3 Reasons Why Blogging Is Integral to Your Marketing Strategy

At The Mezzanine Group, we rarely have a marketing strategy that doesn’t include blogging at some interval over the course of the year.  It can’t be replaced by a robust social media strategy and it’s not as outdated as you might think.  As you review your marketing strategy it might be tempting to cut blogs as a supporting tactic.  They are time consuming, and setting a regular pace to produce them can be draining on your marketing team.  However, blogs have many advantages so before you slash this tactic, consider the 3 reasons below why you should keep it.

But first, some reminders.  Set a content calendar in advance, tie the topics and style/tone of writing to your personas (If you don’t yet have personas, its best to create some soon) and remember to keep the content and themes slightly different than your competitors. 

1. Blogs support your SEO strategy.

Your SEO strategy is important and ensures that you appear as close as possible to the number 1 position on page 1 of search results.  Google often changes their algorithms, yet some tactics have remained constantly valuable over the years.  First, Google respects websites that are respected by their owners which means you can no longer “launch it and forget it” and regular blogging helps keep content fresh on your website.  And there’s more.  Companies that blog have 97% more inbound links.¹ Google likes inbound links (when another site links to yours) and you should too.  It’s like a popularity contest and you want to make sure that other sites like yours.  Finally, if you ensure that each blog contains a keyword from your strategy you are building more relevant content for your site over time.

2. Blogs help you keep and attract new business.

Small businesses with blogs generate 126% more leads.¹ The blog can showcase your knowledge of the subject matter and that you understand how your personas relate to your product or solutions and your industry.  This will make your target market feel understood before they even pick up the phone to call you.  Use your blogs to communicate your position on industry trends, challenges your potential customers face and answer common questions you are asked during communications with customers.

3. Blogs give you something to talk about on social media.

Social media is a communication channel so use it to announce when you have produced a blog.  Give your social media team a break from retweeting and scouring the web for related articles. The constant pressure to produce engaging content several times per day means that few companies can support original content in every post.  Regular blogging ensures that your social media team has original content and a creative team can build on the themes of the blog and expand the blog into additional posts.

One final thought.  We often see the blog hidden in the Resources pull down menu but blogging is so important, that we like to see it in the top line navigation.  This ensures that people will see it easily and have less clicks to enjoy your blog.  You have spent a lot of time on your blog and over a long period of time, so consider creating the space. 

The Mezzanine Group Team works with B2B marketing companies every day and we know different tactics are required to match different strategies and goals. We can create a marketing strategy for you or review your blogging strategy as part of our Advisory Service. Contact us to learn more. 

1. http://www.techclient.com/blogging-statistics