With the rise of video and podcasting, one might assume that running a blog is lifeless as an efficient advertising channel.
In any case, it appears now we have an obsession with killing issues off. Within the new millennium, we had the Y2K laptop scare. When expertise took a extra essential function in our lives, we assumed all print publications would go bankrupt. Now that video content material is having its time within the solar, some speculate that running a blog might quickly meet the identical destiny because the dinosaurs.
I reached out to entrepreneurs with backgrounds in product advertising, web optimization, YouTube, podcasting, and extra and requested them, “Are blogs lifeless? ” Here is what they stated.
Are blogs lifeless?
Based on entrepreneurs, not even shut. Blogs proceed to be extraordinarily useful for lead era, model consciousness, and web optimization. And so they’re nonetheless in style amongst customers. A HubSpot research discovered that 60% of individuals learn a weblog at the very least as soon as per week. So, blogs will not be out of entrepreneurs’ toolbox anytime quickly.
In all equity, this query surrounding blogs isn’t with out purpose. Google Developments reveals that within the final 5 years, the curiosity in blogs has steadily declined worldwide.
Within the U.S. throughout the identical five-year span, video has risen in recognition and surpassed blogs in searches.
Nonetheless, blogs are nonetheless viable advertising channels with WebTribunal reporting there are greater than 600 million blogs out of 1.9 billion web sites worldwide. Collectively these blogs generate 6 million posts day by day with WordPress and Tumblr being the most well-liked platforms.
Entrepreneurs nonetheless contemplate running a blog a prime advertising channel. Ross Simmonds, a B2B advertising skilled and the founding father of the content material advertising company Basis, says running a blog has helped his shoppers triple their site visitors and speed up their gross sales shut charges.
“At Basis, running a blog with intent has helped us generate thousands and thousands of {dollars} within the pipeline for each us and our shoppers,” says Simmonds. “It is also armed us with the flexibility to raise our model’s place available in the market and, most significantly, really assist others in our business be taught and unlock new alternatives.”
With that stated, the running a blog panorama has modified through the years. Lisa Toner, director of content material at HubSpot, says it isn’t sufficient to simply have a weblog these days.
“You want to persistently create content material that’s extra useful than your competitors’s content material. You want to be an web optimization skilled to get your articles rating on web page considered one of Google, and also you want a distribution technique to advertise your content material throughout all of the channels your viewers likes to devour content material on,” says Toner.
“It is much more advanced to win at running a blog now, however for those who can grasp it, it is definitely worth the funding.”
Transparency is a much bigger duty, particularly as customers are paying nearer consideration to a model’s values and its stance on social points.
“You want to take into consideration how folks see your model in comparison with your competitors. Everybody has their very own distinctive promoting place (USP) and what they need to put ahead, however what customers do is evaluate,” says Sandra Mpouma, head of digital advertising at RationalFX.
“So, when it comes to enterprise technique, create loyalty, belief, [and] be clear and aggressive, which is essential these days.”
Blogs vs. Different Advertising and marketing Channels
Now that different content material advertising channels – specifically video and podcasting – have surpassed blogs, will blogs quickly develop into redundant?
Nicely, all of it relies on the person personas you are concentrating on. However at the same time as different platforms develop, blogs nonetheless provide many benefits.
“Podcasting isn’t with out its personal set of limitations. There are many discoverability and viewers progress challenges. At this level, blogs have a reasonably well-dusted playbook for scaling. That is not true for podcasts,” says Matthew Brown, senior podcast producer at HubSpot.
“An organization can use its doubtless restricted sources to spend money on a weblog that may principally give constant, simply measurable, and dependable efficiency. Blogs even have a direct line to the corporate’s backside greenback, podcasts don’t.”
Nelson Chacon, the principal content material strategist for YouTube at HubSpot, highlights that there is no purpose to decide on between two platforms in case your workforce has the bandwidth to deal with each.
If it aligns along with your person personas, you may have interaction your viewers from a number of angles.
“Making a weblog constructed of articles round the advantages of your product can be useful. Having a video showcasing its use or the way to set up it might be helpful on your viewers,” says Chacon.
He continues, “Dwelling Depot has achieved a incredible job of doing this. Whereas they inform and educate their clients on their merchandise, additionally they add a fast ‘how-to’ for the extra educated one who simply wants a brief reply defined in a video.”
As for social media, Annabelle Nyst, a senior content material strategist who focuses on social media initiatives at HubSpot, says it is exhausting to match it to blogs as every platform serves totally different functions.
“Social content material does not at all times have the shelf life or the discoverability of weblog posts,” says Nyst. “It is extra about persistently assembly your viewers the place they’re, in the correct moments, participating with them one-on-one, and establishing belief by way of neighborhood constructing.”
She provides that social media may be an effective way to amplify your weblog posts. And vice versa, weblog posts can function inspiration for social content material.
If utilizing each, Nyst recommends pulling probably the most compelling factors out of your weblog posts, creating social-first content material, and utilizing it to drive site visitors again to your weblog.
With all that stated, blogs do not come with out their disadvantages. AJ Beltis, a senior content material and acquisition supervisor at HubSpot, mentions the excessive drop-off charges typically seen in weblog posts.
“Blogs lack the interactivity that many crave on account of its nature as written content material,” says Beltis. “This challenges weblog writers to hook their readers in just a few brief sentences with out having the advantage of particular results or audio engineers obtainable to their video and podcast creating counterparts.”
