Why Blog? Blogging can be a crucial tool in your overall marketing plan. Why not take advantage of this low-risk content marketing strategy? If you’re not sure what a blog can do for you, here are 6 reasons you should blog for your business.
Create Brand Awareness
If you are working toward building your brand recognition, a blog can reinforce your brand message. This gives you the opportunity to show your unique voice, what makes your brand special. A blog is the perfect platform to inform your audience of who you are and what your company has to offer. Show your personality, skills, values and passions. A blog offers insights into your company, philosophy, employees and ideas. These branding techniques, in addition to your logo, will help jump start your brand awareness.
Gain Credibility
Blogging is a great way to gain credibility in your market. By authoring and controlling your own content, you can begin to gain the trust of your audience. You are in charge of your own reputation management and can show the value of your business. Give your product or service a voice and use that voice to show your authority in your field. Develop content that answers your audience’s questions, before they ask them.
Blogging can also help your website’s credibility. Every blog is one more indexed page on your website. Your blog contributes to your website’s SEO, which can also help raise your Google ranking. This means that you will show up higher in search engines, potentially increasing traffic to your website.
Showcase Your Expertise
Blogging can help you position yourself as a subject matter expert in your field. Show off your knowledge of your industry and what resources you have available to you. Comment on up-to-the-minute news topics, market trends and groundbreaking technologies. Show that you are a leader in your industry, not simply a follower. This information will benefit your audience, as well as help consumers gain confidence in your business. After realizing your expertise, consumers are more likely to choose you for the service they need.
Build Up Valuable Content
The effort you put into writing now, can benefit you in the future. You will be building up valuable content that is out there forever! Your blogs are resources of information for your products or services. This is media that YOU own, that is stored in an easy to access, streamlined CMS.
Having this all in one place will help you stay focused on your content marketing strategy. Check your blog analytics to track your most popular topics and build on those subjects. Use the blog analytics to shape your overall strategy.
Use your content to create E-books, webinars, infographics and other downloadable material. Give freebies to readers & use this as a way to capture information like email addresses.
Create a Social Media Buzz
Use your blog to strengthen your social reach. Premiere your blog with a crossover social media campaign. This will increase the visibility of your brand, showcase your blog and drive traffic to your website. Share on all your personal social media pages, business pages and ask others to share. Get your blog out there: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest. This helps expose your business to a new audience that may not even know they need your services yet. Include social sharing buttons with each blog post and encourage readers to share your content.
Free Marketing
If your marketing budget is tight, blogging can be a very cost-effective tool. If you already have a website, add a blog page. If you do not have an active website for your business, you can start with a free blog from a website like WordPress.
A blog can offer you free marketing and free PR. Your blog is a long-term asset that creates a clear brand voice, brand awareness, showcases your expertise and promotes products or services. Use your blog to send readers to your other social media accounts or link to your current promotional campaigns. A simple call to action in your post, could convert readers into new leads.
Networking
Use your blog as a platform to connect with influencers and reputable brands in your industry. Share and publish your blogs on your personal LinkedIn page, in LinkedIn groups and on your LinkedIn business page to widen your reach. Build positive relationships that could result in more exposure for your brand. Networking can lead to potential partnerships, guest blog opportunities, podcasts or even invitations to speak at lectures. The possibilities are endless, once you start to build valuable connections.
When you use a blog as a content marketing strategy, you will see results over time. Now that you know what blogging can do for your business, are you willing to take the plunge?
