Content marketing vs blogging is the difference between grabbing a bite with your favorite gal pal and taking a prospect out to lunch. Both activities have their merits, but one is decidedly better for business.
Yet the best of both worlds is when that prospect becomes a friend and that lunch converts into real business. That’s the beauty of blogging that’s built on a strong content marketing foundation.
In this post we’re going to explore what blogging and content marketing are, and how the two can effectively be used together.
What is Blogging?
Generally speaking, blogging is one of the most personal forms of marketing. Sometimes written from the first-person perspective, blogging typically shares personal opinions and/or experiences. It’s a space to be conversational with your audience, allowing your brand to connect with customers on a personal level. The best, most effective blogs are both engaging and informative. They deliver helpful information to your visitors. And, they allow your visitors to celebrate success, learn from hiccups, and explore new possibilities with you.
What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is a research-driven and goal-focused strategy. It utilizes current industry trends, timely events, and user insights. Meta descriptions, titles, headers, and keywords are crafted from data-backed analysis. This is true whether you are focused on B2B content marketing or B2C content marketing. A good content marketing campaign has clearly defined goals. These might include:
Increasing web traffic
Developing a new audience
Growing an email list
Launching a new product/service
Promoting a specific product/service
Increasing sales
Increase office visits
Increasing phone calls
Encouraging online reviews
Creating a Strong Digital Marketing Content Strategy
Like we referenced above, the best client relationships occur when you form a real bond. This means moving beyond slimy sales pitches (no one wants to be a used car salesmen), monotone voices (keyword stuffing was so 1990), and boastful bragging.
In today’s world, transparency rules. Technology has certainly helped us be more efficient. But it’s also driven a wedge between the business and consumer. The average person is more separated than ever before from the products and services they use.
For the skilled content writer, this poses a significant opportunity to bridge that gap between corporate speak and personal connection. The best digital content marketing helps people get to know businesses on a personal level.
There are a variety of content marketing services out there. They range in price, value, and expertise. While there are times when the cheaper items are better (hello store-brand fruit snacks), for the most part – you get what you pay for.
Not all content marketing agencies have a team that can deliver a research-backed content marketing strategy in the form of reader-friendly blog posts written in your brand voice. As you evaluate which agency is right for you, we recommend asking yourself:
Is this agency getting to know my business’ strategy?
Does this agency understand who my ideal customers are?
Has this agency identified which products and/or services provide my business the highest return on investment?
Will this agency provide regular reports so my business can monitor the success of my content marketing campaign?
Does this content marketing agency have a history of developing and launching successful content marketing campaigns?
Content Marketing Examples
In the content marketing world, there is no silver bullet for success. In comparison to Google PPC ads or Facebook ads, content marketing rarely delivers the same immediate results. However, the long-term advantage of using strategically crafted content marketing campaign can help your business for years to come.
Eren Design Blog Contributes to a 280% Increase in Customers
Eren Design is a boutique design and remodeling firm based in Tucson, Arizona. When we first connected with them, their website hadn’t been updated in more than five years. The website and blog were not structured provide a strong Google rank. It wasn’t reader-friendly. Nor, was it easy to navigate.
While redesigning Eren’s website, we updated the structure of their blog posts. This allowed our content writer to strategically create headers, embed images, and add image captions. We also invested in extensive SEO research to identify key terms where traffic was high but competition was low, allowing Eren to extend their online audience.
The results were staggering. Within six-months, Eren saw a 280% increase in new customers and a substantial increase in page 1 rankings for key search terms. The blog was even able to claim a ‘Spot Zero’ search rank – the highly coveted featured snippet displayed at the very top of search results.
Key Takeaway:
Utilizing headers, images, and image captions not only improves reader experience, it can substantially increase your Google rank. As you format your post, think of your headers as an outline that can be easily understood if only the headers are scanned.
Tru Health Triples New Customers with Content Strategy
Tru Health is a naturopathic medical clinic based in Santa Rosa, California. They offer holistic treatment plans focused on treating the root cause of symptoms. In order to help more patients overcome debilitating illnesses and maximize their quality of life, Tru Health needed to increase brand awareness. Our creative team developed a content strategy that utilized a three-pronged approach: blogging, social media, and optimization.
The result was a substantial increase in website traffic and ultimate 333% increase in new patients weekly. Furthermore, our strategy developed evergreen content (content that continues to be relevant and receive organic traffic months and even years after it’s published).
Key Takeaway:
By crafting reader-friendly blog posts based on research-driven keywords, you can develop a content calendar that delivers long-term search rank.
Can content marketing help your business increase its online sales? Contact RWL design to find out how our creative team can help your business succeed.
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