(888) 893-2165Wondering if your business needs a blog? The short answer is yes.
The long answer? In today’s world, a blog is non-negotiable. According to HubSpot, 55% of marketers say blog content creation is their top inbound marketing priority. You may have a great website with tons of information, but a business blog is essential to uniquely position yourself against your competitors, offer free and engaging content for potential customers, and define your brand.
The idea of starting a business blog can feel overwhelming, but it’s worth it. Here are 5 reasons your business needs a blog.
1. Define Your Brand Voice
Chances are, your company is not the only company in the world that sells what you sell or does what you do. A business blog is a good way to differentiate yourself from your competitors and define who you are in the market.
Blog posts are written in your brand’s tone-of-voice to help your customers understand who they’re talking to. Is your brand voice laid-back and conversational? Or are you more formal and matter-of-fact? Establish your brand personality through your blog content, voice, and tone.
2. Improve Your Traffic Through SEO
Before you can acquire customers, your target demographic has to know you exist. Blog posts are a goldmine for boosting your SEO rankings and helping your ideal customers find you. This is where a content strategy comes into play.
Research what your customers are searching for and tailor your blog topics to their needs using a keyword research tool like SEMrush (our favorite). Most blogging platforms have add-on features to help optimize your pages for search and make them easily sharable. For example, WordPress has hundreds of add-ons—aka plugins—that help optimize your page for organic search. The Yoast SEO plugin is an SEO game-changer that basically tunes the engine of your site to make it search-friendly.
With the right content strategy, a company blog is a front-row seat to the top of Google SERPs which help increase organic traffic to your site.
3. Position Yourself As A Thought Leader
Is your team filled with deep thinkers and innovative creatives? Is your company the first to market with a new product? Has your business done in-depth research on specific topics? Let the world know through your business blog posts.
Every company wants good publicity, and your blog is a great place to own your reputation. Position your brand as a leader in your industry by highlighting in-depth research findings, new product releases, and unique insights from your team members. Don’t be afraid to have an alternative point of view and go deep into different subjects–this is where viral posts are born. People are drawn to unique and authoritative perspectives and will look to you for expertise if you provide valuable content.
4. Communicate With Your Customers
Most blogging platforms have comment features where readers can share their thoughts on your posts. This is not only a great way to start a dialogue with your customers, but it also allows you to collect anecdotal data about your audience.
Are you getting glowing feedback on a post? Sounds like you provided valuable information and should post more on that topic. Are you getting a lot of questions and confusion from readers? You might want to clarify your messaging or create new content around that topic to answer the questions being asked.
Once you have a good idea of how your customers are responding to your content, take it one step further by repurposing successful content for social media and sales collateral. One survey showed that 66% of marketers use blogs in their social media content. If you have a popular post generating tons of traffic and engagement, how else can you leverage it? Can you turn that post into an educational Instagram story series? Have you featured it in your email newsletter? Would it make sense as a video? Build trust and develop deeper connections with your audience by creating more touchpoints for them to get to know you and share your content with professionals
5. Generate More Leads
Fun fact: B2B marketers who blog earn 67% more leads than those who aren’t blogging. Not bad, right? Your business blog is the gift that keeps on giving. The more blogs you post, the more opportunities you have to reach your potential customers.
A business blog is a great home base for top-of-funnel content. In exchange for an email address, you can offer free, downloadable lead magnets on your blog like:
- Whitepapers
- eBooks
- Infographics
- Research stats
- Checklists
- Case studies
- Videos
- eCourses
Evergreen content, or always-relevant content with a long shelf life, will keep serving you long after it’s been published. In fact, 1 in 10 blog posts is compounding, meaning organic search increases their traffic over time. It will get shared more often on social platforms and rank higher as traffic grows and lead potential clients to your site. When those leads find what they’re looking for on your business blog, they’re more likely to convert by signing up for your email list, reaching out to a sales rep, or making a purchase.
Read More: How To Generate Leads Using LinkedIn Lead Generation Forms
