There is no such thing as too much information. So, what does someone like me (or maybe an engineer) use in the information gathering stage of their purchasing process? I use standard searches, websites, and reviews. But one of the more interesting things I enjoy looking at is a company’s blog.

Most people are familiar with blogs, but not many know how blogs can help your B2B website. Many people also underestimate the important role blogging plays in a digital marketing strategy. Research shows, “marketers who prioritize blogging are 13x more likely to have a positive ROI on their efforts”. We will walk through how blogging can allow you to connect with and engage your audience and provide some very important benefits when it comes to SEO and building brand reputation.

What Can Blogging Really Do for My B2B Site?

• Drives traffic. One of the biggest things we hear in digital marketing is how companies want to bring more visitors to their site. Blogging is a great way to expose your site to new people, particularly when they are in the discovery and consideration stage of the sales funnel. People in this stage are searching with the desire to discover how a problem they have can be solved—and if you can solve it. A blog post can help grab their attention and steer them to relevant information, products, or services on your site.
• Converts traffic to leads. By moving your users to your products or services from your blog, you can infer that they are interested in learning more about your products or services. That is why it is imperative to develop blog content that is compelling and tailored to what your buyers want to know. By doing so, you can improve your chances of converting those users into leads.
• Establishes your company as a thought leader. You want to be consistent in creating high-quality content that engages users. They should feel they can come to the blog and learn information of value, while showing you’re focused on helping them, not selling to them. This approach helps people see you as a dependable source of information and develops a relationship with your company. People are more likely to work with companies they trust.
• Generates additional sales tools. Blog posts are not one and done. You can repurpose them in a multitude of ways to fit your content marketing plan. According to Optinmonster, “Around 60% of marketers will reuse blog content 2-3 times.” For example, you can reference the post in your newsletter or share them on your social media platforms. Posts can also be reformatted to create an email marketing campaign. The more you get it out there, the more you are engaging users and driving traffic to your site.
• Prompts long-term results. Many believe that blogs provide instant returns. While it may be the case sometimes, your blog posts actually get more valuable over time. It is essential that you are providing high-quality, valuable information to your users for this to work for you long-term. This is something that happens over time with social media shares and a lot of traffic, so you will continue to get gains on your posts long after they’ve been published.

What is the Difference Between B2B Blogging and B2C Blogging?

While not much differs between B2B and B2C blogging, there are a few important distinctions to understand. The B2B sales process often takes much longer to move a user from being a lead to making a purchase. This means that those leads will need more time and information from you to make their decision. They may even need to relay this information to other parties within their organization.

These B2B purchases will also have a larger impact on the user’s organization. Often, you will find that they are weighing different companies and different solutions to their problem. The more valuable information you can provide, the easier you make it for them to come to a decision.

In a B2C situation, users typically don’t need too much information to make a decision. Think about the last time you purchased a shirt. You probably saw it, made sure it was your size, maybe got approval from your partner, and bought it. It’s a much shorter sales cycle that involves fewer decision-makers.

Ultimately, even when your user finally becomes a customer the transaction is not truly complete. Often, you will find that your customer needs quite a bit of after-purchase support. Creating blog posts that speak to those frequent support needs makes the process easier for your customer and yourself.

There are a few things to remember when thinking about how users experience your blog.

• Use Images to clarify your content.
• Use easy to digest language and sentence structure.
• Provide links to support what you are writing about.
• Include calls-to-action, where it makes sense.
• Verify that they can easily share your content.
• Ensure your posts are easy to find on your site.

If they can easily find your blog post, it could save them from making a call to you and save your salesperson’s time. The better the user experience is the more likely they will do business with you in the future.
 

What Types of Blogs Should I Write for My B2B Site?

It can feel like a daunting task to set up your blog and begin writing your first post. Check out our quick guide to help you get started on your blog. The list below provides some guidance on topics to get you started.

• Customer Experiences – tell stories from a customer’s perspective about how you helped them solve a problem. This can also be a variation of a review of your company.
• Company Focused – talk about company-specific activities that relate to your buyers’ interests.
• Industry Focused – mention new developments in your industry or the industries you serve. Make sure the topics are relevant to your products or services.
• Business Lessons – demonstrate authority and build trust by talking about things you learned from your business successes and mistakes.
• Marketing Posts – announce events (like trade shows) and branding updates.

How Do I Determine if My Blog is Successful?

Once you’ve created a post, you want to make sure that it is working for you. You can easily go down a rabbit hole when looking at your blog’s analytics. Let’s look at the basic Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to get you started.

• Total Visits. This metric helps you can figure out if people are interested in this topic. When you’ve built up a library of blog posts, you can compare the total number of visits between each post and see what your users are most interested in. If there aren’t many total visits to a post, you can decide if you want to write less about this topic or if the post needs to be written a different way.
• Average Time on Page. You want to see people spending a significant amount of time on your page. The more time they spend, the more likely they are reading the full post and are engaged with your content.
• Pages Per Session. You don’t want your user to just read your blog post then leave, you want to pique their interest to learn more and continue their process towards making a decision.
• Social Shares. All posts should have social media “share” buttons for users to share your content on different platforms. Having people share your blog posts opens your pool of users exponentially. An increase in shares means your blog topic hits the right marks and provides value.

I Have a Blog. Now, What Do I Do?

Many of our clients have blogging capabilities but struggle to use it or develop a consistent blog content calendar. For your blog to do the job you want it to, consistency is key. Creating content calendars, content compasses, and strategizing what to post about next and how to reach the right people is all part of maintaining an effective blog.

Many B2B companies find that engaging a Digital Marketing Agency to manage their blog within their digital marketing strategy, extremely beneficial. It reduces the amount of time you are required to spend on cultivating blog posts, leaving you to focus on other aspects of your position.

If you’re interested in learning more about how blogs can boost your presence and increase your leads, reach out to Ecreative today.