Every business should blog daily. Why? Stats for you:
When it comes to all media, here is how Americans spend their time:
I'm not going to go through the details here, but TV advertising does not make sense (even though it represents 55% of American's media time. You can go through some of the math on my SuperBowl post. But, more or less, this 55% is spent divided between Netflix (no ads) amazon, and every TV channel. Then, even when you get a customer on a certain channel, your chances of getting your customers' attention is next to nothing (again see the math in my SuperBowl post). I am not going to spend much time on radio, but that is quite fragmented as well. Commercials are skipped and the media is not very prestigious. Newspapers and magazines are dead and billboards are dirty and not viewed either. So, what options are left? The Internet of course!
I'm sure that part of the blog is common sense. Many of you might have known that one since the year 2000. However, where on the Internet do you want to be? Internet banners are commonly missed (although there is some money to be made - I wouldn't want to upset Google AdSense! The click through rates of ads is about 2%). So where to go? Let's look at some more stats.
- 61% of Internet users research their products online prior to buying.
- 44% of users begin by using a search engine.
- On WordPress only, the largest blogger software (43% of all bogs), 329 million people view a blog everyday and there are 25 Billion blog page views a month.
What does this mean. Customers are online. They are actively seeking information. They want to read reviews, stories, and CREDIBLE information prior to buying products. What's more, there is likely very few people that know your product, your industry, and important facts better than you. Yet, only 60% of all businesses have a blog and out of those, 65% haven't updated their blog in more than a year.
Related Articles
So, if a patient is sick and looking for information about a health condition, you want them to search for that condition on google and find information about that condition on your company's webpage, if you are a doctor or hospital. If a consumer is searching for herbal remedies for a condition, you want them to read herbal information on your web page, if you are an Internet herbal retailer.
Blogs are more than product info. They are not ads for products. In fact, a good blog won't sell a single product. They should be more than 1,500 words (those are the most re-sent elsewhere). They should have lots of helpful, educational information. The point is to bring people to your website (initial awareness), establish a sense of credibility, build trust, educate your customers, and set yourself out as the knowledgeable person in the field.
Who should be responsible? Lots of folks - doctors, lawyers, sales reps, financial folks - anyone who has info the customer wants. It is OK if you send customers to the competition. Companies are always so afraid of that. If you truly have a good product, more often than not, people will realize you have the better product to offer and sales will come.
Who should be responsible? Lots of folks - doctors, lawyers, sales reps, financial folks - anyone who has info the customer wants. It is OK if you send customers to the competition. Companies are always so afraid of that. If you truly have a good product, more often than not, people will realize you have the better product to offer and sales will come.
