You can’t get more analytical than marketing technology guru David Raab. He is to marketing analysis what Donald Trump is to “You’re fired!” In one particularly cogent article, Raab included a fascinating graph that plots how regular blogging is the most effective AND the hardest to execute for a small business.
Included on the easier spectrum — least effective AND easiest to do — were outbound marketing and use of marketing automation tools.
So Raab’s advice is to place the latter two at the end of the queue in any marketing plan and put time and money on the more reliable marketing tactics —again, social media, SEO and blogging.
Social media and SEO are pretty much straightforward. You get presence and exposure on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn is great for networking. SEO used to be about keywords with link lures. Lately, however, Google and company demand well-designed and dynamic content which makes your website worthy of visiting, sticking around, and returning for repeat business.
So does that put a small business marketing approach into the realm of having to write stuff, as in publishing? And does the fact that the relentless web crawlers aren’t biting on keyword stuffing require composing fresh and interesting website content? Yes and yes.
Good writing is hard to come by in the small business world. The business of small business is not writing; it is marketing and sales and growth. Automated marketing is easy because it relies on, you know, automation. For example email campaigns can manufacture more spam than a World War II K-Rations factory, but modern spam isn’t nearly as digestible as its namesake with a capital S.
So if you believe Raab’s analysis, you would have to agree that interesting blogs are more effective than automated marketing. But nothing worth doing was every truly easy, because writing is hard. Consistently good writing is like art: it’s difficult to describe but we know it when we read it. Not many busy and preoccupied business people can get past the paint-by-numbers stage.
Hence, the notion that blog writing is effective but hard to execute appeals to the problem solver instincts of every smart small business owner. You intuitively know the solution: You find a good writers resource that produces consistently good work at a reasonable price. Then you move forward and attend to your core business activities like the care and feeding of your customers who are your bread and butter. When you’re ready, you can transition into an automated marketing approach that it is thoughtful and as well organized as your web content.
Looking for a blog writing service that meets those criteria? Contact us. Our eager group of 3,000 freelance writers from all walks of life specialize in demonstrating that, though writing is hard for many, it is fast and easy (and good) when you hire the right people.
