorry to tell you, they are several steps ahead. Given all the positive outcomes of hosting a blog, the only companies that don’t have one are those lacking any marketing prowess. With your own blog, customers that might otherwise be theirs are now ripe for the plucking.
It Leads To More Content
When it comes to creating content, writing a blog is a great place to start. Why? It forms the unique foundation of what will flesh out your content strategy over coming months. From one blog, you automatically have an excuse to create personalised email campaigns relevant to varying segments of your engaged audiences, generate related social media content, create hero video content (if that’s your gig - it’s not for everyone) or discover topics for podcast discussions and so on so forth.. As I always say, it all starts with a story.
Peacock Your Brand Personality
Yep, here it is again. The good old brand identity message. Do away with the intimidating corporate front and uncover the human element of your business. This is the piece that allows you to find your ‘tribe’. Statistically, people are more likely to buy from a brand that has, or represents, a similar personality to their own. Fact. Use this to your advantage to show there are people behind your brand and those people are looking for like-minded individuals. If you’re unsure of your brand personality and would like to delve a little deeper into this topic, I’d highly recommend looking into Jennifer L. Aaker’s Five Dimensions of Brand Personality (you’ll thank me later).
Generate Sales Or Actions
Okay, I started this by saying the joy of the blog as a format is that it doesn’t feel like touting for business. However, if you are doing it right, then rest assured that at least some of your readers will convert into actual customers. Based on the other eight factors explored above, you now have established a rapport with your reader, earned their trust and shown your personality as well as your service – very nice. If they are still reading, then it’s safe to say they like what they see. And so, your blog acts as the drinks reception that precedes the big event. As long as your content provides a logical link to your product or service, it stands to reason that those interested enough to invest their time into reading your content are in a need state which you have the capacity to fulfil. Just don’t forget the relevant CTAs at the end.