The obvious answer is no, you really don’t have an option. That is, if you expect to compete in a world where 93 percent of B2B marketers rely on content marketing to generate new business. And, yes, your blog is a major chunk of your content marketing strategy. You might even say it’s your home base at the center of your content marketing strategy.
Or, at least, it should be. A well-crafted blog will generate traffic, revenue and popularity. And, isn’t that the goal?
According to the “2015 State of Digital Marketing Report,” only 34 percent of companies have a content approach that is integrated into the company’s overall marketing strategy. Of the remaining 66 percent, 16 say that they do digital marketing, but don’t have a defined strategy, while 50 percent say they have no defined strategy at all.
It’s unsettling when you see companies that recognize the importance of content and a content marketing strategy, but don’t know how to execute it to drive measurable results. If you start out with poor content and you deploy it poorly, your returns will very likely be poor.
If your blog is at the core of your content marketing efforts, then it clearly communicates your brand with the how, why, when and where that customers need to know. This is not the place to cut corners and simply take a wild guess. Insufficient planning is a death sentence. With a bit more time and forethought, you can build a content strategy that will deliver reliable results and create a foundation of best practices to follow going forward.
So let’s say you have a well-thought-out blog that you have researched and connected the dots to the how, why, when and where of your brand. Your keywords and SEO are in place. Now what? Be prepared to track and measure your content.
The Art of the Science
Having optimization and measurement tools in place means being able to track and measure your content marketing efforts. It’s a critical part of the mix, measuring visits, leads, click-through rates, bounce rates, social shares and more. Without these tools, you have no way to stay on top of the ROI in your content marketing efforts.
Remember, you’re educating people so that they know, like and trust you enough to do business with you. Plan for successful contenting marketing from all angles and get it right from the start. It pays.