In short, the answer to this question is - very! Blogging is probably one of the best things you can do to market your business.
Blogging is often overlooked by many businesses when deciding on a social media strategy, however in most cases blogging can be just as powerful as a great Facebook or Twitter campaign.
You Can't Argue With These Statistics
It has been reported that B2B companies who regularly blog receive 67% more leads every month than those companies who do not. That statistic alone should be enough to convince you that blogging can benefit your business. However, if you feel you need some more convincing, 57% of marketers believe they have gained customers simply through blogging. As always there are plenty more statistics that demonstrate just how powerful writing a blog can be as a marketing tool for your business. However, with statistics like these you really can't argue that your business wouldn't benefit from having a blog.
Blogging Gives Your Business A Voice
By writing a blog weekly or even monthly, it gives your business a voice and an opportunity to inform people about your latest news and business happenings. Due to their personal natures, blogs have been rated the 5th most trusted source for accurate online information - this is because the consumer is being given information straight from the horse's mouth. Blogging gives your business the chance to create a personality online and gives people the opportunity to learn about your company.
By sharing your blog on social media sites you are not only creating great, relevant content but you are also directing traffic towards your website - perfect for marketing reasons and it will also help improve your businesses SEO. Blogging provides you with a way of keeping in contact with existing clients and gives you an opportunity to create new ones.
Encouraging other businesses to read your blog is a great way of informing them about new business events or notifying them about ventures that they may be interested in. It is also a great way to demonstrate your knowledge about the business sector that you operate in, as well as displaying your interest in other areas.
Don't Worry About Constantly Creating Content - That Is What Guest Blogs Are For!
Don't think you have time to blog? Not sure you can think of enough content? Well, it is time to stop thinking of excuses because these two problems are no longer an issue.
The world of blogging is all about surrounding yourself with inspiration by reading and actively following other blogs - 23% of top executives say they read blogs regularly. Even if the blogs you read are not directly related to your business, they can still be extremely beneficial. They may help you perfect your writing style, or give you inspiration on different topics you can talk about, or even give you ideas about how to encourage interaction - a key skill to master. Start by keeping a reading list of all the blogs you enjoy reading and within a couple of weeks you won't need to refer back to it but you will be actively waiting for each new blog to be posted. This is the effect you are aiming to achieve with your own blog.
Still not convinced that you can think of that much content? Don't panic. If, for whatever reason, you really don't think you can write blogs each week or each month, look to guest bloggers. Many businesses have achieved great success by employing the work of guest bloggers. It can often provide a great way of engaging new audiences and often increases new customers to your site. But this isn't simply a quick fix, you must still be actively posting yourself otherwise audiences may quickly loose interest.
However, if you find that you enjoy writing blogs and have time to do so, consider writing guest blogs for other websites. Writing guest blogs is a tried and tested way of bringing your company business. It is possibly one of the best ways to drive traffic back to your website. Guest blogging is something that can take a while before you see results and so therefore you have to be patient and give it time. However, the rewards are well worth the wait. Not convinced? Then take a look at the case study below.
Does Guest Blogging Really Work?
Again, the answer to this question is - yes! One prime example of a business that has been propelled from 0 to 100,000 customers through the use of guest blogs is BufferApp. They are a social media app that aims to make publishing on social media sites easier for users. All customers have to do is create an account with which they place all their content and then Buffer posts the content to their different social media sites throughout the day, automatically. The company achieved 100,000 users within 9 months solely through writing approximately 150 guest blogs for other sites. This is an incredible achievement and something that as you can see, takes time and persistence. However, it demonstrates the effect guest blogging, when done correctly, can have on your business.
So I'm hoping you can see that there are many benefits to writing a blog. It is proven to increase business, improve relations with customers, create a positive online footprint for your business, increase website traffic and boost your SEO reseller businesses. What more could you ask for? And possibly the best thing about it is - it's free! So what are you waiting for? Get out there and get blogging!