Don’t you wish you knew the one trick that would turn all your best website visitors into customers? But that’s a tough problem because every visitor has a different reason for coming. It’s like trying to finish that 1,000-piece puzzle, but the key piece — the one that will bring all the others together — is missing.
Content marketers know that a high-value, educational blog can be that missing puzzle piece. It’s not magic. It won’t complete the puzzle for you. But it does provide an essential connection to all the factors that help a visitor take the next step and turn into a customer.
What can a blog do for your marketing efforts?
You’ve heard it over and over: Content is king. Content is the primary reason people come to your website, and great content is the reason they keep coming back. But a blog can serve many purposes at the same time. A regular, well-promoted blog will:
- Boost SEO. A well-written blog — with strong use of appropriate keywords, active headlines, and consistent application of best practices for readability — will help you rank well in search engines so potential customers can find your website. It’s a game of numbers: When more visitors come to your website, you are likely to have more conversions. Plus, when you frequently update your blog, you provide more opportunities for readers to share your content on social media, thus expanding your reach.
- Provide credibility. Practice good editorial hygiene! Highlight the expertise your team offers and make sure your information is factual, authentic, and easily verifiable. Ensure your website is easy to use and free from errors. Make ads and sponsored content clearly discernible from blog content. Once credibility and trust have been established, readers will be more likely to return to the website and turn into customers.
- Support a lead-nurturing program. Every blog post is an opportunity to include a call to action. And every call to action is a vehicle for gathering contact information from your site visitors. Whether you offer an eBook, white paper, subscription, free trial, or another incentive, make sure your offer is something with enough value that visitors will be happy to exchange their information for it.
The more engaged visitors are, the more likely they are to become customers.
Contact Marketing Expert Marc Dube at Active Blogs to learn more about enhancing your B2B marketing — and how a blog can be the best approach for your company’s business!
- Strengthen relationships. Offer useful, interesting, and pertinent information that solves readers’ problems and most pressing questions. Become their “go-to” resource. Be consistent with your posts and actively promote them so that readers return to the site often. Answer their comments and questions on your blog and their social media posts.
- Help increase cross-sell opportunities. If you’ve built relationships with your readers through consistent, authoritative content that helps them solve problems, they are more likely to be open to cross-sell opportunities. Likewise, when you can see visitor activity on your blog and website, you’ll have a better understanding of what they might need and you can sell them similar or complementary products and services. You can also use your blog to educate readers about new products, downloads, trials, and events that target their interests.
There is no sure-fire answer to converting your website visitors into customers; it’s a complex puzzle. But it isn’t unsolvable. Almost every businessperson can use blogging strategically to connect with a target audience and help its members join the conversation.
