We’re all about supporting our clients’ successes, and that includes helping them generate killer results from blog marketing and SEO. The results we’ve seen – such as increasing email list sign-ups tenfold and achieving top 5 Google rankings for several key terms – inspired us to get into the blogging game ourselves. We’ve seen firsthand that, in today’s marketing landscape, blog marketing is still as important as ever (if not even more so now than before).

We know you’ve got a lot on your plate, and running a blog in addition to everything you and your team already do may seem like a lot of work… but for most brands, the long-term payoff is totally worth it.

Why Blog Marketing is a Must in 2024

Let’s face it: competition online is high. So many brands are vying for consumers’ limited time and attention. Standing out takes an entire marketing strategy, including pushing content out across multiple platforms, a killer website, and, of course, a great blog. But what makes a blog so necessary?

Search Engine Optimization

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is how the major search engines find, sort, and rank content online. It’s a complicated machine algorithm that matches what people are searching for with the content they want. A blog is an excellent way to implement Industry-specific keywords that your target audience might be searching for.

Say, for example, you run a beauty brand. If you have a website listing the very basics of your product lines, the odds of ranking highly on search are very low. However, if you have a robust, active blog about the beauty industry, tips, how-to guides, and lots of other content? Your odds of ranking skyrocket because Google and other search engines will have more content to work off of when choosing between you and your competitors.

In some industries, SEO (or lack thereof) has the ability to make or break an entire business – in fact, a recent study showed that nearly 40% of all website traffic generated across retail, travel & hospitality, professional services, and three other key industries was a result of organic search – and blogging is one of the simplest, most powerful tools to build up your brand’s search rankings without investing thousands of dollars in ads month after month.

Brand Identity

Ever landed on a website that only has the most basic information about the brand? It seems like they’ve gone MIA, as there’s practically no content nor way to tell if they’re still in business. You definitely don’t want that to be you! A blog is a great way to show your audience that your brand is active (in addition to having a solid social media presence). It also helps build authority and trust with your target market by allowing your brand to share insights and expertise around your industry. You can provide guidance, give advice, and inspire potential customers. Show them who you are, why you do it, and why your brand is better than anyone else out there at meeting their needs.

Thought Leadership

Your blog is an excellent resource for sharing your thoughts on your industry. You can push back on things that aren’t working in your niche, challenge certain narratives, or showcase new ways of doing things. Thought leadership is about sharing insights and positioning yourself as a leader—regardless of industry. You’re not a cookie-cutter brand, and your blog is a great way to show how you’re different.

Tips to Maximize Your Blog Marketing Approach

Now that you’re ready to start your blog, here are some valuable things to know to make your blog work for your brand.

Know SEO Best Practices

You don’t need to become a full-fledged SEO expert, but it’s good to at least know some general SEO best practices. Knowing how to conduct research to understand what your audience is looking for will be a huge help in figuring out what to write about and the best keywords to use. Ubersuggest is our favorite tool for finding optimal keywords our clients’ brands would want to rank for to help them edge out their competition. AnswerThePublic is another great site for discovering what keywords and phrases people are searching for related to your industry, so you can base your blog content off of what’s trending.

Some helpful SEO terms to get you started:

• Organic keywords – industry/niche-related keywords your website ranks for on Google without paying for ads
• Backlinks – other websites whose content links back to your brand’s website (usually within blogs!), which increases your brand’s authority and ability to rank higher on search engines
• Domain rating – how well your brand’s website is optimized for search based on several factors, such as the use of industry-specific keywords and backlinks
• Website traffic – how many people visit your brand’s website per month
  

Knowing the basics will help you understand if your blog marketing strategy is (or isn’t) working and how to make improvements to rank even higher.

One of our clients is a great example of how impactful blog marketing can be for your SEO rankings. The Italian on Tour ranks for over 30,000 keywords and sees over 180,000 organic website visits each month (seriously, check out their insights below!), largely thanks to their robust blog and intentional SEO strategy that we’ve helped them further develop this past year. They even rank #1 for many keywords and phrases that their target audience would be searching, which helps them drive traffic right to their year-round tour offerings. It’s easy to see why this greatly benefits their brand and their ability to connect with future clients.

