What Makes Blogging a Wise Marketing Tactic in 2019?
Updated: Jan 18, 2019
What makes blogging a wise marketing tactic? Consider these numbers from Medium.com:
77% of Internet users read blogs.
81% of Americans trust what they read in them.
70% of customers learn about a business through articles, not ads.
An audience is out there waiting to hear about you, but only savvy blogging will ensure that they do.
Savvy blogging requires comprehensive blog management: writing and editing meaningful posts, enriching them with visuals and media, and promoting them on the right channels. Done well, the effort will boost your brand beyond a curious click or two.
Blogging establishes your credibility
Imagine yourself shopping on a website. Would you buy something based solely on its product details, or would it help to see more articles describing the ways you can use it?
Blog posts—which cover tips and news to insights and solutions—let people enjoy the latter. They’re the alternative to marketing copy: instead of telling customers to make purchases, blogs help them understand why they need to.
Such content helps establish the credibility of your brand. It shows that you know your market so well that you can delve into a product’s value beyond the sales pitch. It shows that you are attuned to what is relevant to your audience.
Blogging fosters customers’ trust
If customers can trust you to blog something meaningful, i.e. to say something they actually look forward to hearing, they can trust you to provide an equally valuable product.
They can also trust you enough to buy what you’re selling. ImpactBND.com says 47% of customers view at least three pieces of content before engaging with a sales representative.
Yet trust isn’t important just to secure an initial sale, or to keep a handful of customers coming back. Whenever people think a piece of content can be helpful to others, 94% will share it online.
Blogging fuels search engine visibility
As customers share your posts, and your blog gets promoted in their networks, your website will catch the attention of search engines—the very same tools that will make your business known to a wider audience.
That’s because a popular blog tells search engines key points about a website:
It features fresh content, thanks to regular blog updates.
It is credible because people are sharing links to it.
It serves an identifiable need because people spend time on it.
Search engines reward these qualities by ranking a website farther up on results pages. How much? Statistics say that websites with blogs get ranked higher on Google searches by 434%!
Blogging anchors rising trends in content marketing
Ultimately, blogging can let you tap into the latest content marketing trends. With the aid of a knowledgeable content creation agency, you can use these to become more attractive to both search engines and customers.
Forbes notes that three kinds of content will take off in 2019:
long-form writing (posts with more than 1,200 words)
social media (particularly Facebook and LinkedIn)
video (including live videos and webinars)
Blogs support these content types and vice versa. According to Orbit Media’s 2018 survey, posts that have over 1,000 words and embed video—or include other compelling media, like images—net “strong results” compared to those that don’t. Nearly all bloggers (96%) promote their work on social media.
The opportunity to harness all these trends and advantages is ripe. It’s right there in managing a meaningful, well-promoted blog.