Blogging is the heart and soul of your inbound marketing, social media marketing, and overall content marketing. Blogging for business is a must for any company.
The other day I was talking with a prospective client. He had just paid $3,500 for a new great looking website and was really excited about the website. The client was also concerned that nobody would see it. He was right. Yes, the website looked great, but there was nothing driving traffic to the new site. So, we had a long conversation about how blogging for business would give his new website purpose.
These are the 25 reasons we talked about the client starting a blog for his business.
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Let new customers find you.
When was the last time you had a question? I bet you hit the old internet to find your answer. Your customers is no different. They are looking for answers to their questions. Every new blog post gives your company the opportunity to answer these questions and be found by prospective customers.
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Help explain your products or services.
Do you have a product that is hard to explain? Even if you are an air conditioning repair company, you have services that your customer had questions about. When the AC is out you are needed. This is an easy sell. How about your pre-summer AC checks and maintenance packages? A blog can help you explain these products to your customers.
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Increase traffic to your website.
Okay, we have a website. We would like to see some traffic, right? Blogging for business is like giving your website an at bat and a chance to hit a home run. The more quality content you produce, the more opportunities you have to be found by your customers and clients. Start giving your website more at bats with more blog posts.
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Become an industry leader.
Is your business the leader in the industry? Are you the best at what you do? Sure you are. Your blog is going to back this claim up. Think about it, if you write a book you are pretty much the guru in the room. Or at least seen as the guru. Blogging is very similar, you are able to share your expertise with the world. Blogging for business gives you the opportunity to show the world you are the leader in your industry.
Think of it this way. You are reading this blog post. I hope you think I am a blogging expert. If not, I have not done my job.
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Build relationships with your customers.
Let’s face it, people are always thinking they are going to get ripped off. Blogging for business will show your potential customer that you are legit and start to build a relationship. Providing valuable information and helping them answer a question will help you build trust. Give away free advice and they will come knocking next time they need your service.
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Identify new revenue streams.
I love to find new revenue streams and I bet you do as well. Building a blog for your business will give you the opportunity to ask your customers and clients questions. Use their responses to help build our new products or services.
For example. When I started my first marketing agency I was focused on inbound marketing services only. The more I blogged for my business the more I found out that I should also be consulting marketing teams on inbound marketing strategy. Cha Ching, new revenue stream.
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You are falling behind.
This is pretty straightforward. Your competition is already blogging for their business and finding new customers. Don’t fall behind any further.
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Tell your brand story.
Does your company have a story? There is a reason you got into the business. For example, I was laid off from a high-paying marketing job and needed a way to feed the family and pay bills. I decided that I was not going back to corporate America and went out and found some clients. The rest is history. Your blog gives you a chance to connect with people through your brand story.
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Cost-effective marketing.
I am sure you have been told to spend boatloads of money on trade shows, pay per click campaigns, social media ads, or direct mail. These are all still great ways to get new business, but blogging is one of the only free ways to promote your business. Yes, there is time involved in creating a great blog post, but it cost me $0 to write this post and you are now aware of the Symple brand.
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Focus on your business.
Blogging for your business is a great way to learn more about you as a business person and learn about your business. The more you blog, the more you need to think about how each topic benefits your business. Blogging for business will have you thinking about your business differently.
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Blogging creates free PR.
Does your business have a PR strategy? No, that is okay. Your blog is a great way for the press to find you and if you are willing (highly recommend) put your on camera. Your blog is a great way to get found and at least start the old PR machine.
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Build links to your website.
Creating high-quality content allows you to be found on the internet. When you are found on the internet you have the chance of someone linking about to your article or website. The more links to your website, the more traffic. The more traffic to more customers.
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Learn about your competition.
When was the last time you took a hard look at the competition? You analyzed the marketing tactics they are using to generate demand? If you are like most companies, potbelly never. When you start blogging for business, you are going to come across your competition as you do research. This is going to inform you of new competitors and also give you some insight into what your competition is doing.
