The Benefits of Blog Marketing Blog marketing or "blogging" as it is commonly known can be an extremely effective marketing tool. Leveraging a blog on your website as a marketing tool enhances your company's identity and gives it a "voice" - aiding in positioning yourself or your organization as authorities of your industry. It also provides an opportunity for others, such as clients or customers, to become involved in your work on a new level. A blog is also a fantastic marketing tool and enhances search engine optimization (SEO) by continually enhancing your website with new, fresh content. Blog marketing gives you the opportunity to educate the public and further develop your brand. It also allows you an opportunity to educate your clients on relevant industry trends, topics, and marketplace necessities without bombarding them with too much information. You may think that a blog isn't necessary for your brand, but here are some things to consider before ruling it out:
Business Blogging Helps Generate Traffic To Your Website In order to make your business’s website a valuable marketing asset it is vital that people actually see it. Think about when you open up your internet browser. How often do you type in a website’s direct URL instead of using a search engine to find a keyword or phrase that you’re looking for? In most cases, individuals will do the latter, especially if they are searching for a product or a service and don't know who or what to look for. Therefore the more content your website has, the more likely it is that your business will rank higher in those search engine search returns. Here's an example - an individual searching for "How to improve my golf swing?" may not land on the product page of your website that lists the various clubs you sell that are meticulously designed to do just that, but if you have a blog on your website that explains that to improve your golf swing you need to buy this particular brand of golf clubs, chances are they're going to find you. That being said, no one wants to look through a ton of web pages randomly scattered on a website. That would be a chaotic and unenjoyable experience for the user. Business blogging is the overall solution to this problem. Every time you publish a new blog post in the blog section of your business website, you are creating an opportunity for your site to show up in a relative search through content marketing and search engine optimization.
Business Blogging Can Help Establish A Name, Or A Brand, For Your Company If you prove you have a great product and know what you are talking about, customers will begin to respect you and put you in a different category from other businesses. We always like to use the example of Kleenex, or Q-tip, when describing effective brand positioning methods.
Hardly anyone asks for a tissue or cotton swab these days, do they? Instead they said, "Do you need a Kleenex?" We like to explain this as the “Martha Stewart Analogy”. Just like a business blog, Martha provides content on HOW to do or create something (recipes, crafts, how to fold a sheet properly, you get the idea). She doesn’t just try to sell you the outcome. And because of this, she is now considered the expert on anything and everything home economics related. Martha Stewart might as well BE Susie Homemaker. Like Martha, a business blogger should explain what their company does in a way that makes it familiar to the reader. It should enhance the company’s brand and position them as a leader of their industry. Martha Stewart will give you a step-by-step tutorial on how to bake and decorate a cake, and even if you follow along perfectly, it’s highly unlikely your results will turn out like hers. This is because SHE is the expert on cake decorating, just as a blog provides you the opportunity to demonstrate that you are the expert of your industry. This is important because it provides users with an insight on the level of professional expertise that is required to provide a product or a service that they may think that anyone can do or that they may undervalue the detail required in executing to the level they expect.
Business Blogging Humanizes Your Company Blog posts allow you to display more personality because of their informal tone, and people like to attach a "face" to a business. This makes the experience of reading a company’s blog over a the main website content feel more genuine. On the Mediaura website for example, we provide you with succinct information without overwhelming you with a lot of content. Instead we leverage our blog to share stories, industry information, and sometimes fun stories about our company. Blogs are a powerful way to build affinity with your brand amongst consumers. It helps them get to "know" you and what you're about, and more importantly, it allows you to be proactive and drive the conversation. You can also respond to customers’ questions and comments on blog posts. It is so important to stay connected with your market for the growth of your business. Social media will help with this as well. By adding a link to your blog on a social media platform, you’ll be amazed by how many people click on your blog and then share the blog if they find the information relevant and helpful.
Business Blogging Will Bring Long Term Success If you are consistent with your posts, a large chunk of traffic each month will come from entries that weren’t even written that month. With a blog's automatic archiving feature it’s easy for visitors to find the information they want, when they want it. You may have written that article on "How to improve your golf swing" six months ago, but if someone is doing that search tomorrow, chances are, they're going to come across it. The great thing about investing in content writing for a blog is that it's a proven method of marketing, and organizations are steadily beginning to realize its impact. The
average budget spent on company blogs and social media increased from 9% in 2009 to 17% in 2011 and for good reason. According to HubSpot.com, a marketing software company, 60% of businesses who blog acquire more customers. Blogging is like “the gift that keeps on giving�. Overall, making a business blog a strategic tool for your company takes time, consistency and dedication. But, if you do it right, you can reap some seriously good results.
We Can Help Mediaura has a team of content marketing specialists with the knowledge and know-how to help make the most of your brand. No matter what your industry is, our talented team of copywriters and journalism professionals will work to enhance your visibility in the marketplace. We have worked with brands for years to showcase their expertise in a manner that drives clients and traffic to their websites. If you would like to learn how blog marketing could benefit your business, contact us or give us a call at 502-554-9649. A member of our team will be happy to assist you. Content Source