The longer I am on the agency side of things, the more often I witness marketers missing the boat with blogging, at least in the tourism industry. Granted, the majority of the websites I visit have a blog, it is then when I click on it, I notice that it hasn’t been updated in months, sometimes longer. Wait, what? One of the first things that I did when I started at Visit Lake County back in 2007 was launch a blog that was regularly updated. It was the back bone to my content strategy.
A blog doesn’t have to be 1,000 words or even 500 words every post. It can be several pictures with brief captions, videos, etc to tell the story of your brand. Many tourism organizations go on their local radio station to talk about upcoming events. I would think the person going on the radio would have their talking points about the events written down. BOOM! There is a blog post. Just like that. Already written, just put it on your website. For many execs who don’t “get it” when it comes to content marketing, their immediate response is, no way, we don’t have time. But for us marketers that have witnessed the power of a blogging regularly and a strong content strategy, the answer is; absolutely, you should be blogging regularly.
Here are my 5 reasons your organization should blog regularly.
1. Builds Trust With Consumers
When it comes to blogging and content, marketers need to remember we are an extension of the sales team / process. Whatever we are writing about, we are painting the story of our destination to appeal to our consumers dream vacation. To gain your readers trust, your blog posts should be helpful content. That will lead to trust, which will then equal leads, which then equals bookings to your destination. When your blog takes on the helpful content approach, you will be answering your consumers’ questions, and your content will then focus on the needs of your consumer and not your own.
2. Increases Traffic
By blogging on a regularly basis, you are creating additional pages on your website. These additional pages are then indexed by Google. Not only will your organic traffic increase, your blog will inevitably see an increase in readership as well. A blog that is well integrated throughout your site, for example, that has links to dining related posts on your dining page, will drive even more page views, hits and exposure. Increased traffic also means increased email and RSS subscribers.
3. Drives Your Social Media
Your blog should be part of your content strategy and the backbone of your social media strategy. Every time your post a new blog post, you should post that blog in 5 places, and one of the best things you can do is to use your blog’s content to drive your social media. Instead of always looking for content, simply post a blog post to your social media channels and enjoy the benefits of click-thrus and shares. Leveraging social media with your blog will increase your awareness, generate more exposure, and make both marketing tools work as one. With the power of social media, it’s not hard to see why this is a perfect fit.
4. Improves Search Rankings
Search engine optimization (SEO) is therefore an important feature for all businesses to consider. When making a search on Google, the search engine will optimize your search in order to get out the most relevant information. By using focused keywords in your blog, it will be classified as relevant, and get a high ranking in search results. Therefore, blogging regularly is a good way to increase the traffic to your site. The better the content, the more qualified the traffic. And the more traffic, the more search engines will link people to your content.
5. Content Is The Great Equalizer
When I worked at the CVB, I wasn’t at a big destination, I was a smaller destination. I couldn’t compete with the Chicago’s, the Door County WI’s, the Rockford’s, the Columbus OH’s, the Austin TX’s, or the St. Pete Clearwater FL’s of the world. But by blogging regularly, and creating a strong content strategy, I could play on the same field and receive a bigger piece of the tourism pie, as I was creating awareness and exposure in our target markets. With today’s analytics, marketers can help their sales teams out tremendously, as we can track the behaviors of their leads when it comes to the content customers are viewing on our website. The more pages a visitor to your website reads, the closer they are to making a purchasing decision by booking their trip, meeting, etc in your destination. You want to not only integrate your blog’s content into every page of your website but also include it into your organizations sales approach.
A blog may not be the most attractive tool as the latest fads and shiny toys are, but it is certainly a marketing component that you should not ignore. These are just my 5 reasons on why your organization should blog regularly, and I have many more reasons, but I would love to hear your thoughts on blogging. Have your witnessed benefits from blogging within your organization?
Solid points to having a blog, Anthony! Very well captured. Excellent post!