“Blogging is so old school”, I heard someone say the other day. “Who even bothers these days? With all the content overload on the internet how would your small little blog even get found by anyone, let alone keep their attention long enough to be of value?”
It did make me stop and think, I’ll be honest. For a long time we have been supporting our clients with high-quality blog posts that help educate and inspire their audiences and we are constantly reviewing how successful this is.
So, I spent some timing thinking about it and reviewing our content strategies.
Here’s the thing I realized though from this moment of observation – many people are shying away from this form of attraction marketing because it is not a quick hack that will get the phones buzzing or the shopping carts filling up on their website immediately. Everyone wants instant results in our ultra-modern instant experience world. I get it. So do I most of the time!
There certainly is a necessity for elements within your marketing strategy to get that action happening, but no one tunes into a salesman when the heat of the sale has passed (or hasn’t ignited yet).
It’s the story-teller we engage with. Then one that takes us on a journey of discovery about ourselves and about the world we live. We find that guide who can show us the better way, help us understand why we haven’t made it yet and lead us to the solutions that feel great, fit our current level of thinking (and budgets) and seem to make the whole world a better place in the process.
This is the journey of building a brand that your audience can grow to love, trust and rely on when the time comes that they actually need what you offer. It is an essential element of understanding the customer journey – being there even when the person isn’t ready to buy yet.
It is being the good mate who is always available for a chat and always has great advice when you are looking for direction, not the one who wants to shove his products down your throat. Imagine if your friends did that every time you saw them?
So how does all this relate to blogging?
Blogging is a powerful tool for you to engage in a conversation with your audience that offers that help, support advice and education they need when they need it. It is positioning your brand to be the advice-giver, the thought-leader, the one who is an authority on the subject they are researching… And who wouldn’t want to buy from the person who seems to know what they are talking about?
How do you show people you know what you’re talking about in your industry? Through producing highly-valuable, interesting, thought-provoking, on-brand content. Blogging is a key part of that. As are podcasts and video blogs coupled with email marketing.
Over time blogging will build so much collateral that it becomes a foundation within your marketing strategy for everything else to grow from. It is an essential part of a healthy marketing ecosystem and should be one part you pay attention to moving forward.