A business blog is likely to be the first recommendation of an online marketing consultant. 79% of companies with blogs report positive ROIs for their inbound marketing.
A well-managed company blog can also increase brand awareness and loyalty.
Businesses don’t use blogging effectively and efficiently even though it is a powerful marketing, branding, and sales channel. Most corporate blogs are not very useful to businesses.
As a consultant in content marketing, I have had the chance to monitor hundreds of corporate blogs and determine why some businesses are more successful with blogging than others.
According to my experience, I have identified seven reasons why your blog might not be adding any value to your business.
Your blogging goals are unclear
It takes time and effort to create a highly valued blog post. Why invest in your blog if you don’t know what it is for? Do not start blogging because your competitors do. Determine how blogging can benefit your business.
Businesses blog for different reasons. Others blog to build credibility and brand awareness, while others blog to drive traffic and backlinks. All of these objectives may be your goal.
You need to know what your goal is. This will help you to plan your blog content and promotion strategy.
Most business blogs fail because they lack a clearly defined objective.
You don’t even have a strategy for your content
A blog will not be successful if it only has an objective. A well-defined content strategy is also needed to connect your content to your main blogging goals.
Blogging is one way to get traffic, links, and leads. Developing a content strategy that includes blogging as one of many content marketing components is essential. These include social marketing and influencer outreach.
Your content strategy should also include different types of content for both your blog and those outside it. These can be videos, infographics, resource posts, and e-books.
With a single blogging tool, you can accomplish a great deal. It is essential to determine the type of content that will appeal to your audience and incorporate it into your overall content strategy.
You don’t have a blog schedule
For two reasons: to be successful with blogging, you must follow a schedule and post regularly.
Your blogging will be more disciplined and focused with a fixed schedule. You’re constantly thinking about the next post, or, in other words, not thinking of it because there is no “deadline.” A fixed schedule lets you know exactly what to do and when.
Google likes blogs that are regularly updated. You’ll rank much higher if you update your blog at least twice a week. A fixed schedule helps your readers to know when they can expect new content on your blog.
As an additional responsibility, many businesses give their blogs to internal staff. As a result, many companies don’t treat blogging with the respect it deserves and only update it once or twice a year.
Consider hiring a professional blogger to create your blog or outsource the content.
A blog for the wrong audience
Business blogs often have an odd problem: they are filled with company news.
You can include company news in a small section of your blog. However, you cannot build a blog for your business that only focuses on what’s happening at your company. (Unless you are Google!) Remember that the primary purpose of blogging is to inform people about the latest happenings at your company.
Create content your audience will want to read. Create content that your target audience wants to read. Posts that contain industry knowledge are ideal.
Google will not search for your company by name. People search for answers to their questions or solutions to their problems. Your blog will be found more quickly if many posts deal with your customers’ issues and concerns.
Avoid wasting your time by writing for the wrong audience.
You don’t have an effective content marketing strategy
Many business owners think people will find them automatically if they produce high-quality content. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
A significant component of the equation is creating high-value content. Promoting your content aggressively is also essential.
You can use a variety of methods to promote your content. However, some are more effective than others. Here’s what you should do:
Guest blogging: Find the best blogs in your niche that are popular with your target audience and create high-quality guest posts for them. This is an effective branding and marketing technique–especially for business blogs.
Social Media Marketing: Twitter and Facebook, as well as Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and other social media sites, can provide you with highly qualified leads based on the products or services that you offer.
Influencer outreach: Each niche has influencers. Use their influence to your advantage by connecting with them.
Your blog lacks personality
Does your blog have a personality? Do you use “I” or “me” when writing your blog posts in the first person? Do you address your blog readers directly with “you?” You should. You should.
By its very nature, blogging is a casual and engaging platform. Avoid using formal corporate or standard language.
The voice of the blog content should be distinct. It must connect with readers on a more personal level. It should have a mixture of emotions, including humor and sarcasm.
Don’t just publish anonymously as “admin “!). Give readers different perspectives on the same topic. In the comment section, focus on building relationships and rapport by interacting with your readers.
Your content does not have an action-oriented approach
I’ve seen some business blogs that cover almost everything. Their content seems to be geared towards a specific goal. Their authors are excellent writers, and they update them regularly.
They still can’t have the same impact on sales as they could.
They don’t encourage their readers to buy anything. They lack clear calls to action in their content.
You must include intelligent calls to action throughout your blog to drive action. You don’t have to put a giant “Buy Now!” button at the bottom of your blog. You can include links to your product page within the content when relevant. You can also inform your blog readers of a new product or offer at the end.
You need to encourage your readers to act. It’s okay to ask them politely to do so.