20% of 2021 Executive Marketing Leadership Survey respondents described company blogs among their “most important channels” in reaching their goals.
It is not surprising to see the importance of blogging. When you buy blog posts, it can boost your SEO, website traffic, and online visibility. They can also help prospects learn a lot about your industry, brand, product or service.
However, running a successful, traffic-generating website takes time and effort. You might not be interested in marketing tactics that directly improve your bottom line if you are a marketing manager.
As you plan how to invest your time and effort in 2021, you may wonder “Will my blog posts actually lead me to purchase?”
We conducted a survey of nearly 300 Lucid users to find out if they have ever read company blog posts and made purchases.
Do blog posts lead to purchases?
Although you might believe that consumers will only purchase products if they are seen on other platforms, it is possible to be surprised at the responses to our survey question.
When we asked people if they had ever purchased something from a company based on reading their blog posts, 56% answered “Yes.” A whopping 56% replied, “Yes.”
Although blogs aren't as popular as they once were, data like the one below shows that blogging is still a very effective way to market and sell products.
Why blogs are a good way to make purchases
Your audience can trust your brand's expertise and discover it by reading blogs that discuss your industry. This trust and credibility could eventually lead you to purchase.
Buy Blog Posts and Pre-Written Blog Articles at affordable rates at articlemarket.org
Why? Why?
No matter what your preference is for video, social media or visual marketing strategies; blogs can help sell products in different ways than other content types.
While images and videos may give prospects a glimpse at how a product works in real time, blog posts can provide detailed information that a visual content writer might need to cut to avoid overwhelming the viewer on social media.
Blog posts have more potential to provide in-depth information that other content types. But, they could also improve your search ranking and offer more opportunities for you to link directly from a landing or purchasing webpage. Your content could be found via search. After they have read it, they can click straight to a product page with low friction.
Blogs allow you to embed audio, video, and imagery. Your company blog can serve as a great place to promote other marketing assets, while also providing information about your brand to prospects.
Consider using blogging to increase your content marketing efforts in the coming year. Is it difficult to convince shoppers by your blog posts. Here are some quick tips.
How to Get Readers to Buy From Your Blog Posts
Strategically position product page links and CTAs.
Other than mentioning your brand, product or service in blog posts that feel natural, hyperlinks can be used to link to product pages. CTA buttons, which draw attention to a product, offer, or other information without diverting readers' attention from the blog article.
HubSpot places at least three CTAs on a blog topic within each post: a text based CTA in our introduction, a larger banner picture at the bottom, and slide-in CTAs that appear to the side as you scroll through the post's middle. This allows readers to see three mentions of products or services without interrupting their experience.
Offer a resource for free:
Blog readers might need more than just a few blog posts to trust your brand, and invest in your product if you're selling a subscription, a service, or product. In this instance, you may need to focus more on lead-nurturing and not just sending blog readers to a purchasing page.
HubSpot and many other blogs have increased their contact lists and qualified leads by creating free downloadable resources, such as ebooks, templates, or research reports, and offering them through CTAs at post's end.
Below is an example we gave as a free resource in a recent research report. It was included at the end of a Sales Blog post:
To gain access to the free, but limited, offers, readers need to provide basic information about them and their company. Once they have submitted their information, they will receive an automated email with a link to the resource or an instant download. They can also be made a lead or contact and go through our lead-qualification process to determine if this is a prospect they could reach out to.
HubSpot Blog's free resource strategies result in thousands of qualified leads per annum that could possibly convert into HubSpot customer. Find out how to implement this strategy on your blog.
Source: https://www.articlemarket.org/
Remember that blog post quality is more important than promotion.
Lucid's recent survey revealed that a third of our general consumer group reads blog posts to learn something new. Around 20%, however, read blog posts just for entertainment.
It is important to remember that content creators will likely find their blog because readers are searching for information about their industry, their hobbies, and solutions to a pain point in their day or work.
There's a chance that they don’t just want to see promotional content. If a visitor visits your blog site and sees only product photos and uninteresting advertorial language, they may lose interest and be less likely to trust your content.
While it is smart to include a few non-intrusive CTAs within your blog posts and mention your product/service whenever it feels relevant for you, make sure that your content offers valuable guidance, information, and advice that will help you and your readers.
This post about AI social networking tools gives valuable information about how to implement AI technology in a social marketing process. We also list HubSpot as one tool readers can use. While we still refer to our offerings, the post's purpose is to show readers how multiple AI-based tools can streamline a marketing campaign.
Creating your blog nurturing process
Each brand has a target market with different interests and content requirements. For consumer-facing companies, there might be other ways to generate qualified leads.
These are the questions to ask yourself as you try to turn your blog traffic into a revenue stream.
- What information is most important to my audience?
- Is my product eligible for lead nurturing, such as gated deals?
- Will my tactic seem disengaging or over-promotional to my audience?
