Why Blog?
In short, It's a free and easy way to communicate with the world, to increase your companies brand awareness, market your products/services and rate higher with those search engines so if you haven't started yet...start now! Here's just 10 reasons why your business ought to be blogging...
"Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make,but about the stories you tell." Seth Godin
If you look back in history, many of our most popular authors were innovators and forward thinkers.
It strikes me how relevant much of their advice and tips still are today. I've picked one example of such advice that applies to the blogs we produce now.
This famous author invented Big Brother, despite being born in 1903! He was an extremely early inbound marketer; he vlogged and even dressed as his personas so as to relate to them in his videos (to find out more about personas and how important they are to your marketing strategy, read our blog 'Customer Insights for Marketing Managers'). This forecasting genius once wrote his advice on how to write a perfect piece and he even broke his advice into 4 simple questions (numbered blog posts are far more popular compared to paragraphed type). He suggests that you add an image to your content (blog posts with images are far more likely to appeal to your audience). Can you guess who I'm talking about yet?
"A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus:
1. What am I trying to say?
2. What words will express it?
3. What image or idiom will make it clearer?
4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?"
George Orwell
After that insightful advice from a master, here's a few of my insights, in the form of 10 reasons why your business ought to be blogging:
#1 A blog is a simple way of sharing valuable, relevant content with your prospective customers. It's basically a free advertising tool that you can utilise. There are so many people already using this invaluable tool to get their message across it's just up to you to ensure you stand out from the crowd.
#2 The great news is that you don't have to be a seasoned writer or a techno wizard to use the usual blog platforms such as 'HubSpot', 'Wordpress' or 'Blogger'. Once you begin writing content, its amazing how soon you get into it, how you're mind over-flows with blog topics and you'll find that you actually enjoy it.
#3 Rank higher in those search engines. Search engines like Google, Bing, Ask and Yahoo etc., will index your blog posts discovering your keywords and position you organically for those terms. Quite simply, search engines adore content!
#4 According to HubSpot "Marketers who have prioritised blogging are 13x more likely to enjoy positive ROI. (HubSpot State of Inbound, 2014) Therefore if your competitors are doing it, can you afford not to?
#5 Your blog posts can be used as a base for all of your social channels, newsletters and digital campaigns. The more interaction
you have then then the more responses, shares and comments you'll receive.
#6 Gain brand awareness.
A blog is a great platform in which to showcase your brand, gain recognition, share your expertise and promote your latest offers. By the way did I mention that we are Quattro - Inbound marketing specialists, designers, HubSpot Website builders, SEO specialists, web hosts and all things digital:
(So sorry about that blatant little outburst of advertising there, but you get my point!)
#7 A blog maintains your company's focus. It's all too easy to get side-tracked with the busy lives that we all lead. Creating a blog schedule and sticking to it is very grounding and helps us to maintain our company's campaigns and over-all marketing strategy.
#8 By regularly writing content you keep in the loop on latest trends, updates and news. This maintains your company's status as a trail-blazer or authority rather than a mere follower.
#9 Invest in the future of your company. Blogs remain in the global networking ocean, constantly being swept up by the tide. Like fish getting plucked from the sea these snippets of information about our companies are waiting to be clicked on, viewed, shared and commented about before being thrown back into the vast sea that is the web. A blog continues to work for you promoting your products and services for decades to come.
#10 Blog analytics give invaluable insights into your customers that can help you to serve them better. These analytics can show you who clicks on your content, what topics are most popular, who shares/comments and even what day of the week is most popular with your readers.
To Conclude: If George Orwell was blogging and producing vlogs in his day, so can you.
In this blog I've only outlined 10 reasons why your company ought to be blogging. There are so many advantages to writing content that it's a wonder why every business isn't already doing it. I hope that my blog has motivated you into starting or continuing to write more blogs for your company. For further insights on how to promote your business and attract new customers and how blogging fits into the whole inbound marketing methodology, download our free checklist:
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S.Elliot
