It is tricky to learn how to stand out in marketing online. One technique people use is making a blog. According to 60 percent of consumers, they are more likely to feel positive about a brand when reading well-written articles on its blog.
Feeling great, though, does not translate into sales, and companies that adopt content marketing strategies get six times more conversions than those that rely solely on great content.
Content marketing and blogging are intertwined, but they are not synonymous. A blog, or a weblog, collects written pieces of non-fiction published on a website. There are blogs on all sorts of topics, written for various audiences—businesses blog to get traction for their site.
However, this is not enough—for blogging to produce tangible effects, it should be done as part of a marketing strategy that delivers relevant and consistent content to a clearly-defined audience, or a buyer persona.
A buyer persona is a semi-fictionalized account of a business’ audience. It allows a company to tailor content to an ideal customer. When a company creates a profile like this, it will enable them to respond to their audience’s questions and write articles on frequently-searched phrases.
Why engage in content marketing
This is the main difference between content marketing and blogging. The former results in meaningful action, getting more leads than outbound marketing for a fraction of the cost. Blogging is a tool you can use to achieve your content marketing goals.
When you use content marketing, you move away from interruption-based advertisements. Search engine optimization targets people who like your product or service. With this type of marketing, your customer could engage with the brand at their own pace.
People today are savvier about ads, and they do not trust people who are directly trying to sell them an item. To get leads, you should find the people who are already looking for you, instead of pushing your products onto those who are not.
Where to start with content marketing
Aside from blogs, content marketers can use other ways to reach their target audience. Podcasts, videos, and social media posts are all tools that marketers can use. Some people also use white papers, design and illustration, animation, and infographics as part of their strategy. You can also optimize these tools for all stages of the buyer’s journey.
Before deciding on the tools, though, you must have a sound marketing strategy. You should know who your audience is, where they are online, and how they prefer to consume content.
Blogging, uploading videos, or posting on social media without a content marketing strategy will not help you drive organic traffic to your site. As a result, you will have wasted your time. When you do not have a clear path forward and clear calls to action, you will not provide value to your audience.
Conclusion
Blogging is just one tool that content marketers can use to reach their audience. If your company has a blog, you should still use other tactics like social media, producing multimedia content, and launching email campaigns. When you use these techniques, you will see results in your efforts to get the word out about your business.
Rise above the noise online with Stand Out Advertising. We are a full-service digital marketing agency in Buffalo specializing in web design, SEO, and SEM. Get in touch with us today for more information.