Why blogging is an essential part of all small business growth

Here is a personal view on where blogging fits into the on-line marketing landscape and how a blog can dramatically increase exposure and subsequently sales.

Take a quick look around you; the marketing landscape has been transformed by the rise of Social Media as an incredibly powerful tool to really connect with customers and prospects. Social Media enable any company, large or small to fully engage with their target audience, listen to their problems and provide laser targeted solutions almost instantly.

Within this environment there is a crucial area between Social Media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and your company’s website. That area is filled by blogs. Blogs are the cornerstone to any Social Media strategy. They bridge the gap and provide an incredibly lucrative onramp to higher lead generation and bigger online profits.

• Social Media opens a window on your world.
• Blogs enable people to really engage and get to trust the expertise and information.
• The website provides the solution in the form of products and services.

Without that transition between Social Media and an industry or Expert Blog, both the Social Media strategy and the website strategy has to work so much harder to convince prospects that you or your company are great people to do business with. After all people buy off people and the blog is a great way to let your prospects see who you really are, your understanding of your industry, your expertise, the testimonials, the case studies. They can be full of videos of happy clients, interviews and demonstrations, all linking back to the website where people can purchase solutions to their problems.

A blog enables you to unclutter your website; you don’t have to put so much social proof on the site because you have that in abundance on your blog. It also expands the information from your social media sites, gives your clients or prospects somewhere to go to read more, watch videos, listen to audios etc. Don’t forget, you can tease people with 140 characters on Twitter, but they have to hyperlink to somewhere. If you go directly to a website you’ll probably lose them, going to the blog simply provides more information without the sales pressure.

Getting a professional blog up is simple, either come along to “Business Marketing Mastermind” with me (Andy Phillips) and Simon Zutshi or call me on 07867 546 101 to find out other ways I can help.

Here’s to your continued success
Andy Phillips