It was just a little over a decade ago that the average small business owner was grappling with the idea of having a functioning website.
Today, that same individual must now focus on a much wider array of digital marketing tools, including social media and blogging.
Understanding the New Rules
The simple fact is that will most marketing principles remain unchanged, today’s methods of implementing those rules have changed. According to one of the leading marketers of our time, Seth Godwin, the Internet is the greatest gift for marketing that small businesses have ever received. It presents opportunities that allow the small business to compete effectively with larger firms when it comes to communicating a message.
However, as with all tools, you have to understand them and use the right ones in the right way. To illustrate this point, it is helpful to look at just one such resource, that of blogging. One of the key goals of all marketers is to achieve customer engagement.
In today’s hyper-competitive environment such engagement is more essential than ever. In fact, while digital marketing makes such engagement more achievable, it also raises the customer’s expectations. Those expectations include a company making more of an effort to establish a relationship that includes the potential for a two-way interchange, or conversation.
Understanding the Power of the Blog
If you are a typical small business owner, you struggle every day to sort our priorities and get done more than you have hours for. With that reality, it’s a special challenge to even consider adding something like a blog, especially if you don’t really understand the idea behind blogging and SMB’s .
In simplest terms, a blog for your business is an online, ongoing conversation with your customers. It allows you to talk to them 24/7 about your brand, your products and services, your philosophy, and even about your employees.
As long as you make your blog interesting and informative, you will build a base of followers who will engage with you and follow your posts. This provides sharable information that can drive traffic, establish you as an authority, and build long-term loyalty.
It is important to make your blogs authentic and truly reflective of your brand. It’s well worth the time to explore the power of blogging for your business.
by Bruce Worrall, Oct-13-2015