Benefits of blogging in online business

Corporate blogging is a new trend in business that isn’t fading anytime soon; in fact, it grows leaps and bounds daily. Blogging in online business includes maximizing sales, PR and HR investments, Marketing, communicating with an employee, customers, and other parties involved in your industry. This is a major benefits of blogging.

Nearly all companies these days have realized the benefits of corporate blogging in marketing their business. Unfortunately, those assigned to blogging in some organizations are few, and most fail to reach the Agenda or set goals.

Corporate blogging – What’s their Agenda?

The benefits of corporate blogging depend on the Agenda you wish to fulfill in your business. Every corporate blog has its Agenda or goals they are designed to achieve. It all depends on the industry it is used.

For example, a Digital or communication company like newspapers, broadcasting, radio stations, etc., is more likely to use a corporate blog. A blog’s main aim is to pass information to a target audience; this makes it part of every communication company.

Because communication companies are to use a suitable medium to reach out to people and get their news across to a broad audience, this will create a more user-friendly environment for their readers since the blog can make an informal atmosphere.

With most companies venturing into blogging, you should be aware of the benefits of blogging for business. However, a corporate blog is not that different from a personal blog, except that a corporate blog is the face of a company or organization.

The use of blogging as one of the top marketing tools often leads to maximum benefits. If you operate a business that deals with readers, try to give it a look. Most business owners still lack the benefits of corporate blogging and the returns it will yield for their company.  Take a look at the advantages of blogging for your business below.

• Timeliness

A blog for marketing makes it easy to pass information to your existing and potential customers on time. For example, you are to lunch a new product, or you signed a new contract. You will like to relate this news to the public on your company’s line of action. Instead of waiting for it to be published by the media the following day, you can publish a post on it, and the general public gets updated almost immediately.

The benefits of a corporate blog are not only for your customers but also for your company’s employees, and people outside your business location will get instant updates. A corporate blog spreads business updates faster than any other communication medium.

• Effective Marketing tools

These are the benefits of corporate blogging for business. It stands out among other online marketing tools. It can be used as a medium by other online marketing platforms as a stand-alone marketing tool.

Once you can update your corporate blog on a schedule, it will give your potential customers or investors the right impression of doing business with you. Blogs for marketing is effective only when it can provide up-to-date information that will engage your audience. It will make them return to your blog for more information.

However, you have to be mindful of over advertising as this will mar your efforts. Remember, excess of everything is bad. Try to strike a balance between writing quality content and marketing content for advertisements.

• Feedback

Every business blog needs feedbacks, even the so-called small business blogs. This is one benefit of corporate blogging that is helping companies meet the demands and needs of their customers. Each time you create a business marketing blog, try to attach a comment session at the button of all blog posts because blog visitors find it easy to communicate their minds to you in clear terms on the effect of your product or services. This feedback can be in the form of appraisal or criticism.

For example, your organization plans to roll out a new update on existing products or services; you can publish a detailed post on this and ask for their feedback. Through this medium, you will be able to know if the new policy will interest your customers or eventually lead to patronizing a competitor.

From this stage, you can then restructure your new plan before implementation. You can as well post a survey on your corporate blog to get more information.

• Building trust

The purpose of a blog is to pass information across to a target audience. It is what your blog visitors expect each time they visit. Don’t bore them with marketing content all the time. Try to publish valuable and legitimate information on your business blogs.

It promotes trust between customers and your business. This trusted relationship will give you a scope on how to relate with potential investors. If you can convince your customers and investors with the correct information, they will feel that your products and company policies are worth giving a try.

And also, remember a company stands a chance to lose or gain its credibility based on its information. Once you can build trust with your customers and investors, your next target should be maintaining it.

• To spread information

The benefits of corporate blogging include accessible publication and the spread of information in times of crisis or business emergency. It is a powerful tool to quench fires and respond to catastrophic situations. It makes it easier for business policies to be modified quickly and publish critical information to its consumers, employees, stakeholders, and other parties involved in the company process.

• Drive traffic to your corporate website

If you ask all business owners who want more traffic to their business websites to raise their hands, it will surprise you that even the more prominent brands will come first in this category. Every business owner is more interested in getting more traffic and pulling business leads.

