You’re a savvy business owner or manager. You know the game. You know that when someone tells you that you “need” something, they might just be trying to sell to you.
So what’s the deal with a content marketing blog? Do you really need it as much as everyone says you do?
In a word: yes.
What is A Content Marketing Blog?
Before we go any further, you probably want to know what we’re talking about.
Content marketing is the practice of producing content like blogs with the immediate goal of educating customers. This is different than traditional marketing, which is all about making a quick sale.
With content marketing, you put out helpful content your customers appreciate. By reading your content, they learn your name and develop a trust for you. When they want to make a purchase, they’ll call you because they feel like they know and trust you.
A content marketing blog is one of the most useful tools for your content marketing strategy. If you want to learn more about content marketing, there is plenty more information to guide your strategy.
Benefits of Having a Content Marketing Blog
Now that you know what a content marketing blog is, why are they so important? In fact, there are many ways they’ll benefit your business.
1. Cut Through the Noise
Customers are tired of being “sold to.” They see ads all day every day, and it’s reached a point when most customers tune them out,
Content marketing, on the other hand, provides information customers want. For instance, if you’re a lawn care company, you’ll get more readers on a blog called “How Often Should I Cut My Grass?” than “Why We’re the Best Lawn Care Company in Town.”
Instead of tuning you out, customers will actively seek out your content.
2. Put Your Site On the Map
In this context, “the map” is a Google search results page.
There’s only so much search engine optimization you can do on your static web content like your product pages. Even if the site is successful at first, you’ll soon fall in the rankings compared to sites who are putting out new content.
That’s where a blog comes in. Each new blog is an opportunity to boost your SEO by writing about top keywords.
In fact, just putting out new content will help because Google sees that your site is updated regularly. This tells them your content is more likely to be relevant.
3. Support Your Social Media
Social media marketing is one of those essential marketing strategies every business needs in 2019. One of the toughest challenges, though, is figuring out what to post.
Sharing other people’s content is great, but you need to share your own content too. Having a consistent blog gives you a steady flow of content to post. When people click on those posts, it also pulls them into your website which is half the battle.
For maximum impact, keep social media in mind as you write your blogs. Use short paragraphs and plenty of subheadings so the blog is easy to skim. Give it a catchy, attractive title.
4. Establish or Grow Your Reputation
For any marketing campaign, there are two key goals. The first is to get customers familiar with your name. The second is to convince them to buy from you.
If your name isn’t as well-known as you’d like it to be, content marketing is a great way to shout it from the rooftops. By finding the answers to their questions in your blog, customers learn who you are.
No matter how well-known you are, though, you also need to have a great reputation to turn readers into customers. A content marketing blog does this too.
By writing your blogs to be educational rather than “salesy,” you’ll establish yourself as a pro. Customers will learn that you’re someone who knows that you’re talking about and isn’t “all about the sale.”
5. Develop a Personal Rapport
People want to buy from someone who they feel understands them. It assures them that they won’t get scammed or taken advantage of.
Your blog is a great way to do this because blogs have a more casual format than static web content. You want to write in a personal, conversational tone without being callous or unprofessional.
By hitting that perfect tone, you’ll send the message to customers that you’re a friend and a neighbor who also happens to know a lot about this particular topic.
6. Reach Customers Earlier
In the internet era, more and more customers are doing research before they make a purchase. For everything from medical care to a new brand of coffee, consumers want to know what to look for.
If you don’t make contact with the customer until they’re ready to make a purchase, you have no idea what they’ve been told. As we all know, the internet isn’t exactly a bastion of truth. They could be lead astray by a competitor who’s been touting benefits of their inferior service.
Let’s use Botox injections as an example. A customer may see that you charge more than a competitor down the block. They’ll think, “Why would I pay more for the same thing?”
If you have a content marketing blog, you can use that blog to explain that it isn’t the same thing. You can explain why an experienced provider makes all the difference.
7. Direct Traffic
Many of the benefits we’ve mentioned have been about attracting traffic to your website. That’s only half of the battle.
When someone is on your site, you want to direct them to the pages that will initiate a purchase. Your content marketing blog is the perfect way to do this.
The blog’s content will get readers to your site. Within the blog, include links to your product pages where customers can make purchases based on what they’ve read.
Becoming a Blogger
When people think of blogging, they think of independent blogs that focus on content and content alone. Pulling some plays for their playbooks can also benefit your business, though.
Now that you know why you need a content marketing blog, set aside the time to get started. If you could use more advice, check out more articles on our blog for entrepreneurs.
