A compelling reason to blog in 2023…

Is it enough to say that blogging is on average 62% less expensive than other marketing methods to achieve the same result?

Probably not, though it IS true.  Business blogging generates many long-lasting benefits in terms of customer reach, engagement, conversion and even Google ranking!

And those trends look set to continue in 2023.

What kind of people read blogs?

According to techjury.net, 77% of all web users read blogs. Now, if you want to experience more of a real-world illustration, take a walk just about anywhere in the UK and you will see all manner of people, all with their heads buried in their phones, tablets or other electronic devices. It doesn’t matter who you want to reach, the internet has made connecting with your ideal customer seamless. All you need is the right content and platform. Could that be blogging? Let’s find out…

Does your ideal demographic read blogs?

It is more than likely.

According to https://truelist.co/blog/blog-statistics/, the difference between male and female blog post readers is almost negligible.

52.43% are male, whilst 47.38% are female.

How old are the people reading your business blog?

According to finances online:

• 16.8% are between the ages of 25 to 30.
• 29.4% are between the ages of 31 to 40.
• 23.1% are between the ages of 41 to 50.
• 14.1%   are 50 +

Remember, since 77% of the people in the UK read blogs, we are looking at a total of approximately 48.40 million monthly blog readers in the UK, so even the 14.1% (lowest amount above) equates to 6,824,400 monthly business blog readers aged 50+ in the United Kingdom.

Do your ideal customers read business blogs?

Without knowing your exact demographics, it is impossible to say. You can always contact us, and we’d be happy to conduct a free analysis for you. As a general rule of thumb, however, many business owners consider themselves to be of a similar mentality and demographic as their ideal customers. If this is the case then consider, you are reading this blog post, so the chances are your ideal customers read blog posts too.

People who want to connect write blogs

Business Blogs communicate in the same language as your ideal customers, answering their burning questions and giving them exactly the right information at the time when they most need it.

According to financesonline.com:

“91% of B2B marketers reported that their companies blog or use other forms of content marketing and 86% of B2C marketers reported that their companies blog or use other forms of content marketing.”

Difference between your blog post and a web page…

Why do you need a business blog, after all, you have a website. Surely that’s enough?

If I had a pound for every business owner I’d met who had a website, but only because they thought they ‘should have one’ and proclaimed: “We don’t really get many leads from the site” then I’d consider early retirement.

Your website is your showroom. It is your chance to be slick and show off your wares in a very professional and engaging way, yet as brilliant as many people’s websites are they can be about as useful as a luxury yacht that has set up anchor in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, hoping to catch specific passers-by.

Enter the blog (the lesser-known Bruce Lee film)

For those websites that have a blog, I’m going to expand upon our earlier metaphor: Your blog is the army of friendlier smaller boats that rush to shore picking up your ideal passengers with a friendly smile then after a bit of pampering gives them a free ride to your big expensive yacht (your website).

Think of a business blog as a trusted friend

Think of the friends you have here in the ‘real world.’ Do you know like and trust them?

• If they recommended that you purchase something, would you be more likely to consider it than if someone you didn’t know suggested the same thing?

Your friends care about you (I hope). They know what you like and what you need and the chances of them recommending something you’d hate is, let’s face it, unlikely; not that you’d drop everything right away to make a purchase. But after 2 or three separate conversations on the topic, the chances are you’d be ready to retrieve that credit card and start buying.

We can relate this behaviour to blogging:

• People are more likely to make a purchase after engaging with a blog three to five times.

• 55% of marketers gained new customers because of blogging.

• 55% of marketers believe that blogging is the most critical inbound marketing channel.

Thanks to https://financesonline.com/business-blogging-statistics/ for those juicy stats.

Like a trusted friend, the successful business blog ‘speaks’ in the best interests of the reader, offering free information, inspiration or tools without a price tag.

This doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be a call to action, in fact, many successful blogs do have a call to action – that is a specific action that you want the blog reader to perform (join an email list, perhaps). Some businesses will brazenly promote their services in the hope you will make a purchase (perhaps with a discount). This sometimes works; however, the best-performing blogs recognise that you are unlikely to get married on the first date and will need to engage in a bit of professional courtship first:

1. They offer you free information.
2. You consume that information.
3. They offer you more free information and ask if you’d like to join an email list (the equivalent to let’s go for a coffee in dating parlance).
4. You send them emails with more juicy information, giveaways and exclusive offers and they make a purchase.

