If your online marketing strategy consists of social media and you want it to be successful, there are a few things to first consider.
First, you must be active, if you are not continuously creating new information, it is easy for you and your brand to slip between the cracks. The classic cocktail rule is a great one to follow, (share 80% of others useful and informative information and 20% of your OWN). OWN, being the operative word. You must have your own content to share, and to do so, you must create it to generate leads online. While it is important to share industry related news and updates to show your audience that your keeping an eye on things in the industry, you also need to share your own content to drive visitors back to your website. This is where blogging becomes an essential tool.
In order to drive traffic back to your website, there are some guidelines that you must follow to continue to be successful. I've put together a few simple steps that have helped with my blogging process:
- Keep a list of blog ideas - At any given time an idea can strike you. JOT IT DOWN! Whether you do it on your computer or in the grocery store, use your go-to notepad because you might not remember when it comes time to start on your next blog. It’s always best to have plenty of topics to turn to when it comes to blogging rather than staring at a blinking cursor.
- Write your content ahead of time - Once you’ve developed your set schedule, try to create your content ahead of time. That way you have plenty of time for edits, and more likely than not, you will add or change up content that will make your writing go from a good piece to a masterpiece.
- Include links - Be sure to include links to your other blogs to continuously drive traffic back to your website and help people get to know who you are and what you have to offer. Not only do you want to use links that link back to your own content, but also to other's content. It may be to give them credit for something of theirs you may have included in your own blog or to interact with others with useful, relative information in your industry.
- What’s the point? - Usually people (including myself) are skimming your blog in their spare time, or reading it while multitasking. Let’s face it, when in the Social Media Biz, it’s 90 to nothing with new content to read and THAT’S WHY WE LOVE IT! So be sure to get right to the point.
- Develop your topic and stick with it - When it comes to getting advice on our shampoo, we go to our hair dresser. Toothpaste - our dentist, and so forth. My point being, your readers are going to get to know you based on your expertise, so you can’t be all over the place. Find a topic and STICK WITH IT!
To drive traffic to your business through search engines, it is important to have multiple pages on your website about the topics people are searching for. Blogging can help you achieve this. Think about it, every time you write a post, it’s another opportunity for your website to get indexed in search engines.
Establish who you are as an authority figure in the industry. Once you can identify yourself, by knowing your topic, soon others will be able to as well. If you’re creating interesting and useful content, soon people will think of you as an expert in your industry. Blogging can be used to answer the questions people are asking and searching for online.
Here are few quick facts from Hubspot, just in case you’re still not sure about the benefits of business blogging:
- B2B marketers that use blogs receive 67% more leads than those that do not.
- Marketers who have prioritized blogging are 13x more likely to enjoy positive ROI.
- By 2020, customers will manage 85% of their relationships without talking to a human.
- The only thing blogging costs you: your time.
- Companies who blog receive 97% more links to their website.
- Blogs have been rated as the 5th most trusted source for accurate online information.
If someone finds you from a search engine when they are looking for an answer or solution to their problem, they may look to you as an expert. This could help generate leads. As you generate more subscribers, your brand is more likely to be seen.
With each post you write, comes another opportunity to generate a lead. Just remember, this does not start to happen instantly. Building credibility and trust with an audience takes time. Once you're blogging consistently, you will see growth in traffic and leads that have generated because of your blogs.
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