Marketing is arguably one of the most important facets of running a business. A good marketing team can make a business successful despite not coming up with the best products in the field. The same is also inversely true, as bad marketing can shut your business down even before you can start rolling out your goods and services.
In simpler terms, marketing is responsible for finding potential customers for your products and services and introducing them to who you are as a business. It is through marketing that you will build and maintain your brand as you continue to grow your company.
Marketing has grown significantly over the years. Back in the old days, marketing was done either by word of mouth advertising or through print communications. When the television was invented, companies found another way to reach out to people by creating commercials for their products. The methods change over the years, but one thing remains certain—businesses will always develop new ways to improve their marketing strategy.
One of the more popular forms of marketing in this new age is blogging. While the previously mentioned marketing strategies are all still quite viable, blogging offers a different dimension by focusing on the digital department.
What is Blogging?
The term “blog” was originally derived from “weblog,” a coined word for logging in journal entries in digital media. It can be a written piece, similar to a page from a diary, or it can be a picture album or a video log. Blogging basically served as the introduction to social media platforms, since it gave users the ability to publish their thoughts and interact with others online.
There are many types of blogs available on the internet. Since you can write about pretty much anything, your blog can simply feature bits of information like what you do each day, your thoughts regarding a book you read in class, or how you feel about a movie you just watched. The wide range of available topics to blog about eventually caught the attention of businesses, since it also meant a bigger scope for online marketing.
Once companies caught on to the digital marketing hype, blogs quickly became internet commercials for various types of merchandise. There was a blog for selling campers, another for trading agricultural products, and even home-cooked food found its way into digital sales.
There is often confusion over the difference between a blog and a website. While both of these online tools can be used for advertising and marketing, blogs are more effective because they create an opportunity to build a relationship with the reader through publishing relatable content and the ability to converse. Having an active comments section allows blogs to respond directly to the reader’s comments and questions, which further strengthens customer engagement.
Why the Time to Blog is Now
Advertising can be expensive, and finances can be especially tight right now due to the pandemic. Choosing to market your business digitally through blogs is essentially the most cost-effective method you can use. It is basically free marketing because it allows your customers to stay up-to-date with your company and your products.
Blogging also helps put your business on the map so that even non-customers have a chance of seeing who you are and what you have to offer. With most people staying at home to keep safe from the coronavirus, online traffic should be at an all-time high. By using Search Engine Optimization (SEO), your blog should greatly increase its reach and come up in most searches with relevant keywords. You can leverage the content in your blog to increase online exposure and visibility, gaining more readers in the process.
Small businesses can also use their blogs to work with influencers to drastically increase their marketing success. Influencers are social media authorities with enough impact to sway customers on which products to purchase. Having an influencer with over a hundred followers write a review of your product and feature it on his or her blog will do wonders in your brand recognition.
One downside of blogging is that it can be time-consuming because you need to consistently come up with new content to keep your readers interested and engaged. However, putting in the work will yield your business more pros than cons in the long run. Maintaining an active blog gives your business a voice in the industry, no matter how small your company might be at the moment. This representation is crucial if you want your business to succeed, as getting more followers means more people are trusting your brand, and having a larger influence on the market will directly translate into your sales as well.
