In 2022, it’s clear that blogging can be useful to any marketing strategy.
However, even though blogging has been proven to boost leads for brands as well as SEO and credibility however, many busy marketers be concerned that the effectiveness of blogging may be waning.
The fears of “blogging will soon be dead” haven’t been alleviated by research. Recently we polled nearly 300 people, asking them what they read about on blogs, about 40% of respondents said “never.” This came in response to hubspot’s Not Another State of Marketing Report which found that blogging dropped from the top to third most popular content strategy between the year 2018 between 2018 and 2020.
However, before getting caught up in the negative information It’s crucial to keep in mind that blogging remains incredibly beneficial to marketers however, the approach you take to blogging is more important than ever. In our last study found the majority of readers have never read blogs, the also revealed the fact that 60 percent of readers are regularly reading blogs.
The fact is that blog posts are alive and well. You’ll need to work slightly harder to persuade people go through your posts than you previously did.
What’s the best way to enter a user’s mind and figure out how to get them interested in reading your blog? Doing another survey.
Instead of asking over 300 respondents, “Do you read blogs? ” I’ve recently started an additional Lucid survey which asked “Why do you prefer to read blog articles?”
When the poll, which asked the participants to choose the most popular reason they browse blog content, possible answers included “To discover how to do something completely new,” “To be entertained,” “To learn more about brands or products,” and “To learn about current trends and news in my work field.”
With the amount of leads that blogs for business have been known to generate one might think that a significant portion of readers read blogs to find out about products or brands. However, in reality you may be pleasantly surprised (and a bit be concerned by the top and bottom-ranked reasons for reading blogs:
In reality, only four percent of readers admit to reading blogs to find out about brands or products.
Based on the findings of the study it appears that more people are motivated to read blogs that show them how to be a better person. When 33% of respondents opted for this option 20 percent of respondents stated that they read blogs for amused, while 12percent go through blogs to find out about the latest news or developments in their work field.
In addition, 9 percent stated that they’re motivated to read blogs due to any of the reasons listed.
What do the numbers above translate to?
To attract blog readers You’ll have to develop posts that offer some kind of entertainment or information instead of making your blog a platform to talk about your product or brand.
This blog article will guide you through the three main reasons that the general audience is drawn to browse blogs. I’ll also demonstrate how to make blog content that meets the needs of your readers and still manages to spread the brand’s image.
1. Blogs are read by people to learn something new.
Most frequent reason people look at a blog post is to discover something new. This isn’t surprising to me in any way.
Why? Articles that provide instructions, step-by-step procedures tutorial videos, short-form information often receive a huge volume of traffic. This is due to the fact that users are seeking out directions on how to perform things on Google each day.
Even if posts don’t inform readers on how to accomplish something at a high scale, blogs that address difficult topics like studies, trends or subjects that people aren’t acquainted with may spark people’s interest.
Psychologically speaking, studies have shown that people crave information in the same way as they desire food and wealth. As blogger, you are able to utilize this information to create content that stimulates curiosity and also discusses subjects relevant to your brand products, or services.
Did You Know? gistfocus.com is a popular blog bringing readers the latest news and information from around Nigeria….
2. Blogs are read by people for entertainment purposes.
People are always looking for information, but they also enjoy being entertained. Every day, they browse blogs that share interesting stories, inspire them to laugh or interest the reader in another way.
This is consistent with research from 2020 that found the majority of consumers watched videos as well as using online content solely for the sake of entertainment and enjoyment.
However, as a professional blogger, you may be asking yourself “How do I entertain my readers, while keeping my blog in good standing?”
If you are thinking creatively there are lots of ways to engage your audience and still remaining true to your the same brand.
You could, for instance, create an interesting image or infographic about a trend that has become popular within your field. While your audience might not want to invest in this popular trend, the images and the information on the topic could entice your readers. On one of our articles we shared funny images that marketers employed in their own campaigns.
Alternately, you can create a fun but informative video or podcast to accompany your blog article. With this additional layers of material, you can explore a more in-depth discussion of the latest trend in marketing, or even interview an expert in the field who people in your industry are following. While this may seem to be “entertaining” for those who aren’t in your field however, it may be more engaging than the common blogs that those in your field may be reading.
3. Blogs are read by people to find out about the latest trends in their work field.
Although people may prefer not to read blogs which focus on your product or brand but they might be interested in blogs that focus on the industry in which your product is associated with.
Although the results from the poll noted in the introduction was derived from consumers of all ages with diverse backgrounds, it’s more likely that people in the workforce are likely to read blogs when it informs them or gives them valuable details about their field.
If you look at the HubSpot Blog’s blog readership and statistics shows that our readers enjoy engaging with content about trends in sales, marketing and service industries. If we also receive expert advice or data on how to make sense of these changes our readers are more interested.
For instance, our industry has recently been abuzz about the audio application for social media, Clubhouse. Although HubSpot was keeping an eye on this trend, the app was mainly utilized by famous people, we began to publish daily content on it. customers and brands were invited to sign up for the application.
Along with providing a brief explanation of the basics of what Clubhouse was and the reasons why it was becoming a hit We also enriched the blog post by adding comments and quotes from social media experts on the potential of social media’s brand value.
