The Essential Guide to Blogging for Business

By on 05/31/2017


Inbound Marketing “is the process of attracting the attention of prospects, via content creation, before they are even ready to buy; it’s one of the best and most cost-effective ways to convert strangers into customers and promoters of your business.” – Hubspot

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Content is still king in 2017. Hubspot’s 2017 State of Inbound Marketing Report states that over 46% of marketing respondents believe inbound marketing has given their organization higher ROI overall. Blogs are a powerful way to bring readers to your website and establish your business as a credible source of information. In fact, a 2016 Demand Gen Report informs us that 47% of buyers viewed 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales rep. This tells us that blogging and lead generation go hand in hand.

But how can you make your blog as effective as it can be and drive consumers to your product? With a bit of background information and a finely tuned strategy, you can begin blogging for business and see a return on the time investment it’s going to require.

Let’s Look at Some Stats

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                               Hubspot’s 2017 State of Inbound Marketing Report
  • 61% of consumers will use blogs to make a purchase decision
  • Companies that blog have 97% more inbound links
  • 46% of marketers found that inbound marketing gives them higher ROI
  • 59% of marketers believe inbound practices provide the highest source of quality leads for their sales team.

With so many opportune leads generating from inbound marketing practices like content curation and blogging, it’s no surprise that marketers are spending 37% more of their budget on inbound marketing compared to last year. It’s a great sign for the future of inbound marketing that businesses are maintaining or increasing their budget for this venture.

How to Blog Effectively to Gain Leads

Physically write the content strategy. Whether your work routine involves physically drafting a strategy or not, it is highly advisable to start writing your content creation strategy down. Write down the goals you aim to achieve through blog marketing, and how often you plan to push new content out. Writing your direction and goals helps to clarify your ideas and ensures your budget is being used wisely. It’s also something you can bring to the client that shows them the tangibility of what you’re working on, should the nature of your work call for that.

Visuals are everything. Blog articles with images get 94% more views than those that don’t. Consider it absolutely mandatory to include at least one image somewhere in the blog. We suggest putting your photo or video at the very top of the piece; and if it’s a long blog (like this one), include a few more to break up your text. 43% of readers admit to skimming blogs, so try not to lose them with a wall of text, and instead engage them with a practical visual.

Share it on social media. After you write a blog, post it to your social media channels. The goal is to drive traffic back to your website, and a great way to do this is by allowing people to view it on social. The more likes and comments you receive, the higher you’ll be ranked in social media algorithms, which will allow you to be seen by a broader audience.

Post content that your readers will find useful. Useful content is shareable content; this is the highest form of engagement a business can have. The ultimate goal is to have someone find your content so interesting that they feel compelled to share it with their friends. This will establish you as a thought-leader in your industry, as well as expand your reach.

How to Measure Your ROI

The adage “you don’t know what you don’t know” still holds true in the world of business. If consumers don’t know who you are, they can’t possibly be your next client. That’s why marketers who employ the use of blogs are 13 times more likely to receive positive ROI. But how exactly can you measure the ROI of your content strategy?

There are a few ways to measure your ROI, including the following:

  • The number of unique site visitors. Using metrics on the backend of your website or blog, you can determine how many new visitors are visiting your site because of your blog.
  • Landing page visits. Following unique site visits, determining how many unique landing pages can help you determine how robust your blog is.
  • Customer engagement. If your company’s goal is to target consumers and not necessarily track leads, the simple engagement your blog has with your audience is a great way to measure its success.
  • Conversely, if your goal is to turn readers into customers, or if your website is retail heavy, like Valfre’s, sales can prove to be a valuable metric to determine your success.

No matter how you choose to blog, or what you choose to blog for, it’s invaluable to have a quality strategy set up and employed for the 409 million blog readers in the world. Blogging leads to increased exposure, industry leadership, and client trust. Those three factors are the pieces to the backbone of success when determining if a new practice is worthy of your time and budget.

If you don’t have time to start your own blog, the copywriters at Black Bear Design would love to lend a hand. Give us a call to discuss how we can improve your inbound marketing strategy and get your voice heard in the blog-o-sphere.

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4 responses to “The Essential Guide to Blogging for Business”

  1. Joel says:

    I personally love the “how to” blog post, they seem to get a lot of traffic. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the world of voice search, since Alexa isn’t going to read back and entire blog post to me.

  2. Jackson says:

    Very interesting! Didn’t know the conversions were that high.

  3. Matt says:

    Awesome article. Thanks for the specific stats! Very useful.

  4. Candice says:

    Measuring ROI… biggest hurdle in any business. Thanks for the great tips!

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