How often do you do it? I'm doing it right now and I'll be ready to do it again in no time. I'm referring to blogging, of course, though anyone who recognized the paraphrasing from "History of the World, Part I" by Mel Brooks probably got a good chuckle out of it.
But the question is intended in all seriousness. How often do you blog?
The question of frequency is one that comes up around here all of the time, whether we are having the conversation internally or are working with clients who are just beginning to put together their content marketing strategy for their Inbound Marketing efforts. The answer: more is better.
I write that knowing full well the challenges it presents. We strive to publish each day of the work week here at Weidert Group, and we have five contributing writers. That would seem easy, right? One day for each writer. But when folks get busy with client projects, that is suddenly not so easy anymore.
Yet, we know it's what's best for our efforts to attract new leads and customers. Our blog - and your blog for that matter - is the primary vehicle for generating new website content. The more new content created, the better the benefits, including:
The bottom line: the more you blog, the greater your chances of being found by relevant prospects, creating more opportunities for you to convert them into leads and customers. But just how much more? The data shows some interesting things.
In its 2012 State of Inbound Marketing report, HubSpot took a look at the frequency of blogging vs the number of new customers acquired. Of those blogging monthly, 56 percent reported acquiring a customer from their blog. When it came to those blogging daily, 78 percent reported acquiring a new customer from the blog.
Similar results have been reached by others such as Kuno Creative, which on Wednesday conducted a webinar on content marketing that compared web traffic and lead generation from blogging 2 to 3 times a week to blogging 5 to 10 times a week.
When blogging 2-3 times a week, weekly web visits were less than 1,000 with fewer than 10 leads converting. When blogging between 5 to 10 times a week, weekly web visits topped 5,000 with nearly 90 leads converting.
Those findings also showed that more frequent blogging lead to greater social media visits and leads as well. Since there was more content to promote via social media, the opportunities for engagement increased.
I can hear the yelling right now: I don't have time to blog every day! I get that. For many small businesses, that kind of commitment might not be realistic. Instead, I will offer this spin on the data:
For most businesses, a blog will be the primary content generator. The more you post and share, the more successful your content offerings will be. To help you get started, check out our tip sheet "10 Ways to Keep Your Blog Stocked With Great Content."
Topics: Inbound Marketing, Content Marketing
