Ever since the internet hit the scene and proved itself to be a manifold toolbox for marketers, businesses have made a science of connecting to customers via a wide range of digital pathways. Each method offers its own opportunities and challenges, but we’re here to discuss one of the most powerful yet under-appreciated at your disposal – the blog.
Why under-appreciated? Because although most business owners know they should be blogging, they never seem to quite get around to making it happen, at least not effectively. Either the blog never gets launched at all, it isn’t leveraged correctly, or it gets abandoned after a handful of posts.
A properly managed blog, however, will prove to be one of the key pillars of your marketing efforts.
Why Blogging Drives Digital Marketing
Blogging will benefit your endeavors to reach new customers in a variety of ways.
First of all, it’s a simple matter of generating traffic to your website. Each post serves as another indexed page, which means it’s another chance for your site to show up in search engines. Basically, it’s a powerful SEO tool, especially if you’re posting about topics that your potential customers are already searching for. (We’ll have more on this below.)
Blog posts also help drive your social media presence. By providing high quality, informative posts, you’re putting out content that will be seen by existing and potential audiences thanks to all of those “likes” and “shares”.
And then there’s the impact that a blog has on consumer perception. Just take a look at the stats.
When all is said and done, 82% of marketers who blog enjoy a positive ROI.
3 Things that Ensure and Effective Blog
But to be among that 82%, you need to create a blog that works. Here are three things that marketers are doing to ensure just that:
- Consistent posting.
When it comes to maintaining an effective blog, you need more than a handful of posts – a lot more – and you need to make sure that you’re updating regularly.
Once a blog offers a backlog of between 21-54 posts, traffic generation increases by as much as 30%. As we discussed earlier, this is largely thanks to improved SEO.
At the same time, you can’t just hit a particular number of posts then call it quits. Regular posting is essential. Businesses that post at a rate of more than once per week see five times more traffic.
- Performing effective research.
When a regularly updated blog fails, it’s usually for one reason – the posts don’t target what potential customers are searching for.
There is a science to choosing blog topics and keywords. It involves using the right tools, understanding how location effects search results, performing competitor research, and a number of additional tactics.
Simply put, it’s all about pinpointing what your ideal customer is already searching for, and you’re not likely to do that by going with your gut, at least not with the sort of accuracy you’re hoping to achieve.
- Partnering with experts.
The only problem with blogging is that it takes time – for research, for the actual writing, and for posting and content calendar creation.
The solution involves partnering with an agency or copywriter who is experienced at managing a successful blog.
Allowing a specialist to handle your blog maintenance efforts means you let someone who already has the research tools and knowhow tackle the science aspect. It means having an experienced writer compose well-written, engaging posts. More than anything, it means saving you time so that you can get back to doing what you do best – running your business.
And this is an increasingly popular option. In 2016, 64% of marketers outsourced their blogging needs. That number is up from the previous year, and it is expected to climb in 2017. Which makes sense. Hiring a staff content team is expensive. Partnering with an outside agency requires significantly less resource commitment.
Look at KISSmetrics, for example, who attributes the outsourcing of its blogging needs to attaining sky-high traffic of nearly 800,000 visitors per month.
Bottom line – forget about stumbling around in the dark. Let the experts handle it.
Expert Blog Curation the Works
At Lincoln Digital Group, that’s a key part of what we offer – expert blog curation that will target your audience, deliver consistent updates, and drive your traffic, customer engagement, and – ultimately – conversions.
We manage blogs and produce a wide range of marketing content for a variety of companies, such as the Reeves Import Motorcars family of auto dealerships and the luxury chain Provident Jewelry. Each of the countless posts we’ve produced for partners like these serve to increase search index ranking, provide useful information to existing and potential customers, and build engagement in general.
And it works. Thanks largely to our efforts – which include blog curation, web design, and a range of additional services – Reeves enjoyed its top selling month (outside of the typically busy month of December) in 45 years of operation shortly after partnering with Lincoln Digital. All in all, our clients spanning the U.S. and Canada achieve more than $3 billion in annual revenues, and we’re proud to play a role in driving that success.
To learn more about how Lincoln Digital Group can help with your blogging and marketing efforts, contact us online or call us at (561) 371-4272.