The Italian On Tour’s SEO insights via Ubersuggest:

Write Solutions for Audience Problems

Reading blogs for fun is so 2005. Now, consumers read blogs to find information and solve problems. Consider who your audience is and what problems they are trying to solve. Then, write content to meet their needs. Include helpful insights and calls-to-action about how your products or services can help them solve those problems, but you’ll want to avoid being aggressively self-promotional.

We love to use this simple problem-solution-your solution cadence when writing much of the content we produce, as it mimics the buyer’s journey sales funnel technique that is followed so frequently in marketing and helps you plug your product or service without sounding overly sales-y:

1. Offer some insight into the problem your audience is experiencing, to grab their attention and show that you thoroughly understand their needs & pain points (e.g. problem = dry skin)
   
   
2. Propose the solution to their problem in a general way; in other words, you won’t directly promote your product or service here yet, but you’ll want to talk about what it would take to solve their problem and how it will benefit them (e.g. solution = a moisture-boosting skincare regimen, drinking more water, using a humidifier)
   
   
3. Finally, promote your solution in the form of your product or service (e.g. your solution = incorporating your moisture-boosting skincare line into their daily routine). For blogs in particular, you’ll want your sales plug to be pretty subtle and not take up too much real estate within your blog. After all, blogs generally serve the purpose of sharing insights and educating your audience.
   
   

Build A Blog Marketing Content Calendar

Blogging is one of those things that many people get excited about for the first week, only for it to fall off the priority list pretty quickly. A content calendar helps ensure you (or your team) know what to write about and when.

You can create a content calendar in these simple steps:

1. Do a brain dump of topics that your audience would be interested in.
2. Perform keyword research (such as on Ubersuggest).
3. Create a calendar on Notion, Asana, ClickUp, or your project management tool of choice.
4. Set due dates and assign tasks to the person on your team who will be doing the writing.

This way, your blog doesn’t go dark after a few posts. Another option is hiring a digital marketing agency like Sonder Social to help your brand create a successful blog marketing and SEO strategy if you and your team don’t have the time or expertise internally.

Show Your Brand’s Personality

Your blog doesn’t have to be blah and boring. You can shape your writing around your brand’s personality, and it’ll still rank on Google if you incorporate the right keywords and SEO best practices. In fact, readability is crucial, because it can be a major factor in whether other brands and bloggers choose to back-link to your blogs on their own site, in turn helping you rank higher.

We’ve seen so many brands who come across as fun and approachable on their social channels publish blogs that feel way too stiff and professional for the sake of “trying to improve their SEO”. Don’t fall into that trap! You don’t have to forego using your brand’s unique voice for your blog content to perform well on Google. Injecting personality into your blog adds authenticity and charm, helping you foster genuine connections with your audience, so be sure to share anecdotes, insights, or behind-the-scenes stories that showcase the human side of your brand. By infusing your content with personality, you’ll ultimately create a more engaging and memorable experience for your readers.

Use Artificial Intelligence (AI) Sparingly

Many people use artificial intelligence programs like ChatGPT and Google Gemini to shorten the blog writing process. While AI can definitely be helpful in ironing out your ideas, we always recommend writing the bulk of your blogs yourself (or enlisting our support). When your blogs are written by a human with a deep understanding of your brand and goals, you can connect more authentically and effectively with your audience.

Your blog shouldn’t just be for SEO purposes or to get a bunch of keywords down on a page. A good blog should also showcase your authority in your niche and excite potential customers about what kind of solutions your brand can provide. Using AI runs the risk of sounding like every other blog out there, so even if you use AI tools, tweak the wording to be uniquely you.

Showcase Customers and Share Brand Updates

Blogs offer a versatile platform for showcasing your brand’s journey and engaging your audience. They provide an ideal space to not only share the latest brand updates, but also spotlight client case studies or reviews. Whether it’s sharing success stories, highlighting customer testimonials, or unveiling new offer launches, your blog serves as a dynamic tool for fostering deeper connections with your audience. By leveraging your blog to illustrate how your products or services positively impact customers’ lives and addresses their pain points, you can inspire trust and loyalty. Ultimately, your blog serves as an avenue to propel your brand forward, attracting and retaining customers who resonate with your values and offerings.

Ready to Get in the Blog Marketing Game?

If you’re still not sure where to start with blog marketing, or don’t have the time or expertise to churn out blog content month after month – don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Click here to learn more about how we can support you in building and implementing a marketing strategy that’ll get all the right eyes on your brand!