Is blogging dead? It’s a question often repeated over time by marketers and business owners alike. And it’s a valid question, especially with the rise in consumption of video content. We can’t help but wonder, does anybody still read blogs?
The short answer is a resounding, “Yes!”
Blogging Helps Build Trust with Your Audience
Did you know that 60% of consumers find reading blog posts important in the early stages of the buying process? In fact, small businesses with blogs have been reported to generate 125% more leads compared to those without.
Did you also know that 71% of business-to-business (B2B) buyers consume blog content during their buyer journey, and that 6% of eCommerce sales are influenced by blogs. This percentage even doubles up to 12% after blogging regularly for over 6 months.
When it comes to online purchasing behaviour, users will have the tendency to research before they make a purchase, especially when it’s a big purchase. Having blogs detailing how your product works and how it fares against the competition can help you win them over to your side.
Additionally, the more you blog about topics within your industry, the more likely you are to be trusted by consumers. Sharing and teaching helps reinforce the fact that you know what you’re talking about and have ample enough experience to help.
Blogging Plays a Big Part in Your Long-Term Content Marketing Strategy
Content marketing still plays a major role in digital marketing. In fact, 82% of marketers still actively use content marketing. While content marketing includes other mediums such as video, vlogs, and social media, 56% of marketers who leverage blogging swear by its effectiveness, and 10% even claim that blogging generates the biggest return on investment for them.
The question, though, of who still consumes blog content is often raised, and according to a report, 54% of decision makers claim to spend more than an hour a week reading thought-leadership content.
This is especially important if you’re a business-to-business (B2B) company, as blogging (particularly educational and thought-leadership content) gives you the opportunity to create connections with decision makers and other business owners for potential opportunities and partnerships.
Another report further indicates that B2B blogs with educational content get 52% more organic traffic compared to B2B blogs that with more company-focused content. This tells us that despite what others say about shortened attention spans and the rising focus on video content, blogging is still very relevant in today’s world, especially in digital marketing.
Blogging Helps Improve Your SEO
Blogging is still a very important part of every business’ content strategy, and it’s here to stay. It doesn’t just provide your audience content to read and consume that’s related to your industry or business. It’s also a part of your larger SEO strategy, bringing in traffic to your website and leads to your business.
In 2021 alone, 61% of marketers invested in search engine optimisation (SEO). One reason for this is also the fact that search engines remain the starting point for many online experiences. In fact, according to BrightEdge 68% of online experiences begin with search.
Most your audience will come to you from search engines like Google, whose rankings are based on search engine optimisation and blog content. The impact that this has on your business is huge. In fact, according to a case study by Terakeet, SEO can reduce customer acquisition by 87.41% and increase the value of every blog visitor by 429%. The return-on-investment (ROI) that you get from SEO can go as high as 12.2x what you spend on your marketing.
Blogging isn’t dead. In fact, it’s more alive than ever.
It’s just a matter of knowing how you can best leverage your blog and content so that it can serve your business by bringing in more visitors and help you create a dedicated audience and a loyal customer base.