What it typically comes all the way down to is your model objectives and which channels will provide help to meet them. Podcasts, for instance, are higher for branding whereas blogs serve higher for top-of-the-funnel engagement.
“Weblog posts are an acquisition juggernaut. There is a clear path that any seasoned marketer can comply with. Podcasts, nevertheless, finest function a model alternative,” says Brown.
“You would not measure a sequence of weblog posts on their model uplift skill, similar to you would not measure a podcast present’s lead era. That’s except you want grey hairs and a critical lack of sleep.”
Why Blogs are Nonetheless Impactful
From an funding perspective, blogs could also be a greater long-term funding for lead era.
“I might spend $200K to rent a full-time author, web optimization skilled, and conversion charge optimization (CRO) specialist to work on my weblog. By combining these ability units, I am going to have the ability to create a weblog that drives natural site visitors to my web site and converts it into leads for my enterprise all yr lengthy,” says Toner.
She continues, “Or, I might put the identical $200K into an promoting marketing campaign and perhaps get a few thousand leads over the course of the advert marketing campaign. However as soon as the marketing campaign ends, so does my lead stream.”
Toner provides that almost all of HubSpot’s blog-generated leads come from older weblog posts. Which means running a blog generally is a nice lead supply lengthy after posts are revealed. Aja Frost, who leads the English web optimization workforce at HubSpot, echoes this sentiment.
“Natural site visitors is extra essential than ever. In contrast to paid site visitors, which stops coming within the second your funds runs out, natural site visitors is usually self-sustaining after you have put within the effort and time to create a weblog publish,” she says.
She provides that the majority content material administration techniques (CMS) have web optimization instruments built-in into their platforms, which makes it simpler to optimize your posts.
Running a blog may also be useful in shaping a model’s product positioning.
“Blogs are nonetheless top-of-the-line channels now we have to create narratives round our product,” says HubSpot Product Advertising and marketing Supervisor Alex Girard. “They provide us the chance to deal with developments we see available in the market, how these developments influence the reader, and the way our product would possibly have the ability to assist them meet that pattern efficiently. They’re additionally nice for telling buyer success tales.”
He provides that when utilizing your weblog to market your product, the content material does not must be promotional. If you set up your self as a thought chief and acquire the belief of your viewers, they may organically look into your services.
With that stated, it’ll take greater than good content material to have a profitable weblog.
“Progress with no aim is not going to assist your enterprise – if 10,000 individuals are studying your weblog, however none of them suit your persona, that is not going to do something on your firm,” says HubSpot’s Senior Weblog Supervisor Karla Heseterberg. “Concentrate on one thing attainable, like producing new contacts, and ensure each publish you are placing out has that aim in thoughts.”
She provides that one of many greatest errors manufacturers make is creating content material just for folks on the decision-making stage.
With so many levels between studying a weblog and making a purchase order, entrepreneurs ought to have posts geared at customers in each stage with corresponding gives.
Be taught extra about that via HubSpot’s enterprise running a blog course.
From an web optimization perspective, manufacturers can also battle with producing site visitors as a result of they’re considering weblog first, hyperlink constructing second.
“What I typically discover is that entrepreneurs see ‘running a blog’ and ‘hyperlink constructing’ as two totally different disciplines. First, they write the weblog posts, then they consider the way to earn backlinks to them,” says Irina Nica, a senior product advertising supervisor at HubSpot who works on product consciousness via outreach initiatives.
“As an alternative, they need to embrace linkable belongings into their common content material calendar, alongside different sorts of articles which might be perhaps designed for producing natural or social media site visitors.”
Regardless of the various advantages we have gone over, running a blog is not at all times the most effective technique for each model. Why? Nicely, what in case your supreme person persona does not learn blogs? What if they like emails as an alternative?
“Some manufacturers have nice electronic mail communication and workflows the place they supply folks with downloadable gives the place they do not must go elsewhere to get the knowledge, it is simply of their inbox immediately,” says Mpouma.
“You do not essentially want a weblog so long as you are providing one thing in alternate. I believe the weblog has at all times been that: Provide one thing without spending a dime in alternate for that person interplay.”
So, in that case, blogs would not precisely be lifeless, extra so irrelevant.
Why Advertising and marketing Is not Useless
issues from a broader perspective, blogs are simply an extension of promoting. Some have recommended that advertising is lifeless, which makes entrepreneurs like me marvel if there’s one thing we do not know.
Primarily based on latest knowledge, advertising remains to be influential. And that applies to each conventional methods and digital initiatives. Statista reported that in 2022, content material advertising generated over $63 billion in income worldwide.
“There is a purpose why Nike and Mcdonald’s proceed to take a position thousands and thousands each month in advertising though they’re already family names. There is a purpose why the highest musicians and artists nonetheless do promotion previous to their newest album launch,” says Simmonds.
“Advertising and marketing is not to be seen as simply an expense. It is an funding. And for those who make an funding that’s rooted in a strategic plan — that funding ought to return dividends for years (perhaps many years) to return.”
Running a blog Is Far From Useless
The important thing takeaway is that whereas not all advertising ways work for each model, it is unlikely that blogs will cease being useful to manufacturers within the foreseeable future. S
o for now, blogs, you may relaxation and step off the chopping block.
Editor’s notice: This text was initially revealed in February 2021 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness. 
