If done correctly, blogging will increase traffic to your website which in turn will increase your lead generation opportunities and increase sales.
Hubspot, an Industry leader in lead generation software conducted their State of Inbound Marketing Report and here’s what they found out about blogging:
- Blog frequency impacts customer acquisition. 92% of companies who blogged multiple times a day acquired a customer through their blog. (HubSpot State of Inbound Marketing, 2012)
- The global population of blog readers keeps growing. (eMarketer, August 2010)
- 81% of marketers rated their blog as useful or better. (HubSpot State of Inbound Marketing, 2012)
- There are 31% more bloggers today than there were three years ago. (eMarketer, August 2010)
- 46% of people read blogs more than once a day. (HubSpot Science of Blogging 2010)
- Most people read 5-10 blogs. (HubSpot Science of Blogging, 2010)
- Nearly 40% of US companies use blogs for marketing purposes. (eMarketer, August 2010)
So how does a small business accomplish a consistent blogging schedule? Tips to get it done!
- Planning – Use a calendar and plan your blog post topics in advance.
- Length – A blog post is not a term paper or thesis, keep it between 300 – 700 words. Manageable enough for most readers to skim and grab tidbits of relevant information.
- Outsource – No, you don’t have to be the person doing all the writing. Maybe you hate writing, contract it out to a reliable source.
- Analysis – Study either your Google Analytics or your email client dashboard to see which posts get the most open rates and clicks, then adjust your plan according to your findings.
- Be consistent – Like with any good inbound marketing strategy, consistency is key. You may not be rewarded with benefits right away, but the longer you keep at it. the greater chance you will be pleasantly surprised with the outcome.