Too often, businesses will put up a static web page that doesn’t encourage customers to return. Worse, they’ll set up a blog that seems to carry the promise of regular fresh information but is rarely updated. A blog can be a terrific tool for improving your business, however.
Below are five ways your business can use its blog for rapid growth and drawing in more customers.
1. Keep Your Readers Current with Industry News and Advice
This may seem easier with some industries than others, but any type of business can regularly update its readers with useful information. For example, an insurance company might give tips on how to best choose life insurance based on the customer’s needs while a plumbing company can explain how to keep pipes from bursting in winter temperatures. Depending on your industry, you can also do product reviews.
2. Ask Questions to Increase Customer Interaction
Blogs can invite customers to share their experiences or thoughts about various industry-related topics. When customers have the opportunity to engage with a business online, this increases customer loyalty. Customers begin to feel that they have a relationship with the company and are part of a community.
3. Announce Promotions and Savings and Reward Readers
You can use the blog to let customers know about sales and other types of promotions; you can even use the blog as the place to exclusively do this in order to drive traffic to the site. You can also have promotions on the blog itself. For example, you can invite readers to comment for an opportunity to win an item or a discount on a service and do a random drawing for the winner. You should give them something concrete to comment on, so try asking a question or requesting a product review.
4. Make Your Site Mobile
Increasingly, people use their smart phones to go online. If customers can easily access your site while they’re on the go, they’ll be more likely to regularly stop in. A mobile version of your site is a user-friendly way to encourage those users to keep coming back even when they’re in a hurry or away from their actual computers.
5. Invite Guest Authors
To keep the blog fresh and avoid burnout, give others the opportunity to write for you. Other experts in the field are an obvious choice, but this is also a great opportunity for creativity. For example, you might invite contributions from satisfied or opinionated customers. Guest authors contributors may come up with interesting topics and approaches you’d never have thought of on your own.
Some businesses may feel burdened by the need to maintain an online presence, but with some planning and a few good ideas, a blog can turn out to be one of the most valuable marketing tools a business has.
If you have more tips, please feel free to add a comment below.
This post was written by...
Elisabeth – who has written 1 posts on Hello Bloggerz.
Elisabeth is a passionate blogger. She loves writing on topics like blogging, business growth, internet marketing and social media. She is also a regular contributor to ePromos.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Give in-depth answers to questions asked. Some people encourage people to ask questions or leave comments but don’t go the whole length by taking the time to answer those questions properly. Yes, I know it’s a lot more work but it increases engagement and helps you create a bond that brings in more business.