Small businesses that take the time and make the effort to blog have been found to generate 126 percent more leads than small businesses that don’t.
If that alone is not enough to convince you that if you run a small business and you still don’t have a blog, then it really is a good time to invest the time.
What’s more, it’s been found in research that companies that take the time to blog enjoy 97 percent more websites linking back to their website/ blog in comparison to companies that do not have a blog.
Again, that statistic alone makes for a powerfully compelling argument in favor. After all, more links will almost always equate to more traffic. More traffic means increased social shares on the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and possibly Instagram and Pinterest, too, depending on your market.
Then, because your blog is attracting more traffic and more social shares, you’ll attract more leads. And more leads, providing those leads are dealt with effectively, means that the potential for additional revenue is greatly magnified.
Were you aware that…
-More than 60 percent of the general consumer in the U.S. has made at least one purchase from a blog post that they’ve taken the time to read. In other words, the blog post imparted the “right” information that the reader was intent on finding.
-Around 70 percent of consumers find out about the existence of a particular company via their blog as opposed to paid advertising media. If you want to make more money, the idea is to invest your time in a blog rather than in paid media.
-It’s been found that 60 percent of consumers, upon reading a small business’ blog, come away with a heightened feeling of positivity about that business
-It shouldn’t take me to tell you that those are impressive stats! It’s well documented that should you run a small business and you take the time and make the effort to participate in content marketing, you’re likely – very likely – to do better – a lot better, than if you preferred to “get around to it some other time because I’m too busy.”
Content marketing (inclusive of blogging)
There are already droves of people searching Google for the term “content marketing,” and that trend is set to continue to rise into the foreseeable future.
And what does this tell us?
It tells us that people want to learn about content marketing and how it can work to improve their business. And it’s likely that many of those searchers are intent on learning how content marketing can potentially replace a part of their expenditure on more traditional advertising formats.
One of the key ways for any small business to improve their drive forward into content marketing it by starting a blog.
If you’re still not sure. If you’re still sitting on the fence with respect to your own business’ need for a blog, then here are a few more tell-tale stats for you to consider:
-Some 82 percent of consumers take the time to read content that is posted on a company blog.
-Over 30 percent of consumers, when they are ready to make a purchase, consider a blog to be among the most influential factors for their decision.
-Those businesses that have already committed to blogging and have published in excess of 50 posts to their blog receive, on average, a lift in monthly leads of 77 percent.
Syndication of Content and Multichannel Marketing
If it’s time for you to push your marketing of local content to the very next level, it is dependent on syndication of content and marketing via additional channels.
Syndication
It’s all about having other people discussing your content. Having bloggers republish your content; investing your time in guest blogging for alternative networks to your own;maintaining a presence on popular local content publisher’s networks such as NearSay.
It’s these things that will significantly magnify your plan for content marketing.
Multichannel Marketing
It is content that powers the value behind your channels. Your Facebook updates, your e-mail list, your tweets, updates on LinkedIn, posting fresh photos on Instagram. All of them have additional value when supported by strong content.
What Does This all Come Down to?
Through the publishing of content online relatively frequently (1-2 times weekly), you’ll enjoy measurable and significant results.
It’s a fact, and as can be seen from the statistics above, that without a blog, a small business will constantly and persistently fail to fire on all cylinders.
Andrew Scherer is Digital Marketing Director at Marketer’s Center, with 8 years experience in digital marketing. I can share my real world results and case studies in many different aspects of digital marketing including local SEO and local lead generation, PPC, organic SEO, reputation management/repair, e-mail marketing, and more.
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