Why blogs aren’t a nice-to-have
Blogs are one of the most underrated pieces of content. They’re viewed as time consuming, pointless, a nice-to-have. But effective blogs are far from that.
Great blogs drive traffic to your site, they build connections, they generate leads, they position you as an expert. Great blogs should be essential in your business.
Need more convincing? Read on.
Blogs & your content marketing strategy
Do you know what’s worse than no blog? Blogs that are pretending to be blogs but are actually glorified press releases and company news.
Why is that worse? Because your blog should be about providing useful information to your audience and when you’re in self-promotion mode you’re thinking about yourself, not your audience.
When used properly blogs are a powerful tool. They can be the cornerstone of your content marketing strategy pulling everything together. That’s why they aren’t a nice to have. They’re something that you need to be building into your marketing strategy, something you need to plan for and something you need to adequately resource.
Your content marketing strategy outlines who you’re talking to, about what and how you’re talking to them. Regardless of the medium, the overall themes should remain the same. It’s in your blogs that you can really dig into those themes, or content pillars, and show off your expertise. Then that information can be repurposed for blogs, videos, lead magnets - however you want. But what that does is keep a commonality across all of your content marketing and establishes you as an expert in those areas.
Blogs & SEO
Google loves fresh, shiny new content that helps users. Blogs are fresh, shiny new content that helps your audience. When Google sees that you’re adding that type of content regularly to your site you get a gold star (metaphorically speaking) and it helps your SEO.
It’s not quite that simple but the premise is there. If you want an easy way to add new content and improve your user’s experience then that’s where blogging comes in.
Blogs & your audience
People want to deal with people. But your shiny marketing doesn’t always show the reality and help you build a relationship with your audience.
Blogs take people behind the scene, into your brain and help them connect with your business. Through creating a personality and tone of voice your blogs can explore different topics, offer helpful advice and insights and become a key tool in nurturing your leads.
Blogs & your brand
What do you want to be known for? That’s the question you need to have answered before you start blogging.
Once you know what area you want to be an expert in, you can design your blogs to show off your industry knowledge. Over time your blogs will position you as a leader in that area with the expertise and experience to back up those claims, helping improve your reputation and strengthen your brand.
How to stay consistent with blogging
Now the idea of blogs being essential to your content marketing strategy relies on you blogging regularly. After all, a one off blog is pretty much a waste of your time.
But staying consistent is something businesses struggle with all the time. Particularly if their marketing team is small and they’re working to capacity. Here are a few handy tips to keep your blogs regular:
1. Plan ahead
When you’re thinking about launching your blog make sure you’ve got a few in the bag before you hit publish. In short, don’t think about this week’s blog this week. That’s too late. Aim to be 2-3 weeks ahead of yourself. That way if things get busy, people get ill or the unexpected happens, you’re already prepared and can give yourself some breathing space.
2. Be realistic with your schedule
Consistent means different things to different people. Some businesses can blog every week, for others once a month is enough. There’s no right or wrong. What’s most important is you find a frequency that works for you. Be realistic about how much time you have to write, upload and promote your blog and that you’re not overcommitting yourself.
3. Outsource
If you really want to start blogging and you don’t have the internal resources to do so, then look elsewhere. There are content agencies or freelancers *cough cough* that can help you. Speak to some different people, get some proposals and understand how working with external support can free up time and headspace.
The benefits of blogging go beyond the obvious. It’s an activity that’s often seen as something to do when you’re quiet or when you’ve got news to shout about. But when used effectively blogs can absolutely be the cornerstone of your content marketing strategy. Helping elevate your brand authority and reputation while building genuine relationships with your audience.
In short, it’s not a nice to have. In my view, it’s an essential. And it’s something you need to include in your content marketing strategy if you want to see real results.
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