Before I started working for Association Studios, I thought blogging was just something teens, moms, or super fans did. I knew some companies and associations had them, but I did not think they were used as much as they actually are. Come to find out, they are a main source of clicks for many associations. After working with some of these associations and clients, I realized that I was not alone in this thought. I have watched our company advise our clients to create a blog if they do not have one, and to use a blog more if they do have one. From that, we see an automatic increase in engagement from current members and an increase in leads from Google searches. Keeping that in mind, let’s see how those blogs can be used most efficiently and effectively.
Blogging is a unique form of in-bound marketing that allows for the spread of information with a matter of a couple of clicks. One of the primary goals is to actually get your blog noticed, though. How does this happen? Well, with systems such as Smart Bug Media, companies can determine exactly which key words were searched that lead a person to their blog. For example, if someone was searching about what an animated explainer video is, they may come across a past blog we’ve written about here at Association Studios. From that, we can determine that those key words are something valuable to use in future blog titles.
This tactic can really benefit niche associations specifically because the searches are looking for a very specific type of content. In turn, this creates a much more engaged reader when they ultimately do find your blog through their search. The next goal is to have a blog that cross-promotes other aspects of your company or association. Following the previous example of animated explainer videos within AS, we could mention the importance of promoting those videos via social media. By having statistics and examples of that being a successful next step to accompany the video, the reader is likely to click on the next blog and learn about that topic as well.
The final step in creating an extremely affective blog is to use the recognized blog for furthering the information you are trying to get across. For some companies this will look like ebooks, for some it will be in the form of monthly magazines, and for some it may be semiannual conferences. Once your blog information can lead a reader to seek external information from you, the purpose of your blog is served.
Is your blog doing its job? Contact us at Association Studios about revamping your online presence, if not!