Are you all blogged out wondering why you need a blog? Sure it’s just one more thing to add to your plate. If you have the website, the storefront, and the online social presence, you might say something like, “How much more do I “really need” to stay at the forefront of my customers’ minds?” Touche!

According to marketing guru Neil Patel, ” A blog is a fundamental aspect in proving yourself and driving continuous traffic to your business. Your customers expect that from you. According to Graphs, 64% of shoppers research products online before buying offline.”

“An offline buying cycle usually begins online. A survey by PriceWaterhouseCoopers found that 70% of consumers use smartphones to find out where the nearest store is located around them. If your online marketing tactics are not well orchestrated, your offline business will suffer.”

Thanks for the stats, Neil!

Steps in Building a Blog

Now that you understand the importance of a blog in driving both online and offline business, you can begin planning a well-executed blog strategy by incorporating these steps.

1. Market Analysis- Doing a thorough market analysis will help you determine not only what your customers are interested in, but their buying trends as well. Small but significant social media changes may drive a new wealth of traffic to your door. How can you better analyze your consumer? Do they want to read more product reviews? Success stories? Visual content? Map the trends you see and adjust your content to match their interests.

2. Brand Marketing– Is your logo a little too wimpy? Is your voice a whisper instead of a strong shout?Your brand and how you define it is absolutely everything. This reason is simple; people want to buy from winners and companies that get it. People that work hard, research, deliver results, and who are progressive. If you’re ahead of the times and delivering cool and exciting content and ideas on your blog, people are going to start reading it. If your brand is tired, uninspired, and “boring” your company will suffer both online and offline.

3. Reach a Wide Audience- Do you know who your ideal customer is and how to attract them? A research study by Statisticbrain found that only 55% of offline service-based businesses are still operating after 4 years. Competition is fierce online and offline. One thing holds true- the more you plan and promote appropriate content, you can target your audience whenever you have a new idea or product and craft an exciting campaign.

Leading Conversions: Content Marketing is Key

Now that you’ve built it, when will they come? Frequent blogging isn’t the only aspect of successful content marketing. Strong and powerful words rich in detail and rife with emotion are exactly what your blog needs to stir interest. It’s not just about branding, it’s also about “storytelling”, combined with strategic keyword research. Did you know 45.54% of offline businesses started generating leads in the first 2 – 4 months – just by blogging frequently?

Does your company need a memorable voice to increase conversion? Contact gotcha! Mobile Solutions today to learn more about our Local SEO and Content Marketing Strategy. (And, read our blog!)