Blogging still has a solid place in ambitious businesses’ content marketing. Follow these trends to keep your blog relevant in 2022.

“Is blogging still relevant?”

“Is blogging a thing in 2022?”

“Is blogging finally dead?”

When I started researching this blog post about the relevance of business blogging in 2022, these headlines popped up first. The image looked quite bleak: Does it really make sense to keep blogging anymore, and would I still recommend a new business to even start a blog?

Scrolling down a bit more, however, I noticed that some questions were not that new. They had been asked last year, five years ago, even in the beginning of the century. 

Blogging = Affordable Lead Generation

The answer remained the same throughout the years: Yes. 

Blogging still holds its ground despite the wave of new, more interactive and creative content formats. According to Startup Bonsai, there are over 600 million blogs in the world

Businesses that blog report increased lead generation as compared to their non-blogging counterparts. In addition, blogging is seen as a more affordable lead generation and nurturing strategy than other marketing methods.

What Business Bloggers Can Learn from Robbie Williams

One secret behind blogging’s longevity is its versatility and ability to change and adapt. It’s like Robbie Williams: while Millenium and Let Me Entertain You still make your foot stomp, it’s his ability to change and use different styles that has allowed him to stay at the top of his industry for decades. 

The same way, it’s hard to find a business that would publish a blog that resembles the semi-public internet diaries that blogs used to be in the early years. That style might come back one day, like the 80’s shoulder toppings and big eyeglasses have. For the time being, however, agile and ambitious communications teams use blogs to educate the audience, serve their customers and highlight the expertise of their brands. 

Here are four strategies that successful business blogs use and that you can also adapt to make your company blog thrive in 2022. 

4 Things to Make a Company Blog Thrive in 2022

1 – Think Outside the Product

A series of successful blogs builds their followership around much bigger causes than just the service or product itself. 

One of my absolute favorite blogs and a good example of this is Zapier, the automation tool that helps entrepreneurs automate repetitive tasks and workflows. 

Most posts are not about how to use the platform at all, but about improving productivity, growing a small business and enjoying the work you do. The company focuses on serving businesses and entrepreneurs and trusts them to become clients when the moment is right.

2 – Improve Client Experience

Another characteristic of successful blogs is that they don’t only focus on customer acquisition but on customer retention as well by helping paid clients make most of their purchase.

Elegant Themes, a company offering website themes and tools, is a great example on that front. Their generous blog is overflowing with step-by-step instructions for users wishing to update their website and to make most of their template purchase. 

Of course, the blog also showcases the features of the product itself but the focus stays strongly on the value added to the customer, even after they’ve purchased the product. 

3 – Blogging doesn’t only mean writing

While blogging is an established and traditional form of content marketing, it doesn’t mean it can only contain text. (Yes, not everyone is such a writing nerd as yours truly here…)

Infographics tell more than a thousand-word article, and videos are valuable especially for complex topics. Some bloggers even attach an audio version of their articles for people to listen on the go. 

Marketing giant HubSpot is particularly strong at this, providing its readers with video tutorials and screenshot-infused step-by-step instructions.

4 – Make the blog a Part of Your Marketing Strategy

Finally, to succeed, a business blog can not be a deserted island in the vast sea of content marketing: it needs to be woven into the net of other content pieces, such as downloadable guides, in-depth content, ebooks and social media pieces. 

Mindfulness and meditation app Calm does this in a really nice way with monthly mindfulness calendars. The calendars are published in a blog post and can then be downloaded for future use, which gently glides a blog reader into a newsletter subscriber, for further nurturing. 

Verdict: How Will Business Blogging Fare This Year?

I believe that after browsing through these examples of successful business blogs that’ll keep growing in 2022, you’ll agree with me that blogging still has a relevant place in the content marketing landscape. 

A blog is still a solid home base for businesses who want to forge long-term relationships with their followers and keep adding value to their lives before, during and after the purchase process. 

Keep adapting, think big and long-term, test new formats courageously and keep the overall strategy in mind, and your blog has all the ingredients for success in this new year. 

Uplevel your social media game and never lose another follower to competition again.

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