The Stats that Make a Bulletproof Case for Business Blogging

A couple of weeks ago, after writing a blog post about mobile deposits for a credit union, I said this in an email to their social media consultant:

Might not be a bad idea to discuss a specific service related to online or mobile banking once per month. I consider myself kind of tech savvy and have never used mobile banking. Now I feel pretty stupid for wasting time making trips to the bank to deposit checks.

The solutions to most of our problems are sitting right there in front of us, but sometimes it takes a whack in the back of the head to wake us up.

A prime example of this is business blogging.

Almost a year ago, I made the business case for blogging largely based on my own experiences. I explained how my business started to take off when I got serious about my blog. Blogging helps people find me on Google, produces solid business leads, expands my network, speeds up the sales process, builds trust and establishes me as an expert in my field.

My blog also helped me land my biggest client.

I’m not necessarily a big numbers guy, but I understand that certain business decisions must be made based on hard data. So for those of you who need the numbers, here are some eye-opening statistics that make a bulletproof case for business blogging.

In October 2013, HubSpot released the results of its Marketing Benchmarks survey of more than 7,000 businesses:

Companies with 51-100 pages on their website generate 48 percent more traffic than those with 1-50 pages. You could reach that 51-page threshold in less than one year by blogging regularly.

Companies that publish at least 15 blogs per month get five times more traffic than those that don’t blog. Small businesses with 1-10 employees see the largest gains by posting more often.

I know what you’re saying. 15 blogs per month? Way too much.

Well, companies nearly double their sales leads by increasing blogging frequency from 3-5 times per month to 6-8 times per month.

Still too much?

According to the HubSpot study, companies that blog once or twice per month generate 70 percent more leads than those who don’t blog at all.

In August 2013, Social Media Today published an infographic that includes these statistics about business blogging:

Small businesses with blogs generate 126 percent more leads than those without a blog.

81 percent of US consumers trust advice and information from blogs.

61 percent of US consumers made a purchase based on a blog post.

Websites with blogs have 434 percent more indexed pages and 97 percent more indexed links. That means it’s easier for search engines – and potential customers – to find you.

In October 2013, Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and Marketing Profs released their 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends reports for B2B and B2C content marketing, which include these statistics about business blogging:

93 percent of B2B marketers are using content marketing. 76 percent are blogging.

90 percent of B2C marketers are using content marketing. 72 percent are blogging.

73 percent of B2B marketers and 72 percent of B2B marketers are producing more content than they did last year.

The most successful B2B marketers rate blogging as the most effective content marketing tactic, while the most successful B2C marketers rate eNewsletters as the most effective tactic.

I think it’s important to realize that every single content marketing tactic mentioned in these CMI-Marketing Profs studies can be repurposed into a blog and vice versa. Here they are in alphabetical order:

For example, in-person events are extremely effective for both B2B and B2C companies. Blogging would give you the opportunity to preview and recap your in-person events so can squeeze as much value from these events as possible.

So why isn’t every organization blogging?

According to the CMI-Marketing Profs research, the top reason for small businesses is a lack of time to create content, while larger businesses struggle to create quality content that engages their audience. These are the most common reasons cited by both B2B and B2C companies.

As a result, 43 percent of B2B companies and 49 percent of B2C companies are now outsourcing content creation. Content writing is the task most likely to be outsourced.

In fact, as I was writing this post, I received a message from a website developer who said, “I have a client who is very interested in blogging, but not writing the blog.”

Consider this your virtual whack in the back of the head.

The numbers don’t lie. Neither do the real stories.

Blogging consistently with content that’s valuable, relevant and interesting, and sharing your blogs with the right audience, leads to more revenue.

If you don’t have the time, ability or desire to write blog content in-house, you shouldn’t be doing it. So stick with what you do best and focus on growing your business .

Just make sure you find someone to write your blogs for you. Because it’s way too important to ignore.

How has blogging helped your business? If you’re not blogging, what’s stopping you?