There are a number of Marketing channels available. I can grow my Business with SEM, PPC and Emails. Why a Blog?
Blogging? Too Personal. isn’t it? Ankit, I don’t like your idea of having a Business Blog. Just Answer me. Why should I blog?
This is the common thought of some Business Owners(Specially Small Businesses). They think it is pointless and wastage of resources. Even some of them are unaware of Blogging.
But, the fact is totally different. A Good Blog can help your Business in various ways. It can generate leads, satisfy customer and can also help to grow your Business like other Marketing Channels do.
A report from HubSpot states that among all the Social Media Channels, Company Blogs rank at top.
So, Why a Blog for Business? How to blog for Business? What are the profits?
Let’s focus on them.
Why a Company Blog?
Business Blogging is necessary because of various reasons. Some of them are :
Simplest way to provide information
Telemarketing, Press Releases are old. These solutions have limited reach now. Just blog the news and updates and your customer will have them.
Acts as Support Center
Your blog also acts as a support center for your clients and readers. Your readers can ask questions in a post and there are number of people who can support them.
Getting Feedback
A business is successful if it is connected to its users. Blogging helps here. Your customers can post about their experiences with your products and can also give you some suggestion. And you know how much important it is.
“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” Bill Gates
Another Marketing Channel
Blogging is just another marketing channel with less investment and higher return. And as a smart Business man, you know that focusing on every higher ROI channel is very important.
Building Authority
If your company is new into a Business, then its blog will help for building authority for it. It will help you to showcase your expertise to the world. You will get new leads by your authority then.
Remember Claiming is incomplete without Proof. Blog helps for both.
Building Community
Blogging is the best way for building community for your business. It helps you to engage users at different levels. In a Blogging based community, there is much type of users. Some of them are readers, commenter, spreaders and contributors.
And you already know that it is easy to convert a highly engaged user into lead.
SEO and SMO
You, your staffs and your readers produce content through the blog. You contribute into web, search engines like it. You provide valuable or interesting contents; others link it (SEO) and spread it (SMO).
Thus, your business gets profit from Google and Twitter both.
Recruiting
Don’t spend much time or money with job consultancies or agencies. Just blog about an opportunity, submit details and you will get best resumes and folks. Choose the Diamond amongst them.
Sales, Sales and more Sales
If you understand all the above advantages of blogging, then even a kid can say that your business will rock with blog. Blogging helps you to market, get new leads, providing support, and customers’ satisfaction and for better recruiting. What do you want now?
Now, you are sure that you should have a Blog for your Business. Now, we move to the next phase where we will learn how to blog effectively.
Business Blogging Best Practices
Start Blogging now
You made up your mind that your company should have a blog. Then start it now, say “Hello” to the world. Don’t think about its future. If you start a blog now, then with time you will learn what to do with it.
Don’t eat Free Lunch
Your company blog must have branding included. Don’t use free services like Blogger or Tumbler, Use WordPress. Grab a Domain (or Sub Domain like blog.company.com) and good design. Design your blog according to readability and remove the clutters if any.
Don’t be much Selfish, help the Community too
It is good to publish content about your product or news on blog but don’t overdo it. Offer something valuable or interesting things to the community at regular intervals. Be user specific every time and add value to them.
You should also post about other companies or products as much as you can, if you find it helpful for your readers and customers.
Remember ‘Giving’ is the best policy for long term Goal.
Promote User contributions
Promote your users to read the blog, comment at posts, spread it to their network and contribute also.
New visitors get easily attracted by customer engagement at company blog. So, provide a reason for contribution. Rewarding is best choice which is used by most. You can also think about rewarding users for their contributions.
ASK
Ask your users what they like or dislike? Ask for suggestion about your products or get ideas for a new product launch. Use Polls, surveys, ratings etc for this purpose.
Remember Users satisfaction is the key for Business growth.
Make Funnels and Track Everything
Track your blog with number of tools. You can use Google Analytics or other services for it. Tracking will help you to know that what your users wants, how and when a new visitor converts into leads, user engagement level etc.
Remember each positive action is success. It helps to move towards a Goal (Conversion).
Well, now you have all the necessary information about Business Blogging. Start it now, you need not search anywhere else for more resources. You have learned enough to start your journey.
So conclusively, start Rocking your Business with a Blog.
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