3 Reasons Why you Need a Blog?

Why you need a Blog?

Even if you’re doing Facebook Advertising, or Bing Advertising, or Google Adwords, if you don’t have a place to send people to you’re wasting advertising money.
I’ve been working with a client now for about a quarter on their Facebook Fan Page.
And their likes have grown from about 35 to 475 in a three month period.
Now you’re probably wondering why so slow in growth.
Well after analyzing everything that we were doing realized that two factors really impacted their growth.

1. Advertising Spend

2. Lack of a blog

Now there are other factors, like finding the right target etc, but this doesn’t happen overnight.
Compared to my personal fan page which reached to 1000 likes in the same period I can definitely say that the above two factors were the differentiating factors.
You’re reading this post on my blog, so you already know I have a blog.
And you may have actually come to this blog from a social media post (maybe Facebook, maybe from somewhere else).
So you know that I own a blog and built by myself in just two short weeks 🙂 .
I also spend on advertising to boost blog posts.
My client doesn’t have a blog (as yet).
 
So although they have been able to grow their fan base in the last three months or so
having been on Facebook for over a year, they still have some work to do.
This is why a social media strategy is needed.
You can’t just jump onto Facebook and say, “I’m going to run ads”
You have to have a plan.
A Blog is going to be a very crucial part of that plan.
 
So Why do you need a blog?
 
Well I know that there are several people out there sharing their reasons, but here are mine as it relates to your online presence as a business.

1. Your Blog is your Online Real Estate

It’s the place you call home on the internet.
Imagine if you ran a business and you couldn’t tell people where you operate from.
Even if it is your home you have an address to give them right?
So if you’re running Facebook Ads don’t you think the next question your fans are going to ask is, “what’s your website?”
Will they take you seriously if you can’t answer, “www.”
I remember someone giving me a business card that had their website with the words “.blogspot.com” in it.
I thought if you’re not serious enough about your business to spend a little to claim a domain name then I really don’t want to do business with you.
So claim your online real estate. It’s a critical part of your online marketing strategy.

2. Opportunity to Share Value

I remember when I was doing my MBA at University of Memphis we had a management class and one of the topics was Wikinomics.
Yes if you haven’t heard of it then you’re 20 years behind.
Gone are the days when people keep all their information to themselves.
We are in the age of information sharing.
This is why business have to get very creative with their offerings.
The funny thing is you can provide everything a client will need to get the job done themselves,
but somehow they may still come back to YOU to do it for them.
I have seen this phenomenon time and time again.
Jewelry shops that give you all the advise about buying a diamond for example,
providing you with competitor’s pricing even if it is cheaper …
almost always works in the favor of the company providing the information.
Sharing information online through your blog is not only a way of building trust and raptor with your potential clients,
It also demonstrates that you know a thing or two about what you’re saying.
My client has recently started their blog so we will so how that affects their social media following.
 

3.  Your Place to Acquire New Customers

Have you ever tried to capture a phone number or email address on Facebook?
It’s like pulling teeth.
Some how people believe that a website is more secure.
And guess what they are correct.
On your blog you can use it as a multi-purpose site.
I’ve seen websites that are simply flyers on the internet.
They provide no value, they collect no information and they are usually so outdated they are no longer RELEVANT.
The reality is an opt-in form on a blog or website has backend systems that ensure that only YOU (the business owner) will get that potential customer’s information.
If you send a request to get a person’s email or phone number through your fan page,
How does that person know it’s you and not your social media manager for example.
There needs to be a trust factor involved.
The reality is as much as Facebook is a great place to engage with potential customers they will not feel comfortable sharing their information unless its on YOUR site.
And with your blog you can have multiple places that give people the opportunity to engage with you directly.
You can use a side bar, below your posts or even in your headers.
So having a blog is very important.
You need to think of it as your front end store!
 
And as a bonus!
Your blog allows you to increase social reach.
When people like your content they can share with their friends, which just helps you out with your own social reach.
So having a blog is a no brainer in my opinion and an absolute MUST if you’re going to be spending money on social media!
 
Let me know what your journey has been like building your own blog in the comments below.