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While 10 years ago the placement and proportion of the keywords mattered most for successful online marketing, the focus is now on a regular publishing of fresh content. Companies have lots of options for disseminating content on the web: blogging, newsletters, case studies, reports or events features on their websites.
Marketers want their audience to become actively involved in their business, and they use blogs for triggering this shift from passive content reader to actively engage the customer. Blogs serve for numerous purposes, and the right approach is that which best satisfies business needs.
Publishing product/service-related content
Companies use blogs to keep their products and services at the front of customers’ mind. However, blog posts do not necessarily encourage people to buy. In fact, content that is too obviously sale-oriented is less successful in engaging customers. People don’t like being sold something all the time – they may take advantage of a discount or coupon, but they mostly value information.
The content published on blogs may include:
- Comments or an outline of the latest news in your industry;
- Things that are going on in your company (like preparing for a special company event);
- Specific information on products and services with the purpose of maximizing customers’ usage experience;
- Answers to customers’ questions;
- How-to guides or step-by-step instructions etc.
Industry news shared on blogs show the marketer’s interest in keeping up-to-date with the latest events in the domain. The eagerness to share info with readers and customers is a major plus for the way clients perceive your business on the market.
Informative blog posts also show the level of professionalism and the fact that you know your product/service and believe in it.
Customer service enhancement
Many businesses fear negative feedback and therefore they often fail to use blogging for effectively enhancing customer service. However, it is nonetheless true that people judge a business by the way they treat the comments and the way they respond to negative and positive reviews. Why are these reviews important?
- They allow the marketer to identify the possible weakness in the product or in customer service;
- They provide valuable information about market perceptions;
- Comments on blogs have the power to foster a community of consumers. What would be the point of writing blog posts if nobody comments?
- Blogging builds customers’ trust.
Blog relevance in search engines
Search engines favor the blogosphere as one of the largest sources of fresh, quality content on the Internet. Marketers can’t afford to neglect the numerous benefits deriving from using blogs for improving main website performance in search engines.
Moreover, blog activity is also directly related to social media channels, via links and shared content. A like or a share represents a vote that search engine algorithms interpret as a recommendation for the quality of the website.
Blogging remains one of the most popular and powerful propulsion methods for a business targeting an audience online. The blog, just like the main website, could be the starting point and the destination for far-reaching marketing plans. Publishing information-rich shareable content in the form of blog posts represents a cheap way to achieve great business exposure.
