You may have heard of blogging, but remain skeptical as to what benefits it could bring to your business. According to Ignite Spot, there are 6.7 million people listed on blogging sites and an estimated 23% of internet time spent on blogs, it is quite evident that bloggers must be doing something worthwhile.
The reason why blogging has become so universally popular is because it is an incredibly cheap and effective marketing tool. HubSpot’s Pamela Vaughan says, “Businesses that blog more than once per week gain blog subscribers at twice the rate of those who blog just once per month.” Small businesses with blogs have been estimated to generate 126% more inbound leads than before due to useful blogging content. (source: Ignite Spot)
So what are some of the essential ingredients to a good blog?
Create a blogging plan linked to your overall marketing strategy. It’s much harder to write targeted relevant blogs when you don’t have a plan.
Identify your target audience and write with them in mind. Think about how you can add value to their business. For instance if you’re a wholesaler think about offering planogramming tips for retailers. Getting creative and inventing things like an ‘ultimate guide’ that helps your customers by addressing a problem they have about a topic can pay real dividends and are proven to drive genuine new business leads. Creative content is more likely to be shared.
Write in an engaging style, many businesses take the opportunity to adopt a more informal, personal approach on their blogs, giving their customers more of an insight into the people within their business.
Update your blog frequently, ideally once a week if you can manage.
Take the opportunity to present your services and products in your blog’s navigation menu or sidebar so your blog readers can move easily into your main website to hopefully start shopping. Consider including a short note and call to action at the end of some of your blog post that encourages people to check out your offer.
We recommend using a hyperlink (internal link) every one hundred words. Careful, considered useful linking to relevant pages highlighting your services in more detail will add value to the customer experience.
Be sure to distribute your blog. Share your blog via your email newsletters and social media sites to ensure you reach a wider audience.
If you’re interested in learning more about how blogging can help your business give our marketing team a call on 0116 326 1116. Contact us today.