Business Blogs offer a perfect mix of emotion and logic

There are a few blogging truths that have served me well in the 15-plus years I have been business blogging in the UK and one such nugget is:

“A great blog will capture someone on an emotive level first and then back it up with the facts and figures that the ideal audience really wants.”

 

(Me, 10 seconds ago)

If you have ever read ‘The Chimp Paradox’ by noted neuroscientist Professor Steve Peters, then you’ll know the human brain is split into three distinct areas:

1. The emotional part (the chimp)
2. The logical part
3. Data storage (that serves the first two parts)

When we decide on just about anything (including whether we are going to purchase an item) the first part of the brain to react is the primal bit – the chimp – or the emotional part. By the time the logical part kicks into action, it is looking for reasons to support the emotional decision that WE HAVE ALREADY MADE.

The same can be said when we decide if we are going to like and trust someone. The emotional part will form an opinion, which will then be backed up by facts, figures and stories passed on from remembered, established trusted sources which will then lead to an opinion and a possible action to connect or not connect with an individual or group.

This is part of the reason why people from a similar background or a particular social and economic disposition tend to associate more freely with one another and have similar views and opinions.

(Yes, to be a content writer and marketer I elected to take a keen interest in psychology).

And finally, the same can be said if we choose to consume and trust information from a blog post…

The ideal from the business owner’s perspective is that their model customer will consume so much free content, that they build an emotional and trusting bond with the brand. This bond will then lead to future purchases and even result in their ideal customers recommending your products and services to other interested parties.

Like a ‘real world’ relationship, interacting with a brand conforms to much the same rules and expectations.

Regular blogging can help you get onto page one of Google

Positions one and two of Google are the Holy Grail of the internet for many businesses.  More than half of every user search query goes to those positions, and by the time you get to the very top of page two, you are only receiving less than two percent of the search queries.

Google rewards relevant, well-performing sites. Regardless of what SEO experts will tell you and how much they might try to baffle you with SEO science, remember that Google is not neutral. It has an agenda:

“Google wants to remain the market leader for search engine traffic. To do this they need to deliver the most accurate results for a user and in the fastest time.”

 Me again 15 seconds ago

Suppose you consistently help Google achieve that by BEING the most relevant result, and having relevant sites link to you as well as regularly having people interact with your content. In that case, you stand a good chance of receiving high-ranking rewards.

A regular, well-written blog post can have a significant impact on your Google ranking.

We’ve taken so many companies with underperforming websites and helped them rank in the first two positions of Google, simply by introducing a regular keyword-rich and engaging blog to their existing site (at least one per week, though four times per week, can generate outstanding results even faster).

The theory is simple:

If you can get inside the mind of your consumer and serve up quality blog content on a regular basis, then they will know like and trust you. They will interact with your site and Google will see your site as being relevant and worthy of ranking high!

You rank in the first position on Google, and significantly more people digest your content, which then leads to more conversions and your site transforms from relative obscurity to one of the main revenue generators for your business.

A few Google ranking stats on business blogging:

“72% of online marketers describe content creation as their most effective SEO tactic.” https://optinmonster.com/blogging-statistics/#:~:text=77%25%20of%20internet%20users%20read,than%20they%20do%20on%20email

“Websites with blogs have a 434% better chance of ranking high in search engine results.” https://truelist.co/blog/blog-statistics/

“56% of surveyed consumers have made a purchase from a company after reading their blog and 10% of marketers who use blogging say it generates the biggest return on investment.” https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/blog-search-engine-optimization

Should you write your own business blog?

Hopefully, by now I’ve presented a compelling argument for you to introduce business blogging into your marketing mix. Though one important question remains:

Do you outsource your blog writing or do you do it yourself?

I believe we are each given two gifts in this life – those being time and money and the better use of one will result in an abundance of the other:

If you have the money to hire a professional to create engaging blog content that is equally engaging to Google and your prospective end user, then you should do so. They will make sure the articles are well written, are the right length, with the right density of keywords, are researched to be relevant to what your clients are looking for and are delivered on time.

If you are blessed however with more time than money, then write them yourself. The passion and voice a professional content creator will bring to your brand, you already have in its raw form. You just need to know how to translate that into profit-generating content, which we will help you with for FREE – subscribe to our VIP list.

Whilst we do provide a business blog writing service, we also offer free content and advice on how to do this yourself.  It is 100% FREE and will be forever.

Closing thoughts…

So, there you have it. While you are making those new year’s resolutions to stop smoking, lose weight and be nicer to your mother-in-law (two out of three aren’t bad), make a promise to your business that you will spare a thought for your business and make a potentially game-changing decision by truly connecting with your potential and current customers – start a business blog.