Blogging is great for any brand. Whether it be a personal brand, a major corporation or anything in between, blogging is a way to get in front of your ideal customer or client when they’re looking for solutions to their problem or researching potential opportunities. Consistent blogging can also help you ‘get to the top of Google’ for keywords related to your business.
Blogging Isn’t Dead … It’s Surely Alive.
As a digital marketer, the question I get asked most is, “How do I get to the top of Google?” My follow-up question is usually something like, “Do you have an unlimited advertising budget?” The answer is always no.
So, how do you get to the top of Google if you don’t have an endless supply of money to spend on Google AdWords? Blogging is a great tactic. However, there’s so much that goes into a solid blogging strategy. It’s not like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it will stick.
In order to achieve peak digital visibility, you must know your buyer persona, their buyer’s journey and the keywords they are searching along the way. Once you know Buyer Bob inside and out, then you can create content that hits home with him. You know what problems he has and you know how to solve them. You know there are opportunities for him to grow his business or to increase his margins. So tell him.
Why Would I Blog About [insert boring industry keyword here]?
I’m a sports guy. I love baseball. More specifically, I love the Boston Red Sox! There are 100 blogs out there about the Boston Red Sox. You know which ones I read? The ones with the best content. The ones that were there when I was looking, and the ones that delivered once I got there.
Sports is a very small slice of who I am. I’m also a digital marketer. Some even may use the word nerd. There are a bunch of marketing blogs out there, too. You know which ones I read? The ones that solve my problems. The ones that showcase opportunities for me to better myself as a digital marketer and help me deliver consistent and effective strategies for my clients.
You know what’s a boring keyword to someone outside of the marketing world? Lead generation opportunities. You know what blog I read this morning while I was crushing a bowl of Apple Jacks? A B2B Guide for Blogging Lead Generation. It’s from our friends at HubSpot. You should read it, too.
The point is, no matter how boring your industry is, there are going to be people who care about it. If you manufacture some obscure part that goes into an airplane, the people who care about it probably fit your buyer persona. They’re probably a buyer, or an engineer for a company that uses products just like yours.
Today’s buyer is more educated than ever before. It’s so easy to google anything. In fact, you don’t even have to type it into Google anymore. You can say things like, “Hey Google, is it going to rain in Pittsburgh today?” Google, like a good mother, is always ready to help. And most of the time, leads you down the right path.
Blogging is your opportunity to have prime real estate on your buyer persona’s decision-making path. Make sure you invest in that property and never let it go. Don’t wait too long, because your competitor may have already earned the property, built four houses and a hotel, all before you got your $200 for passing go.
How Do I Know If Anyone Is Reading Our Blog?
The great thing about inbound marketing is: you can track everything. There are analytics for everything. Tools like Google Analytics, HubSpot Analytics, Shopify Analytics, etc., allow you to track many metrics that help guide your ongoing content strategy.
For example, in Google Analytics, you can see how many people have viewed a certain blog post, approximately how long they were on the page and where they came from (organic search, paid search, social media).
Great, They Read A Blog Post. Who Cares?
Using HubSpot, you can get even deeper in your tracking efforts. Here’s an example of a typical scenario:
- Buyer Bob Googles [industry keyword].
- Clicks on search result featuring your educational blog post about [industry keyword]
- Finds the content so valuable they click on a call to action to learn more through an eBook about the same topic
- Contact details automatically entered into CRM
- Immediately enrolled in email marketing workflow
- After the second lead nurturing email, he emails back saying he is ready to talk
- Lead is handed off to sales team
- Sales team closes
- Lead becomes a happy, fulfilled, eager to refer her peers, repeat customer for years
And it all started with a blog you thought nobody would read.
Sound Like Fun, But Not Sure Where To Start? Give Us A Call!
At ProFromGo, we love everything about blogging. We’ve seen how it impacts our clients across numerous industries. Like we said, it’s not just throwing spaghetti at the wall. You need a strategy. Give us a call. We’re always happy to help.
