Blogging is one of the most important tactics, in an inbound marketing strategy. Because it’s so important, it must be done right to be successful.
When thinking about blogging, think of it as the shift a company goes through when they move from traditional marketing to inbound. Inbound marketing is all about being a resource for your customer rather than a seller. Which brings me to the point of today’s blog:
It's not about you.
I Wanna Talk About Me, Me, Me…
When blogging for your business, the goal is to create remarkable, educational content. For the most part, the name of your company will be irrelevant in these blog posts.
We want to attract customers by solving their problems and giving them small victories along the way. So, when the time comes to make a big decision, they won’t think twice about giving your business a call. They’ll remember what you did for them when they had an issue or an opportunity.
P.S. - These people are also known as your buyer personas. They’re kind of important. So, make sure you know your buyer persona inside and out before you even start typing your first post!
So, what’s the point of having a blog if you can’t talk about how great you are or how awesome your company is? It’s a good question. I’m glad you asked. However, I’m going to be blunt here.
They don’t care.
Numbers Never Lie
Statistics show that the majority of the people visiting your website aren’t ready to buy. So, if you don’t have anything else useful for them, you can wave goodbye before they even get a toe in the door.Blogs are great for attracting your personas, but you have to do it right. When you develop a buyer persona you think about:
- his or her struggles,
- opportunities,
- what they are searching for and
- where they’re searching
Then, at the end of that blog post, you can put a call to action. Voilà, you have their contact details for life. Now you can nurture them along their journey until they are happy, referring customers.
Ain’t Nobody Got Time for Dat
I know it probably sounds like a lot of work. Or, maybe it sounds too good to be true. But all of this can be done through blogging, and trust me, it’s worth it.Let’s look at an example of how solving problems and not selling can generate quality leads.
Brand New Website. No New Leads? WTF
For this example, let’s pretend I am a self-employed carpenter with a small staff and a fancy new website. Unfortunately, my fancy new website isn’t gaining much attention, which sucks, because it cost a lot of money!Someone told me I should try blogging. So, I wrote a post about how I have the best prices and the highest quality work of all the carpenters in the area. Still no love for my new website. Now what?
The same guy who told me to try blogging told me I was doing it all wrong. I had to create some useful content.
So,I wrote a post titled “25 Things You Never Knew You Could Do With Pallets.” I shared it on my social media page and it got a bunch of likes and shares. All of a sudden, my traffic skyrocketed! People were sending me pictures of all sorts of neat creations with extra pallets they had lying around.
Obviously, traffic is up - but what else is happening here?
The Power of Blogging
Let’s say the blog post racked up 300 likes and 75 shares on Facebook , which ultimately led to 500 visitors on my company’s website. They click around and say to themselves, “Man, I would really love a new deck, or maybe it’s time to remodel my kitchen?”All of a sudden, the phone is ringing off the hook with people asking for estimates. I can’t even keep up. All from one blog post!
Chances are, that carpenter isn’t going to field any calls about painting an American flag on a pallet, because it would be a $25 job. However, he’ll take calls about kitchen remodels, home additions, and wraparound porches any day of the week.
This is just one example of how educating your personas through blogging can take your business to the next level!
And one more tip: if you’re going to blog, blog often. It helps you stay relevant, and increases the probability of your personas stumbling upon your website..
How to Audit your Online Marketing
If you are executing digital marketing, congratulations! You are most likely already one step ahead of your competition, and making strides to meaningfully connect with prospects online. But, how do you know if you’re seeing continual success year over year, and improving your metrics?
Without the tools in place to analyze and benchmark your efforts, it is impossible to scale your online marketing and ensure continuous success.
