For decades, blogs have enabled brands to connect with people online and promote goods and services. In recent years, many feel that what has replaced blogging is social media. Through posts, shares, comments, and chat forums, marketers are able to reach a highly targeted audience and engage with content that resonates. With sites like Facebook and Snapchat, businesses find themselves asking: do people still read blogs?
Not only do people still read them, but blogs are also a powerful tool for your digital marketing strategy. In this article, we’ll explore some eye-opening data to prove that blogs play an essential role in your overall success.
9 Statistics to Prove People Do Still Read Blogs
Is blogging dead? Absolutely not! Are personal blogs still relevant? Yes, they are. Blogging provides a way for people and brands to share long-form content to attract current and new followers. Here are nine enlightening statistics to prove that blogging is very much alive and why you should be including it in your content marketing strategy.
1. 60% of people on the internet read blogs.
The first thing you should understand is who reads blogs. The majority of people online read a blog fairly regularly. In fact, 49% of people read blogs up to six times a week, while 11% read them daily. Identifying even more specific details, like age, career, and most active time of day can help you deliver the right content to the right people at the right time.
To gain more insight, segment your audience and develop personas to help you identify your target market. Personas are hypothetical ideal customers whose preferences can help guide your marketing plan. This awareness can help you learn how to target your readers and how best to reach them. For instance, 64% of internet users are reading blogs on Google Chrome. Optimising your articles for this browser could increase reach and readership.
2. Internet users comment 77 million times a month on blogs.
Blogs are an effective way to boost engagement and encourage audience interaction. Every month, readers leave an average of 77 comments on WordPress blog posts. This shows that people want to connect with brands and be part of the conversation.
Interaction in the comments section of blog posts allows readers to connect with your business and with each other. You’re able to develop a community of like-minded people with similar interests who share information. All of this helps strengthen your position as a leader in your field and a facilitator of open communication and the exchange of knowledge.
3. 70% of consumers prefer to learn company information from a blog article.
With more than 25% of people using ad blocking software on their devices, content marketing is more important than ever. People don’t want to be distracted by pop-up or banner ads while they’re shopping online. Instead, 70% of shoppers would rather learn about a brand through an article. This puts them in the driver’s seat. They can seek out information on their own terms and find more in-depth information in a blog post.
This further demonstrates the importance of understanding who your target audience is and what is important to them. Conduct research to learn what information they’re seeking, what problems they’re trying to solve, and how your products can help them. Understanding their trends, habits, and behaviours can help you create valuable content that is meaningful to them and entices them to rely on you for your expert information.
4. Almost 80% of marketers use blog posts in their content marketing strategies.
The leading content marketing challenge for most businesses is creating material that generates quality leads, attracts more traffic, and resonates with a target audience. Blogs are an effective way to achieve these goals. That’s why 80% of businesses use blogs in their content marketing strategies.
Blogging is an effective way to build brand awareness, boost ROI, and establish your company as an authority in your field. As you begin to post frequent, consistent, quality material, you expand your visibility, and your audience will start to recognise your company’s name. With proper audience research, you can use blogs to create custom content that addresses their concerns, meets their needs, and entices them to share with their own contacts. This expands your reach, attracts current customers and new prospects, and keeps people coming back for more.
5. Blogs are the second-leading type of media used in content marketing today.
Video is the primary form of media contributing to content marketing, and it’s no wonder why. Engaging, eye-catching clips can resonate with people on a deep, emotional level and drive them to act. Blogs are the second preferred media type. In addition to building brand awareness and expanding reach, blogs also help with SEO. The more content your website hosts, the more material search engines can scan and rank for listing placement. This increases visibility and can generate more leads by driving traffic to your website.
Blogs are an effective way to connect people to your brand. They allow you to portray your company’s vision, character, standards, and personality. This helps to build trust and customer loyalty, both of which are instrumental in securing repeat business.
6. Companies using blogs gain 67% more leads.
Businesses who blog tend to generate 67% more monthly leads than companies who don’t host a blog. Perhaps that’s why more than half of Fortune 500 companies maintain a blog as part of their content marketing strategy. Leads are crucial to the growth and success of your brand. Providing consistent, valuable content helps drive people to your website. It also gives them a reason to return and, hopefully, convert.
Blogging provides tons of ways to engage with your audience. From compelling CTAs and hosting give-aways to offering content upgrades and employing interactive content, blogs can attract attention and encourage audience interaction. They’re also easily shared by readers, expanding your reach and driving even more traffic to your site. All of this helps to generate more leads and increase potential sales.
7. More than half of companies simply update old content for optimal results.
One of the main reasons companies shy away from maintaining a blog is the pressure of constantly creating new content. Marketers feel they lack the time it takes to research, develop, and create quality content that resonates with their audience. The truth is, you don’t have to create brand new content from scratch every time. In fact, 51% of companies find that giving old content a facelift has been a highly efficient and successful tactic.
Blogs that are displaying outdated information could be working against you. Incorrect information can damage your reputation and lose trust with your faithful readers. Review your archive and make sure links still direct readers to relevant information. Check statistics to be sure they’re current. By updating old content, you ensure you’re providing the most valuable information possible to your audience. This earns customer loyalty and also higher SERPS.
8. Nearly half of online consumers are influenced by a blogger’s recommendations.
Influential bloggers can have a powerful impact on their audience. When it comes to making purchase decisions, 46% of blog readers are swayed by a blogger’s recommendations. When you provide dependable information that solves people’s problems, they begin to look to you for advice. They trust your experience and your knowledge, and they value your input. If you’ve built a solid reputation through meaningful, helpful content, they’ll be more inclined to trust you and convert when it comes to recommending your products for their needs.
That’s why it’s so important to ensure you’re creating blog articles that earn trust and provide value. Every article you publish helps secure a long-lasting relationship between you and your reader. When you invest the time and effort to create well-developed and helpful content, you increase the likelihood of seeing positive results that continue to benefit your business for years to come.
9. Bloggers who post every day see 57% better results.
When it comes to successful blogging, consistency is critical. Bloggers who publish daily posts see 57% better results than brands who post a few times a week. That’s because there are more than 30 million blogs in the world. How can you set yourself apart from the competition? You have to establish a level of expectation among your audience. They need to know when they should anticipate seeing your posts and how often. Once you’ve built that routine, your audience will begin to look forward to your articles and seek them out.
You must stay in front of your audience, and you have to continue to live up to the high standards you’ve set for yourself. Continuing to provide quality content that arrives like clockwork is the way to appeal to your audience, attract new prospects, and build a loyal following that generates revenue for your brand.
Summary
Although the face of digital marketing is constantly evolving, blogs are still a valuable tool for your content marketing campaign. Understanding your audience and developing articles that will reach them with the right information at the right time can help increase visibility, expand reach, and drive traffic to your site for more conversions. The researched facts provided in this article prove blogging is an effective way to promote your brand and build meaningful, lasting relationships with your audience to secure continued success for your bottom line.
