What’s The Point Of Blogging?
You’ve probably heard that you should blog, but do you know why?
I get it, You’ve got a lot to do, so why add blogging to your never ending to do list? There are some VERY good reasons to not just blog but to prioritize it.
1. Google loves you for it
More blog posts means that your site will have more pages indexed with Google which really helps your SEO. When you create new content Google comes back to your website more often and that really helps your search rankings. Google loves fresh content, in fact you are actually penalized for not creating new content. If you want more people to find you via Google search, blogging is the way to go.
2. You get to show off your skills
Writing blog posts, shooting videos and recording podcast episodes (whatever floats your boat, it all helps) all allow you to demonstrate how much you know about weddings which helps you prove that you are an expert in your field. Awards and testimonials are great but they can only do so much, and blogging give you a chance to show off your expertise instead of just talking about it. You get to show instead of just tell.
Blogging also allows you to write content that is beneficial to your audience. Couples who are visiting your website will remember that you answered their most pressing questions about planning their wedding. That will set you apart from your competition.
Most of your competitors are doing nothing but asking for people to hire them. By leading with helping people, you become a resource that people will turn to and naturally want to work with when they’re ready.
According to an unbiased survey of over 14,000 people married in 2011 by Splendid Insights, “More important than a website is an updated blog. Your website is your business card, the blog is the conversation. For example, 85% of Ritzy Bee‘s clients hired them because of their blog & then those clients refer via word of mouth.”.
3. It helps you build trust with potential clients
Blogging lets your potential clients get to know you at their own pace and show them that you’re not some weirdo scam artist. We only do business with people that we know, like and trust and your blog is a great way to allow people to get to know, like & trust you.
4. You get to showcase who you are to your clients to see if you’re a good match
If you were going to spend your entire wedding day with someone, wouldn’t you want to know that they are the kind of person that you’d like to be around? It’s very important to couples too. In fact your personality plays a HUGE role in why your clients decide to work with you over someone else.
We often think that purchasing decisions come down to logistics and price but really they’re all about emotion and relationships. You’re not right for every couple and they’re not right for you so your blog allows them to qualify themselves as an ideal client for you or let them know they’re in the wrong place. Either way it’s a good thing.
If you want to be a client magnet you have to acknowledge that magnets both attract and repel. It’s what they do and it’s what your business does when you show who you are and who you love working with.
5. It gives your social media a real job
Many wedding professionals use their social media profiles to tell people to book them and not much else. That’s why those people don’t get results from social media. Your blog posts give you something helpful to share on social media to get people to come to your website.
You can easily break up a top 10 tips blog post into 10 separate tweets that link back to your post. That drives traffic back to your site where they can learn more about you, what you do and how you can help them.
6. It gives your potential clients a reason to stay on your site (or to come to it in the first place)
I hate to break it to you but no one is going to come to your site to excitedly read your services page over and over again. It’s just not how we use the internet.
However when you have interesting and helpful blog posts, your website visitors will spend time on your site reading it. This means that they will learn more about you and what you have to offer. It also gives them a reason to come back. This is critical for wedding professionals because couples spend a lot of time researching before making a decision to meet with someone. When your website has nothing to offer, they aren’t going to remember you.
7. You stay top of mind with your potential clients
When you position yourself as a helpful resource instead of just a service provider, you become much more valuable to your potential customers and they remember you. Your website visitors may not be ready to book you yet, but by giving them a reason to come back they remember you when it is time to buy.
Making decisions about who to hire for a wedding is a big deal and can be daunting to a newly engaged couple so they need time to research and figure out what they want. Couples do a TON of research before booking someone and providing them with content (like I do to you via this blog and email) reminds them who you are and how awesome you are.
8. It helps you build your email list
You probably already know why email marketing matters so much for wedding professionals (if not click here). Your blog actually helps you to build your email list.
How? Your blog provides a dose of helpful content and if someone takes the time to read one of your posts, chances are they’re going to want more. That’s where your email opt in comes in. In fact, you can create a small, simple content upgrade specific to your post.
In this post about blog post ideas I created a downloadable version of the post in Canva for people to download and people do download it. On other posts I’ve included checklists, worksheets, an Instagram visual guide, a guide to 5 tools to use on Instagram, a webinar replay. These don’t have to be complicated and something as simple as a PDF checklist to help the reader take action will add email subscribers to your list!
9. It helps you advertise
When you run Facebook ads you’ll find that they are far more effective if you send that traffic to an opt in to build your email list or a blog post that gives people an opportunity to get on your email list. Plus, sending Facebook ads traffic to a blog post will almost always be cheaper than sending them to your home page and that traffic will convert better!
10. It helps you sell
Blogging isn’t all marketing, it’s also a sales tool. You can use your blog to create desire by choosing your topics strategically. After all, traffic isn’t the end goal here. In this podcast with content strategist Lacy Boggs, we discussed specific examples of what to write about for each part of your potential client’s journey.
Blogging isn’t just a thing that’s nice to do, it can be a key piece of your marketing and sales strategy if you approach it strategically.
Not sure what to write about? That’s no excuse any longer my friend 🙂 I’ve got 37 blog post ideas waiting for you right here.
