Does Your Business Really Need a Blog for Social Media Marketing?
4 minute read.
Not every business that finds success on social media has a blog. You don’t need a blog for social media marketing. But… it really helps.
Why?
In terms of your social media marketing, having a blog really helps to fuel your activity on social media. Having original content to share not only drives more engagement on social media but helps to boost your business exposure overall.
It Establishes Expertise in your Industry
Consider this: if you decide not to have a blog for your business, someone else in your industry has probably said yes to blogging already. If that is the case, then your competitors are already well on their way to establishing themselves as experts in your industry.
Consumers are going to be more inclined to use a business that writes about its industry than a business that doesn’t. Most people feel more comfortable using a business that has proved their expertise.
If you have a blog for your business, you are setting yourself up to be a voice for your industry. That gives you a serious leg up and your voice becomes even more accessible when you share it over social media.
It Does Wonders for your SEO
We know that search engines have a love affair with fresh and unique content. The more new content you provide online, the more Google crawls your page and then you become not just more relevant in your industry, but higher up in search engine rankings.
And we know that social media helps spread great content like wildfire. The more it spreads, the more authority you will have. The shares from social media, and external linking that goes on as a result of sharing content, cues Google to respond with a higher ranking.in
Remember, relativity and authority are the two key factors in search engine ranking. Publishing and sharing new content is the fuel to boost your ranking.
It Drives Traffic to your Website
The content you share from your blog onto social media is in many cases more interesting to people than an ad directing them to your website. When you provide great content, people are driven to learn more about the business behind the words.
Your content gives you more exposure on social media, and it gives you more exposure on search engine results. Every new piece written is indexed into your website and gives you more of an opportunity to show up higher in organic search results.
It Establishes Loyalty
Blogging is a great way to get people to return to your website. If you provide valuable information to a reader even once, they are more inclined to return for more. The more reader returns, the more likely they are to be converted into a customer.
B2B companies, in particular, should consider establishing a content strategy as 96% of B2B buyers want content with more input from industry thought leaders (Demand Gen Report, 2016).
This is how you build a following, not just for readers of your blog, but on your social media. So even those who may not be customers but keep returning to read your content will be helpful to drive more potential customers—simply by coming back for more and getting you noticed!
It Creates Long-Term Results
Here is possibly the greatest benefit to blogging. Have you ever read a great, share-worthy article online, then you discover it’s months or even years old? And it’s just now making its way in front of your eyeballs!
The same works with your blogging. Content doesn’t just disappear after the day you post it. It’s still there for people to read, whether it be months from now or years.
This content that generates traffic or leads months after their post date is called “compounding” posts. On average, compounding blog posts make up about 10% of all blog posts and generate 38% of overall traffic. (HubSpot, 2016)
There is absolutely benefit to your old content. The best part is that you can recycle and repurpose it on your social media and get a new boost of exposure.
So don’t neglect your older content. You may have to dig to pull out information that’s still relevant, but like your grandma, your old content still has value to offer.
Definitely, Consider Blogging to Help your Social Media
So there’s a whole lot of benefit to social media if you have a blog. You can really boost your exposure and position yourself as an expert. Not only that but you set yourself up for generating more traffic now, and later.
Don’t rule out blogging as a means of marketing your business! If you’re interested in some input about a content strategy that supports your marketing efforts, reach out to me and we can talk about what would work best for your business.