A few years ago, I used to think that businesses would go the extra mile to have blogs just to look fancy or for fun purposes. But as I came to realize a few years later, a blog can be a significant asset for every business. That’s why many businesses nowadays have a blog. When I started my subscription box company, having a blog would have been a tremendous help. Looking back, if I had known how important it was I could very well still be running it today. With that said, I thought I would cover the most important and impactful reasons your business needs a blog.
Reasons Your Business Needs A Blog
Business Exposure
The first reason your business needs a blog is to enjoy unlimited exposure and increased sales. A blog will give your brand some online presence, which is a highly valuable benefit that will expand your customer base beyond a particular geographical region(s).
For example, if you sell unique art pieces, your blog could easily be discovered by a potential buyer from another country or continent, thanks to the incredible power of keywords. If this individual loves your items, they may end up ordering a few. Without the exposure provided by your blog, this client would never be able to discover your business. At most, your sales would be limited to customers in your country.
Credibility and Trust
In the realm of commerce, there are genuine sellers and con artists whose only agenda is to swindle unsuspecting buyers of their hard-earned money. With so many such artists operating out there nowadays, many buyers find it hard to trust businesses that they have never dealt with before.
A blog brings credibility and trust to your business in that it sets the business apart from those whose credibility and trustworthiness are questionable. Unlike legitimate entrepreneurs, many con artists usually don’t have blogs to complement their fraudulent businesses. That’s because it’s a waste of time, money, and effort for them, thanks to search engine companies’ efforts.
With these companies being ever on the lookout, con blogs can only last for so long before they flag and consequently ban them down. So, it’s pointless for cybercriminals to have blogs.
Having a blog, therefore, demonstrates to your audience that your business is credible and trustworthy. As if that were not enough, it gives them confidence in the quality of your products. This can make them reward you with loyalty.
Customer Convenience
As time goes by, blogs become more and more popular for e-commerce businesses. A blog can serve nearly all the purposes of an e-commerce website but not vice versa.
For example, it can act as a reference source that people can use to know more about a business. If that were not enough, it could serve as a sales page or online store with all the necessary elements of a fully-fledged eCommerce website.
Therefore, it is safe to say that having a comprehensive blog that also acts as an online store besides introducing your business can be a great way to ensure convenience for your buyers. That’s because, besides learning more about your business, the blog will allow them to browse your products and order whatever they want, and have it delivered to them, remotely. Besides, it also enables them to reach out to you with ease, unlike if your business doesn’t have a blog.
Cost Savings
With a well-performing blog for your business, you can reduce your operating costs significantly. One cost that you can tremendously slash down is rent. You can rent a tiny space that accommodates just a little of your products. After all, the smaller the space, the lower the rent, and vice versa.
If your business doesn’t utilize an actual storefront there are also other savings to be had as well. One of the biggest savings is on search engine optimization. The higher your blog ranks in the search engines, the more traffic your site will bring in when it’s all said and done. Hopefully, that will mean more income for your business through increased sales and heightened brand recognition.
The Upper Hand
Another reason blogs are important for businesses is that they demonstrate their owners’ authority and leadership in their respective industries. While many businesses don’t have a blog because they don’t understand the value of having one, you can set yourself apart by having one.
Having a well-written and regularly updated blog that addresses important issues that affect your customers and industry, in general, will go a long way. That’s because it will convince your audience that you are an expert in that particular industry. It will show them that your business has the ultimate solutions to their problems.
Increased Traffic
Between a blog and a regular website, which do you think can add more value to your business? Many people will argue that the latter can and hence go ahead to choose it over the former. But the reality is that a blog can be more beneficial than a website, to your business.
Therefore, if your business has a blog, that’s awesome and you should keep it up. Likewise, if it has both a website and a blog, again, that’s awesome and stick at it. But, if it only has a website, it’s time to seriously consider having a blog as well.
That’s because, according to statistics, businesses with a blog get 55% more traffic than those without. It’s because search engines will rank websites that are complemented with well-maintained blogs high.
Social Media Strategy
Social media is another useful strategy to boost sales through digital marketing. With the right strategy, advertising your products or services on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other major social media platforms can help expand your customer base.
A strategy that is known to be very effective when it comes to social media marketing is the incorporation of blogs as opposed to anything else.
People tend to put more trust in advertisements that contain a link back to the sales page as opposed to ads that don’t. After all, having a landing page(website) that reflects your business will give you some credibility in the eyes of your audience. Remember that many scammers don’t have a genuine website or blog to showcase their supposed products or services. Because of that, they will provide bogus links with endless redirections.
By leaving a genuine link back to a valid sales page, therefore, you’ll win the hearts of many potential buyers. And there’s no better way to do that than with a well-written blog post that also contains pictures of your business and what you have to offer.
Customer Relationship and Loyalty
With so much competition out there nowadays, many new businesses find it difficult to break even. Worst of all, they fail within the second to the tenth year of running, as backed by statistics. It begs the question; why is the failure rate so high compared to the success rate?
It all boils down to two critical factors; customer relationship and loyalty. Customer relationship is simply how a business is involved or connected with its customers. On the other hand, customer loyalty refers to a situation whereby a customer continues to use the products or services of a company simply because of their feelings of duty and love towards the company.
Relating well with your customers will earn you customer loyalty, which is crucial to your success. So, it is telling your story and conveying your company’s personality, values, and goals. A blog gives you the ability to do exactly that. As a matter of fact, studies show that customers tend to become more loyal to a business when they share the business’s attributes and qualities. The point is, blogs are important for businesses because they allow businesses to highlight their attributes and qualities for customers to know.
Keeping Audience In The Loop
Finally, a business needs a blog to keeps its audience in the loop about things in a more effective manner. A blog serves as the bridge between your business and customers. It functions as the direct communication channel between the former and the latter.
With a blog, your business will enjoy more flexibility to connect with customers and share important updates in a way that’s about both parties. For example, you’ll be able to promote your products or services and convey crucial changes and updates that will affect both the business and customers alike. Ensuring that your customers remain in the loop about your business to avoid potential inconveniences can be a great show of courtesy to your customers.
Final Thoughts
There is no getting away from the fact that blogs are important for businesses of all kinds. Your business needs a blog. Period. To summarize it all, this crucial business asset is the key to boosting sales and growing any business. Taking that into account, if your business doesn’t have one, it’s time to ensure that it does.
