Over 80 percent of companies believe their blogs are “useful,” “critical,” or “important,” and 33 percent of B2B companies use blogs. But still, you might be wondering how to integrate your business blog into your marketing strategy.
In this post, we explain the importance of having a blog on your website, how to develop a blog marketing strategy, and how to integrate your business blog into your marketing strategy.
Keep reading to learn more about the business opportunities in blogging now.
Looking for assistance with cannabis SEO and digital marketing? Feel free to reach out to us at any time for a complimentary consultation.
Why Have a Blog on Your Website?
Blogging for small businesses and large corporations comes with a number of benefits and opportunities.
Some of these advantages include:
Generating leads
Lead generation is one of the main reasons businesses blog. By including forms and calls-to-action (CTAs) on your blog, you can turn website visitors into leads.
According to an article published by Marketo, companies that operate their own blog are generating 67 percent more leads than those that don’t. This number is significant enough to be the primary reason for blogging.
Improving SEO
SEO, or search engine optimization, encourages higher search engine rankings. The goal is to appear as the top result on Google, Yahoo! or another search engine when someone searches for a relevant keyword or phrase.
By including target keywords in your blog posts, you’re more likely to rank for those keywords. But blogging also gives your operation the opportunity to generate inbound links.
An inbound link is when another website links to yours. These links are important because they show Google that your site is being talked about and linked to from other places on the internet–and that’s a good trust signal.
The more high-quality inbound links you have, the better chance you have of ranking higher in SERPS (search engine results pages).
Building brand awareness
When you blog, you’re given the chance to build your brand. You can share your company’s story, mission, and values with the world. You can also build brand trust by demonstrating your authority in the space.
By sharing this information, you’re more likely to attract customers and clients that identify with and need your business.
Nurturing prospects
Prospect customers don’t always convert immediately. In fact, the majority of prospects need to be nurtured before they’re ready to buy.
Your blog is the perfect place to nurture these prospects until they’re sales-ready. You can do this by sending email campaigns that link to helpful blog posts.
You can also use your blog to retarget website visitors with ads. By showing these ads to prospects that have already visited your site, you’re more likely to get them to convert.
Loving this post? Make sure to check out our other article covering SEO for cannabis oil before you leave!
Building relationships
Your business blog is a great platform to build relationships with your target audience. By providing quality content, you can establish trust and credibility with potential and current customers.
You can also use your blog to connect with customers on a more personal level. Share your company’s story and values, and let your readers get to know the people behind the brand.
By building these relationships, you’re more likely to create lifelong customers and long-term fans of your business.
Establishing thought leadership
Becoming authoritative in any space requires thought leadership. Blogging is one of the best ways to establish yourself (or your employees) as experts and thought leaders in your industry.
When you provide quality content that’s helpful and informative, you’re more likely to be seen as an expert in your field. As a result, you’re more likely to attract leads and customers that are looking for someone they can trust.
Blog Marketing Strategy Considerations
Developing a blog marketing strategy can be a daunting task, but it’s worth it. By taking the time to develop a plan, you can make sure your blog is integrated into your overall marketing strategy–and that it’s working to achieve your business goals.
Here are a few things to consider when developing your blog marketing strategy:
Define your goals
The first step is to define your goals. What do you want to achieve with your blog? Do you want to generate leads, build brand awareness or establish thought leadership?
Your goals will determine the type of content you produce, the frequency of your posts, and the promotion you do.
Define your target audience
The next step is to identify your target audience. Who are you trying to reach with your blog? Once you know who you’re writing for, you can develop content that appeals to them.
You should also consider where your target audience hangs out online. This will help you determine the best places to promote your content.
Identify your topics
Once you’ve defined your target audience and goals, it’s time to start brainstorming topics. What type of content will appeal to your target audience?
Think about the problems they’re facing and the questions they’re asking. Then, develop content that provides solutions and answers.
Create a posting schedule
Now that you know what you’ll be writing about, it’s time to create a posting schedule. How often will you be posting? What days and times will you be posting?
Creating a schedule will help you stay on track and ensure that your blog is consistently updated with new content.
Develop a promotion plan
Once you’ve created your content, it’s time to promote it. There are a number of ways to do this, including social media, email marketing, and paid advertising.
The best blog promotion plan will be a combination of different tactics tailored to your target audience and goals.
Monitor your progress
Remember to monitor your progress. Keep track of your blog traffic and engagement metrics. This will help you determine what’s working and what’s not–and make necessary adjustments to your strategy.
How to Integrate Your Business Blog into Your Marketing Strategy
Now that we’ve gone over the basics of blog marketing, let’s take a look at how you can integrate your business blog into your overall marketing strategy.
As we mentioned before, your blog should be aligned with your business goals. That means that the topics you write about, the tone of your posts and the promotion you do should all be in line with what you’re trying to achieve.
For example, if you’re looking to generate leads, your blog posts should be focused on topics that will appeal to your target audience. You should also include calls-to-action (CTAs) throughout your posts that encourage readers to sign up for your email list or request a consultation.
On the other hand, if you’re looking to build brand awareness, your blog posts should be more general in nature. You can still write about topics that are relevant to your business, but you don’t need to be as sales-focused.
In terms of promotion, you’ll want to make sure you’re promoting your content on the channels where your target audience is active. If you’re trying to reach businesses, LinkedIn would be a good place to start. But if you’re working to reach consumers, Facebook and Instagram might be better options.
It’s also important to monitor your progress and adjust your strategy as needed. If you’re not seeing the results you want, don’t be afraid to change things up. Try new topics, new promotions, or even a new posting schedule.
The most important thing is to keep experimenting until you find what works for you.