The Benefits of Blogging with Patience, Persistence & Personality
Is your blog blah? Not stirring up the interest or engagement you want it to? Does it sometimes seem like a waste of time?
It doesn’t seem that long ago to me – then again, I’m old – that the whole concept of content marketing took off and suddenly every business was like, OMG! WE HAVE TO HAVE A BLOG!
And now everyone does have a blog. Literally, every person on earth. (Ok, there may be a few exceptions.) But still. There’s a shit-ton of blog content going out every day, all competing for a click, a like or a share.
Another challenge with blogging is that the results may not be immediate, and they can be hard to track. You can see how many people have clicked or commented or shared, but you aren’t necessarily going to get leads into your sales funnel from a blog post. It’s only after a user has read a number of your blog posts (and maybe downloaded a white paper or watched a video or two) that they’ll be interested enough to buy from you. In fact, it takes an average of 12 marketing touches for that to happen.
Ultimately, the goal with content marketing is that your users will start actually seeking you out for your sage or witty advice.
While blogging is also touted as being great for SEO, that too is a slow turnaround. Adding a new blog post that contains the keyword “marketing” is not going to do squat for your ranking in Google. You have to build up a large quantity of content focused on your specific topic to get any movement on that front.
So, to get any traction with your blogging, you’re going to need patience, persistence and personality.
Patience
Blogging is not a quick win. You need to be prepared for that fact, and help the stakeholders in your company understand it. Otherwise, decision-makers may pull the plug on your efforts before they start making an impact. Think of blogging as more like a long term investment strategy. You’re not supposed to panic every time there is a dip in the market and your 401K drops, because you know that you’ll get a good return on investment over time.
Patience pays off. Did you know?
- Blogs on company sites result in 55% more website visitors (HubSpot).
- B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than those that do not blog (Social Media B2B).
- Companies who blog receive 97% more inbound links to their website (ContentPlus).
The results may not be immediate, but they’re well worth it.
Persistence
Another important rule for effective blogging is to keep at it. Blog regularly and blog a lot. This can be challenging. You may not have the resources in-house to do the volume of blogging that you’ll need to be successful.
It can also be difficult for some businesses to come up with fresh new topics on a regular basis. (Stuck for ideas? Here are some ways to repurpose content.) Ideally, you should put together an ongoing content calendar, and use a content map to align the blog posts you create with the needs of your various buyer personas. Download our content map template here.
The good news is that if you are persistent, and create a volume of blog posts, it can make a huge impact on your business.
- Brands that create 15 blog posts per month average 1,200 new leads per month (Hubspot).
- Websites with a blog tend to have 434% more indexed pages (ContentPlus).
- The cost of generating inbound leads via content marketing tactics (such as blogging) is 60% less than the cost of generating outbound leads (Search Engine Journal).
Personality
While everything we’ve said so far is focused on quantity, let’s be clear—quality is very important. Smart, funny, well-written blog posts outperform boring, salesy or stuffy posts any day of the week. While every post doesn’t have to be an award-winning piece of journalism, they should all aim to inform, engage and entertain.
Speaking of entertaining, don’t forget that people like visuals. Blog articles with images get 94% more views than those without, so for Pete’s sake, throw a picture on there.
Remember to use storytelling techniques to make your blog more captivating, and don’t be afraid to be personal and genuine. Humanizing your brand is good business. People tend to like, identify and engage with other people.
So, it’s time to get blogging, friends. Become the Bloggy McBlogalots for your business. And if you need help, you’re in luck. That’s what we do. Let’s Talk.
Diane Callihan
With more than 20 years of experience writing for some of the country’s top brands, Diane helped to shape Roger West’s content strategy, lead generation, and PR efforts as Director of Marketing. She currently serves as President of Callihan Content Creation.