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Provide valuable information to your customers.
I am a huge believer that marketing should add value to the end consumer. Blogging for business is a great way to give your customer tips and tricks for free. I love giving away free advice because I know it will create a relationship and potentially create a new opportunity. Your blog should add value to the end user.
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Share timely information with your customers.
Use your blog to let your customers know about an upcoming product release or let them know you are hosting an event. Your blog is a great way for your company to share important information with your customer base. It is also a great way to find new customers that are looking for something new.
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Blogging for business is fun.
Okay, I might be the only one out there, but I really enjoy blogging for business. I am not a writer at heart, but I have learned the tricks of the trade and writing has become a way to relieve the stress of the business. I really enjoy writing and blogging for my business. You can too.
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Gives your company a content marketing strategy.
Content marketing is the act of creating and sharing content (such as video, blogs, and social media) to promote your brand or company. Content marketing is intended to raise awareness and spark interest in your products or services. Blogging for business is the backbone of a content marketing strategy.
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Gives your company a search engine optimization strategy.
Search engine optimization is the act of being found on Google, Bing, and Yahoo through organic search, not pay per click campaigns. Search engine optimization is important for any business because over 90% of transactions start with a Google. Every blog post you create gives your site a new indexed page in the search engines. Again, this gives you more at bats (l love baseball by the way).
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Part of a lead nurturing strategy.
I am still surprised at how many companies, including marketing agencies, do not have a lead nurturing mechanism in place. Most customers are not ready to buy from you on the first introduction, but through marketing automation, you are able to continue to nurture leads and keep top of mind for when they are ready to buy. Blogging for business is one entry point into your lead nurturing campaigns.
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Helps identify your customer wants.
Do you know what your customer is really looking for? Well, your blog will give you a pretty good indication of what they care about. The posts that have high interaction and engagement are the topics that your customers care about. This will also help you create new topics to blog about.
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Build consumer confidence.
A blog on your website will build the confidence of your customers. As a marketing agency, I sit down with t a prospect and answer questions about the process, results, and tactics we are going to take. Through blogging and content, I am able to answer some of these questions before we even sit down. This helps the client build confidence in my services.
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Helps your company innovate.
This goes hand in hand with competitive analysis. If you know what your competition is doing, you can create and innovate new products or services.
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Part of your social media strategy.
Social media marketing is becoming more and more important to your business. Blogging for business helps fuel your social media with fresh new content. For example, this blog post will be broken up into 26 different social media post and shared across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Blogging for business is a great way to start engaging your customers on social media.
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Expand your network.
Blogging for business can also help you find new connections in your community that can help grow your business. Team up with other like-minded bloggers and share content and guest post on their blog. This will help you build your hub of new power partners.
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Helps you develop new skills.
Okay, writing might not be your strong suit. Storytelling might be your thing. Blogging for business can help you develop new skills you did not even know you wanted. From search engine optimization to writing, to photography blogging will give the platform to start learning something new.
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Segment your customer base.
Customer segmentation is a strategy of creating micro groups of customers that have similar interests, demographics, or needs. If your business sells multiple products or has multiple target markets your blog will help you create valuable content for that individual group.
The first client I ever landed through inbound marketing was created from a blog post that was tailored to accountants. Within 3 days of publishing that blog post, the new lead was on the hook. Market segmentation can and will work for your business, let your blog be the guide.
Blogging For Business Conclusion
After the client created and started updating their blog traffic increased 71% over 5 months. The new website finally started to pay off for them. Blogging for business has become a part of their overall marketing plan and continue to drive new visitors, leads, and customers. The results from blogging have helped the client start looking for a second location.
Blogging for your business is very beneficial and no longer optional for your business. If you are not blogging or blog infrequently, it is time to get started today. According to HubSpot, Companies that published 16+ blog posts per month got almost 3.5X more traffic than companies that published between 0 – 4 monthly posts. There are going to be some bumps in the road, but the more you do it, the better you become.
