What is a blog and why your business needs one

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Your business needs an up-to-date, informative blog that people want to read and are proud to share. It's a part of doing business in the digital information age. 

Blogging advertises your industry knowledge, promotes your brand, attracts quality leads, and keeps loyal customers returning to your website. 

Here's your guide to blogging like a boss.

What is a blog?

Blogs are online publications where content is created and published on an ongoing basis.

They're a highly effective marketing tool for advertising and promoting a business. 

Blogs are now an essential part of most successful online content campaigns.

70% of Fortune 500 companies blog regularly, and 91% of B2B marketers from medium to small firms say blogging is central to their messaging strategies.

Is blogging good for sales? 

Blogging is AWESOME for sales.

Blogging drives more traffic to your website, raises brand awareness, and establishes your company as a trusted and reliable source within the industry. 

And we all know what happens next - more sales, revenue, and growth.

Here's the proof:

• 57% of marketers say they've gained more customers through blogging.
• B2B marketers who use blogs get 67% more leads than those who don't.
• Companies that blog have 55% more website visitors and get 97% more inbound links than companies that don't post regular content.

As we said, blogs are fantastic for sales.

Why your business needs a blog

Let's explore the awesomeness of business blogging in more detail.

Here are some of the biggest reasons you need to start business blogging, like now. 

More views

Hands up if you want more website visitors!

You're not the only one. Every small business owner dreams of increasing that site visitor rate.

But business blogging makes it happen. 

Regular blog posts with optimised SEO content and beneficial information are exactly what Google's search engine bots look for. 

Once they find this great content, they push it up to where everyone can see it - the 1st page of Google, otherwise known as the marketer's mecca. 

Google's 1st page is the only place you should aim for if you want more visitors to your site. 75% of people never (EVER) look past the first page. 

It's super cost-effective

A quality blog takes 2-4 hours to write, depending on the length. 

You can then post and share it via all your social media channels in minutes (maybe even seconds if you use a quality content management system.)

You can write and promote marketing content before your mid-morning coffee break. 

Blogs are content marketing tools that keep on marketing. With shares, likes, comments, and reposts, your content will keep working and promoting long after you've moved on to the next task.

It's why blogging is regarded as one of the most cost-effective, sustainable, and ROI-optimised marketing strategies. 

But those are just words. As a marketer, you want the juicy data, the facts and figures, the proof that business blogging is as awesome as we keep saying it is.

OK, then. Here you go...

• Around 60% of marketers will reuse and repurpose blog content 2-3 times. Create multiple mini-campaigns from one piece of content!
• Content marketing is 62% cheaper than traditional marketing.
• Content marketing produces 3X more leads than paid search.

Content that converts

Blogs should be fun and exciting to read. Otherwise, nobody will make it past the first few paragraphs.

But business blogging isn't about entertaining your target customer. Your main goal is to inform.

High-value clients and prospects, especially those senior B2B decision makers, aren't searching or reading blogs for fun - or at least not during office hours. 

They're looking for helpful, informative, authoritative, and highly relative content that speaks directly to their business concerns and significant pain points.

Research shared by Linkedin found that:

• More than 7 out of 10 (71%) B2B decision makers consume blog content during their buyer journey.
• 62% of B2B buyers say they can make a purchase selection based solely on blogs and other digital content.

Answer the questions B2B customers are asking, explain why your business is the solution they're looking for, and your blogs will convert prospects into loyal customers.

In some cases, companies that adopt a blogging B2B sales strategy see their conversion rate skyrocket by 600%. 

Let that sink in for a second.

That's 6x more B2B customers just from blogging.

Have we mentioned that business blogging is awesome?

Customer engagement and retention

One in three people go straight to blogs when they want to find out something new. And 70% prefer to learn about a new business through online content like blogs instead of ads.

More than 8 out of 10 B2B customers trust blog content, and 60% don't hesitate to share their favourite blogs with colleagues or industry experts.

Customised blog content makes 81% of online shoppers feel more positive about a brand, while a similar amount say they feel 'closer' to a brand after reading their blogs.

What we're saying here comes down to one simple fact: people expect (and demand) great content from their brands, so if you're interested in attracting and retaining customers - and who isn't? - you have to start writing the kind of blogs they want to read.

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How to create a blog strategy

First of all, decide what you're going to blog about. It's easy.

Remember, you're not blogging for yourself. You're blogging for your target customers. Identify their interests, concerns, pain points, and common search queries, then make these the primary subject matter for your new blog.

Now decide how often you're going to blog. As a general rule, more is better.

Blogs that post four times a week attract 3.5x more web traffic. And bloggers who post daily are 128% more likely to report their content marketing strategy as a success. 

Who's going to write your blog? If you have an in-house marketer who knows where the full stops go and enjoys writing, great! Expand their role into something like a content marketing position. 

You could take on a new hire, but this takes time and money. It could be months before they're producing the blog content you need right now.

That's why working with a specialist content marketing agency or freelancer is one of the best options, especially if you're a smaller company with little experience in blog marketing strategy.

Outsourcing with the right partner equals a steady supply of fresh, SEO-optimised blogs written specifically for your target customers.

Top tip: If you want expert content, hire an expert agency. Cruising Upwork for $10p/h freelancers to 'keep costs' down won't pay off in the long run.

How to write a great blog

There's a bit of art to good blog writing. But there's also a lot of science to it. 

The most successful blogs tend to follow the same winning formula.

For example…

- Articles with more than seven images generate 116% more organic traffic than those without pictures.

- Blogs with videos get 83% more traffic than content-only blogs.

- People LOVE listicles. They're 2X more likely to click and share them. 

- Long-form blogs perform best - aim for 1,500 to 2,000 words. 

- Be original. The top-performing bloggers are 6X more likely to do unique research.

- Don't rush. Focus on quality. Bloggers who spend 6+ hours writing a blog post report 31% better results.

- Regarding actual writing, use simple language, avoiding jargon whenever possible.

- Keep paragraphs and sentences short and sweet, break the content up at every opportunity,

- Make it scannable, it keeps readers engaged.
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And that's super important. Because 43% of people don't actually 'read' blogs. They skim them…

Promoting your blog

You know how to write best-in-class blogs. But understanding how to promote them is just as important. It's arguably more important. 

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Because what good is that killer blog if nobody reads it or shares it? 

Your options include

• Posting new content updates on your social media channels.
• Send your blog straight to people's email.
• Guest posting your blog on high traffic website.
• Utilising SEO and keyword research to push your blog to the top of the search engine rankings.
• Promote your blog in online forums.

And think about when to post your blog. Post often and post early. Most blog views occur between 7.00 am-10.00 am.

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AXD Marketing

At AXD Marketing, we provide a complete blog writing and promotion service that helps SaaS and tech companies increase their online visibility, attract more views and leads, and accelerate long-term growth strategies.

Our expert team of copywriters and content marketers will plan, write, edit, and optimise industry-specific blogs ready to go straight onto your website. 

Our blog content is written to attract, engage, and persuade senior decision-makers searching for the solutions your business provides.

Contact us today to book your free discovery call.

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