As the internet has become more prominent in the last 20 years, a new marketing method has gained increasing popularity. This method, known as blogging, has changed the way businesses reach their online customers.
As the popularity of blogging increased, more and more online users began to use blogs. Everyone from stay at home moms to large corporations now uses blogs with all sorts of content for different purposes. HubSpot found that businesses who utilize blogging in their content marketing strategy are 13 times more likely to benefit from an increased ROI.
Why blog in the first place?
Blogging has numerous benefits that many people don’t know about if they haven’t given it a try. If your blogs are done correctly, they can help you to establish some sort of authority in your field, enhance your SEO efforts, and give your audience an inside view into your company culture.
When you create consistent content that is accurate, relative, and informative, you start to become that go-to resource when your audience needs it.
Additionally, blogs are vital for SEO success. The more blogs and content you publish, the more content search engines have to recognize. The better your SEO is, the more visitors will come to your site.
Wondering just how much traffic can come to your site with the help of blogs? Companies with active blogs generate 97% more links to their websites. When you have an active blog, you are putting in the effort to drastically increase sales.
Not only do you want to attract visitors to your site, but you want to turn them into customers. Here are some ways you can use blogs to gain qualified leads.
Include a call-to-action
We use call-to-action (CTA) statements in social media posts and emails to our audience, so why not include a CTA in blogs? In fact, you need to be using CTA statements in every blog you write. When your article comes to a closing, how are you ending it? To see the best results from blog, you need to have your audience do something. Whether it’s read another blog, contact your team, subscribe to your email list, purchase an item, or whatever you desire, you need to include this CTA.
Think about what happens when you don’t include a CTA statement. What are the chances they will do these things, such as make a purchase or subscribe to your email list if you don’t ask them to? Your chances are very slim.
From now on, consider a blog without a CTA, a lost lead. Those who are reading your blog have already made it to your site and are engaged with your company. Don’t give up the lead; ask them to do more!
Welcome your audience
The second users come to your website, you should be taking advantage of having the ability to convert them into a lead. A welcome page is great and still needed, but convert them right then and there! For instance, insert a pop-up that asks them to join your mailing list. When creating this pop-up, keep in mind that your audience wants to join an email list that benefits them. So, if you are offering some sort of discount or special offer, include this in the pop-up. A great example is AppSumo, who tried it out themselves and found that it was three times more effective than any page they have built.
Retargeting
Have you ever browsed a website, left without making a purchase, and then an advertisement for the brand popped up? This is known as retargeting, and it is extremely effective when it comes to getting those visitors back to your site. Some people will complete the CTA that you have provided, but a lot of people end up leaving the site before they have a chance to click the CTA. This can be because the visitor ran out of time, had something come up, or may have simply missed it.
Retargeting works by using a small string of code known as a pixel that is put on your website. This pixel functions as a tracking device on the browser of every visitor that comes to your blog. The pixel then follows them on every page they visit. It’s not as strange as it sounds, because most companies are doing this today and seen effective results. Retargeting gives you another chance to convert your blog readers into customers.
Create content that is exclusive for your readers
The content you create for blogs should be relative and informative, but you don’t have to give your readers all the goods. Your readers can get some free information by reading the blogs, but you can also tease them with exclusive content that can help them beyond the free content.
Some companies have “clubs” that are created specifically for exclusive content. They still have the regular free blogs (as you should), but additionally, readers can get more information that expands on the posts they have read. However, before you can create this exclusive content, you must ensure that the content you are already providing in your blog posts is done correctly.
Spend your time wisely
It’s nearly impossible to focus your time as much as you should on both your content marketing strategy and your outbound sales. You know what they say: time is money. You should be focusing as much time as you can on your content marketing strategy and leave your sales to a group of experts. Let Call Motivated Sellers handle your cold calling while you focus on your content! As you can see, your blogging efforts and content marketing strategy are important when it comes to converting leads; but so is your outbound sales. Have the best of both worlds and let Call Motivated Sellers help you! What are you waiting for? Let’s get started!