With apologies to William Shakespeare: To blog or not to blog?
Blogging is a highly effective way to nurture customer relationships, prompt conversations with prospects, demonstrate expertise, and keep your name – and your brand – top of mind. What business doesn’t want that?
Before getting to the heart of the “to blog or not to blog” question and how to improve your blog-ability, let’s spend a minute on the business case for blogging.
Why you should blog for your business
Blogs were born back in 1997. The word is an amalgamation of the term “weblog.” The first blogs were more journal-like, with writers sharing thoughts on a subject by posting them on the web in a log fashion, with the most recent post appearing at the top.
Even though blogs have evolved A LOT since the 90s, many businesses still don’t recognize them as the valuable business marketing tool they are. Blogs are a big part of how the Internet has changed the way we buy things. Today’s buyer requires anywhere from 5 to 20 touchpoints before they purchase – depending on need vs. want, purchase complexity, and frankly, just good old human procrastination.
For business owners, it’s a choice. You can pick up the phone or chase people down for meetings 20 different times. Or you can create compelling blog content that does some of the heavy lifting by putting your name and your insights in front of prospective customers on a regular basis.
Related: The case for content marketing: How to make it work for your small business
The impact of blogging
Still on the fence? Here are five quick proof points that demonstrate the impact of blogging.
- Blogs drive awareness. Businesses that blog get 55 percent more site traffic than those that don’t.
- Blogging builds your credibility. Sixty-nine percent of purchase decision makers say blogs are one of the best ways to get a sense of a company’s caliber of thinking.
- Blogs give people that extra little push toward a buying decision. Eighty percent of consumers consider blogs to be a valuable way to find out more about products or services they’re thinking about buying.
- Blogs convey your value. No one wants their product or service to be a commodity. Blogs are uniquely your own. They give you the chance to share your perspective and tell prospects and customers what makes you different. Sixty percent of C-Suite executives say they’re willing to pay a premium to work with companies that have consistent, quality thought leadership.
- Blogging is extremely cost-efficient. Content marketing strategies – which rely on distributing relevant, consistent content – cost 62% less than traditional marketing strategies that focus more on promotional tactics, such as advertising. In other words, you don’t have to spend big bucks to see results.
How to improve your blog-ability
Once you buy into the value of blogging, it’s time to develop your blog-ability. Here are three easy ways to consistently create compelling blog posts your target customers want to read.
1. Commit to blogging rain or shine.
Effective business blogging is never random. It needs to be strategic. It needs to be intentional. And it needs to be baked into your overall business and marketing plans. For your content to deliver the results you need – leads, sales, loyalty – you have to commit to producing it regularly. Rain or shine. No matter what.
Be ambitious but also realistic about frequency. Then, block out time on your calendar. I recommend working in advance, rather than post by post. Write a month’s worth of posts all at once. Trust me, it’s a great feeling to have them all ready to go before the month even starts!
2. Tell stories.
The primary purpose of blogging is to make your expertise accessible. You definitely don’t want what you write to come across as pretentious or overly academic. The best way to avoid that is to convey information in a conversational way. Tell stories and share experiences as if you’re talking with a friend.
There are plenty of blog templates you can follow to help structure your stories and make the best use of your blog-creation time. Here’s a basic one:
Start with an intro paragraph or two based on something timely or a real-life experience that prompted you to choose the topic. Follow that with a main section – probably two to three short paragraphs – where you expand on the subject and share your insights. Add three to five actionable takeaways for the reader, and wrap up with a brief conclusion. It’s not War and Peace; it’s sharing relevant information with your clients.
People always ask me, what’s the right length for a blog post? Here’s my answer. Posts should be as long as they need to be to convey your message! You shouldn’t ever be overly focused on hitting a certain word count. As a rule of thumb, I recommend aiming for 600-1,000 words. That gives you enough real estate to say something meaningful, include proof points and takeaways.
It’s worth noting, blogs are trending longer. Primarily driven by evolving Google algorithms and SEO, the average post length is up year-over-year because the top-ranking search engine results are recognizing posts with 1,500+ words. So, mixing in longer posts when the topic calls for it makes good sense.
Related: Is your blog post a dead end? Don’t forget the next steps
3. Plan for the scan.
To improve your blog-ability, remember written posts shouldn’t be dense or intimidating. We live in a text-oriented world. More than ever, people are going to scan your post. Make it easy for them.
Keep your paragraphs short. (Forget what you learned back in English class – paragraphs can be a couple of sentences.) Add subheads every few paragraphs. Add bullet points when it makes sense or turn your takeaways into the ever-popular list.
Include visuals. Blogs with pictures average read rates nine times higher than those without them. In addition, research shows people remember only 10 percent of information they heard three days before. But when there is an image associated with the information, people can recall 65% of the information three days later.
All of these things – subheads, paragraph breaks, bullets, lists, and images – help open up white space on the page, making it easier for the eyes to quickly scan it to see if something is worth investing more time to read.
Related: 4 Don’ts, 9 Dos: How to create blog posts people want to read
Blogging can be an effective, cost-effective marketing tool for your business. But, if improving your blog-ability is stressing you out or taking too much time, don’t abandon it. Consider outsourcing instead. Just like you tap into accounting or IT support, explore working with a content marketing expert. When you compare the costs against the value of your time, you’ll likely find it’s an affordable option for executing your marketing strategy.
Write Hand Ann can help you write a post or two, or execute your blog plan end-to-end. Reach out and blog on!
