In the past few years, content consumption has shifted from text-based to a more visual one. People like to consume content on YouTube. The platform has essentially become a search engine. When people need to know something but have little time, they can just search for whatever they need on YouTube and find some answers. By 2021, the projected number of YouTube viewers worldwide is 1.86 billion. With the increasing YouTube audience, it’s normal for small businesses to focus on creating content in video form and uploading it to that platform. Some small businesses no longer consider blogging.
But blogging for business isn’t dead. It’s still profitable and still worth pursuing. And you need a blog for your small business because it can help improve your brand image and reputation and potentially draw your customers to purchase a product or service from you.
Here are some things you can do to ensure that your blog complements your business:
Write for Your Audience
When you create a blog for your business, you need to always write for your audience. The main goal is to educate your readers about topics related to your business. You shouldn’t hard sell your business in your blog articles. Doing that may throw off possible customers.
When figuring out what to write, consider the needs of your customers. One way to do this is to create a buyer persona. This is a research-based profile that defines who your possible consumers are. This profile may include what their age range is, what their interests may be, what problems they have, what decisions they need to make, and so on.
This buyer persona will help you determine what types of content you need to write on your blog. For example, a company that offers home architecture design services can write blog articles about trends in real estate and dos and don’ts when planning a home as these topics are what their buyer persona is interested in.
By writing informative articles on your blog, potential customers will see that you are an expert in your field. They may also explore other parts of your website and become more aware of your brand. And in time, they will consider availing your products and services.
Include Multimedia Content
Humans like to look at visuals on the internet. In fact, 65% of people are visual learners. But humans are not just attracted to images but auditory cues as well. Around 30% of the population are auditory learners.
Given these numbers, having only paragraphs or walls of text in your blog articles won’t cut it. You need to include multimedia content in your articles to make them more engaging and to keep visitors in your site for longer. For instance, if you will write how-to articles, include photos of each step to make the process easier to follow. You can also include links to related videos. Infographics will also prove useful when presenting complicated data as they make information easier to digest.
Give Freebies
You can attract more people to your site if you give them freebies. They can come in the form of brochures, e-books, or samples of your products. For example, hand lettering artist Ian Barnard offers digital brush sets to his audience. Some of these sets are part of larger sets that he sells on his website.
Freebies entice your audience. They will find value in your blog because they not only learn new things; they also receive something for free. But how can offering digital freebies help your business?
Well, these freebies aren’t exactly “free.” Before anyone can receive the freebies from your website, you can require them to leave their email to subscribe to your mailing list. Then you can execute email marketing and send your mailing list updates about your products, promotions, new blog posts, and so on. Email marketing is an effective way to convert leads.
Blogging is still relevant despite the rise of visual content. Even if it’s not obvious at first, having a blog is still very beneficial for your business. It can help you attract new leads by providing them educational content. It can help you grow your mailing list. And if you manage it properly, you can get a huge return on investment in email marketing. Your blog can also help you nurture your leads by giving them an easy way to communicate with your business.
But you can only reap these benefits if you stay committed to maintaining your blog. For example, you will need to post consistently. And these posts should always consist of valuable information relevant to your audience.
