Do Blogs Really Attract Customers?

What’s the business case for blogging? It’s a reasonable question, similar to one that’s often asked about Facebook and Twitter: How many likes, shares, retweets and favorites really lead to new customers and more sales?

A growing amount of research suggests that blogging has a solid return on investment. One example is HubSpot’s annual “State of Inbound Marketing” report. The latest edition is based on a survey of more than 3,300 executives, business owners and marketers worldwide. Some highlights:

• Forty-three percent of marketers surveyed said their blog led a new customer. Those respondents also said that maintaining their blog requires roughly 9 percent of their staff time and 7 percent of their budget. That’s a solid ROI.

• More blog posts mean more customers. A blog that isn’t updated frequently falls off the radar of the people you’re trying to reach. That’s old news, but HubSpot’s survey shows how frequency directly affects customer acquisition. Eighty-two percent of marketers who blog daily acquire a customer via that blog. Among those who blog monthly, it drops to 57 percent. So one additional takeaway is that if you’re hesitant to start a blog because you don’t think you can post daily, less frequent publication still gets results.

• Seventy-nine percent of respondents who have a blog said they had a positive ROI for inbound marketing in 2013. Only 20 percent of those without a blog reported a positive ROI.

• Only 9 percent of survey respondents were HubSpot customers. Among those, the ones who blog more than 15 times per month generate an average of 1,200 new leads in that time frame.

• Blogs tied LinkedIn as the second most effective channel for acquiring customers. Facebook was No. 1, and Twitter was No. 3.

The catch? Blogging doesn’t guarantee more customers or more sales. The quality of the content in those posts is critical for maximizing ROI.

The quality also has to be consistently high. Nobody knocks it out of the park every time, especially when posting daily. But all it takes is a series of two or three posts devoid of fresh insights, and readership – and ROI – starts to drop off.

One way to maintain quality and catch a breather is invite some of your best customers to do guest posts. A side benefit of that approach is that your blog now has satisfied customers talking directly and in their own voice to prospective customers.

Another strategy is to end blog posts by asking customers what’s on their minds. That feedback ensures that your blog stays relevant, and it provides you with convenient fodder for future posts.

[image courtesy n2growth.com]