Even local business blogs are not left out. They need the traffic to compete with more prominent brands in their industry.

Now think of the possible ways people locate your business website:

They could visit your corporate website by typing your business URL into their browser, but these are local customers who know your brand and its products. But this doesn’t get more people to visit your corporate website. You can run advertisements on different marking platforms like social media.

If you are used to these platforms, you will know how expensive they are. You can also try email marketing, but that depends on if they will click on a link that looks strange to them. When you run out of cash in the above-paid means of getting traffic, your traffic stops.

How then can you drive traffic that will convert for your business? You can get free traffic from search engines and social media through a corporate blog. See how it works below.

A corporate website is static and formal. It consists of a few pages that are not easily updated. If I should ask the last time you updated those pages, I’m sure you may not be able to remember the exact date. On the other hand, a corporate blog is dynamic, formal, and informal, depending on what you intend to use it for.

Each time you publish fresh content on your blog, it is indexed by search engines. It will make your corporate website reach its targeted audience because each time people search for something in your industry, search engine result displays your blog post. Although ranking first on search results depends on so many factors.

• Discovered by Social Media

Another benefit of corporate blogging is that your business is easily discovered on different social media platforms. You can create a small business blog that people can easily refer to as you engage them on social media, with the latest information in your industry.

In addition to this, your blog readers will use the share button to expose your business to their friends and social media followers if they find it useful.

• It Coverts traffic into leads

Now that you are enjoying the benefits of corporate blogging (traffic), I think it is time you proceed to the next stage, which is converting them into leads. Each time you create a fresh blog post, it is indexed by a search engine. It creates an opportunity for you to generate new leads. Now, this is how it works. Add a call-to-action widget or pop-up to your blog post.

If you are conversant with most blogs online, you may have come across small different business blogs with their call-to-action, like download free eBooks, free fact sheets, whitepapers, free webinars, software trials, etc. You can give out any gift people are willing to exchange their information for. To explain further how a call-to-action page works, see the example below.

1. Someone visits your business website or corporate blog for the first time
2. They see pop-ups or widgets displaying a free offer
3. Visitors click the call to action, and it takes to a landing page
4. They are required to fill in with their information to receive the free offer.

This is how you can quickly turn your blog traffic into leads for your sales team.

Please don’t make it look mandatory for everyone that comes to your corporate website to click on your call-to-action. Your offer is enough to get the required leads. If you force things, you might end up getting leads that won’t convert for your sales team. Your part is to create the call-to-action page and make it appear on every single post in your blog. Then get blogging, set a target for yourself, and try to improve on it every month.

• It makes you an authority

Companies use blogs for different purposes, but whichever their reasons are, they have full knowledge of the benefits of corporate blogging for business. The best business blog on the internet only answers people’s questions and pulls many leads for them.

Your target audience is always expecting something fresh and relevant from you. If you’re consistent in meeting their demands, it will make you an authority with a short period. It is the best marketing tool for sales to promote your products and services.

Imagine how your readers would feel if you send them an educative blog post strategically written to clarify their confusion? They will not read and work away. Instead, they will share this information with friends and social media followers.

If prospects can easily find answers to their questions through a post on your corporate blog, they will trust you enough to purchase your products because your post helped them solve an issue long before they develop an interest in your brand.

Your business prospects, who are loyal readers of your corporate blog, find it easier to enter the sales page because you have already educated them on your marketplace, your offer, and how it will benefit them.

It leads to a better sales conversion compared to a business deal between two relative strangers. Marketers or salespersons who encounter tough questions in sales can easily refer customers to a post link where they can quickly get the correct answers to their questions.

If you can remember all the benefits of corporate blogging in this blog post, you will be able to put your business in a position that outshines your competitors. Always remember to keep your corporate blog updated to avoid losing your customers to other competitors in your industry. Avoid excess advertising, create a medium for collecting customers’ feedbacks and take the appropriate steps.

Remember the role of valid information and how it makes your customers trust you. At all points, don’t forget your corporate blog is the face of your organization, and it should be able to present the right impression about your business to your target audience.

Please share with us some benefits of corporate blogging for your business. Please leave a reply in our comment box.