We’ve blogged several times about why blogging is one of the best ways to support your B2B’s online marketing effort …after all, it’s the granddaddy of all social media vehicles. Sometimes we like to pretend that everyone has taken the advice by now, although of course we’re rationally aware that the data don’t really support that.
So as a public service to those B2Bs still holding out (and you know who you are!), we offer the following additional reasons, extracted from a recent post by Maria Pergolino …or you may turn it around and view these points as benefits you’re missing out on by continuing to hold out…
B2B blogs provide an avenue for thought leadership content.
Offering thought leadership blog content – rather than simply pushing product information – is an effective way to prove to prospects that your B2B truly understands their unique business challenges. Blog content can help B2B marketers establish that they’re integral, involved industry players.
Blog posts can provide more in-links to critical pages on your website.
The meat-and-potatoes of your B2B website are its products and/or services pages. Where blog content is truly relevant to a product or service page, linking to it from the post will both drive more traffic to it directly, and help raise its page rank with the major search engines.
New blog content gives customers a reason to return to the website.
Most B2B website content is relatively static. But done correctly, your blog will have new content at least weekly, which will encourage prospects to regularly visit the blog. Also, frequently updated and optimized content helps improve your website’s visibility with the search engines.
B2B blog content can be adapted for other channels.
Write once, use often: by integrating blogs with other marketing efforts (i.e., social networks, lead-nurturing newsletters), B2B marketers can repurpose content to extend its reach and thus do more with less. Conversely, marketing assets like whitepapers, podcasts and webinars can be tweaked to find new life as blog posts.
Blogs enable B2Bs to engage with customers.
It’s why blogs count as social media. By encouraging prospects to comment on blog posts, you can gain key information about their interests and intent to buy; and by responding to such comments, you can interact with and nurture those leads.
So really, what’s not to love? If you haven’t already, take a vow to make this the year you started your B2B’s blog! Your year-end bonus just might be the fatter for it.
