Read All About It: Blogging Has Grown Up

Brands are learning that blogging is a gateway to connecting with customers and achieving a healthy return. But covering random subjects and dropping in relevant keywords is no longer enough.

Brand blogs used to concentrate on random subjects and relevant keywords. Now marketers are discovering that blogging is a gateway to connecting with customers, and this gateway needs to be of the highest quality.

Companies that blog receive 97% more links to their website than those that don’t, while b2b marketers with blogs receive 67% more leads than those without. But how can brands continue to ensure that blogs drive ROI in an ever-expanding sea of content?

“In the old Wild West days of SEO, it was all about volume and securing any backlinks you could,” said Liane Grimshaw, managing director of b2b content and inbound marketing specialist SupaReal. “That game is over. Although you still want volume, if you have the resources to deliver it, quality is more important. The more sophisticated business blogs out there understand this.”

Quality Control

In short, blogging has grown up. No longer can brands get away with spammy blogs and random subjects, littered with relevant keywords. As Grimshaw said, quality involves “good writing, unique view points, deep subject exploration, and clear educational topics.”

According to Katy Howell, CEO of social digital consultancy Immediate Future, there is now a greater focus on editorial stewardship, and a more sophisticated “publisher style” approach to blogging. “Blogs now have themes, schedules, key writers (and sometimes celebrity writers), and a variety of formats. Brands are learning that blogging is a gateway into connecting with customers.”

That’s not to say that the role of the blog in SEO is no longer important. Rachael Peck, digital manager at make-up brand Maybelline and Essie U.K. and Ireland, said that having a blog integrated on its website had been very beneficial for its SEO. “The blog is an area that allows us the flexibility to add additional copy, content, and video content that makes our site more attractive to Google crawlers, and lends itself to more exciting PPC landing pages.”

Dan Plant, head of content at MoneySuperMarket, concurred, adding that regularly produced and updated content continues to be very important in maintaining the comparison site’s organic search rankings in Google. “We see that as another way of helping customers, because, if we aren’t visible on Google, people can’t come to us and we can’t help them.”

But Plant added that MoneySuperMarket too had recently sharpened the focus of its content strategy, shifting the emphasis away from SEO and brand awareness. “Previously, we might have written about topics that aren’t right at the centre of MoneySuperMarket’s expertise, for PR reasons and to gain SEO influence, but now we are much more tightly focused on how the content can enable people to make savings.”

Format Evolution

While blog content is becoming more tightly focused and more carefully curated, formats have also grown increasingly sophisticated in line with consumer demand. “There is a greater element of creativity, from visuals and podcasting to video blogging,” said Howell.

It is an area Grimshaw picks up on, pointing out that some brands are integrating new formats seamlessly within their blogs. “Podcasts, for instance, offer increasing potential, not only through their promotion in channels like iTunes and Stitcher but also in delivering an audio asset that can be played directly from a web page (blog post) with the copy developed from the transcript-the same for video too.”

Control And Distribution

Remaining agile is crucial, not just when considering blog formats, but when it comes to promotion and distribution of blog content. “Brands can no longer just publish and wait, whether that is on their own site or elsewhere,” said Howell. “There is a greater need, in the noisy online world, to create stand-out material that is widely and consistently promoted, distributed, and shared.”

Maybelline is about to take its blog one step further. In September 2016 it will launch a stand-alone, mobile-first content site, aimed at giving the consumer more insight into the brand, with weekly content ranging from make-up tips and tricks to events. The company has a clear eye on standing out. “A big focus for this year will be to ensure all our content is super ‘pinnable’ and shareable, which will inevitably bring traffic back to the site,” said Peck.

Yet while content distribution is key-and Howell said she was seeing successful brands use a mixture of destination and distributed content, most notably on social media platforms-most agree that the brand blog should remain the priority destination, even as new content platforms continue to proliferate. Peck said that while content on Maybelline’s new site would “travel through various platforms and extend its online footprint, the site remains its source.”

But less is often more. Grimshaw warned that brands distributing content on third-party channels risked compromising control. “Look at how often Facebook tweaks things. Always prioritise your own asset, your website/blog, as that is what you control. You will get a better return in the long run by focusing all efforts on increasing traffic and conversions to that destination.”

Plant too is prudent, adding that duplicating content can negatively impact search ranking. “Ten years ago brands could create the same bit of content and pay other people to publish it and link it back to their website, positively influencing search ranking, but if Google perceive that to be happening now, they crack down on it.”

The Planning Imperative

While brands could get away without a clear blog strategy years ago-perhaps in Grimshaw’s lost Wild West-they won’t now. Executed well, blogs can be a valuable revenue-generating tool. “For God’s sake, have a strategy and document it,” said Grimshaw. “This ensures investment and time is focused on the right things at all times.” Howell isn’t far behind, urging brands to have several plans-“from objectives to messaging and, most importantly, editorial.”

Going forward, we may see more brands adopting Maybelline’s approach, investing in dedicated content sites. Grimshaw certainly envisages more companies launching media and content brands that sit separately from the main brand. “You can grow an audience, build new relationships, and gain new insights into specific audiences. There are even some brands that are buying ready-established blogs, rather than building their own.”

Figures prove that quality, well-considered blogs with clear strategies can bring a healthy return, but evolving and staying flexible in line with changing purchasing habits is essential. Howell cited b2b studies showing that over 80% of the buying decision was now made before there is contact with the brand. “In other words, we like to research our purchases before making the final decision. Blogs offer a perfect solution to this changing behaviour. They provide insight, “how to” guides, information, and expert opinion that informs the buyer. They are the voice of your brand.”