Are Blogs Dead in 2021? We Asked 10 Marketing Experts
By mbretous@hubspot.com (Martina Bretous)
It seems we all have an obsession with killing things off.
Every couple of years, we revisit something and place it on the chopping block. In the new millennium, we had the Y2K computer scare. In 2012, we feared the world would end and we would all just poof. When technology took a more important role in our lives, we assumed all print publications would go bankrupt. Now, with the rise of video and podcasts, it’s blogging’s turn to feel the heat.
I reached out to marketers with backgrounds in product marketing, SEO, YouTube, podcasting, and more and asked them, “Are Blogs dead? ” Here’s what they said.
In all fairness, this question surrounding blogs is not without reason. Google Trends shows that in the last five years, the interest in blogs has steadily declined worldwide.
In the U.S. within the same five-year span, podcasts have risen in popularity and surpassed blogs in searches.
However, marketers still consider blogging a top marketing channel. Ross Simmonds, a B2B marketer and the founder of the content marketing agency Foundation, says blogging has helped his clients triple their traffic and accelerate their sales close rates.
“At Foundation, blogging with intent has helped us generate millions of dollars in the pipeline for both us and our clients,” says Simmonds. “It’s also armed us with the ability to elevate our brand’s position in the market and, most importantly, truly help others in our industry learn and unlock new opportunities.”
With that said, the blogging landscape has changed over the years. Lisa Toner, director of content at HubSpot, says it’s not enough to just have a blog nowadays.
“You need to consistently create content that is more valuable than your competition’s content. You need to be an SEO expert to get your articles ranking on page one of Google, and you need a distribution strategy to promote your content across all the channels your audience likes to consume content on,” says Toner. “It’s a lot more complex to win at blogging now, but if you can master it, it’s worth the investment.”
Transparency is a bigger responsibility, especially as social justice becomes more important to consumers.
“You need to think about how people see your brand compared to your competition. Everyone has their own unique selling position (USP) and what they want to put forward, but what users do is compare,” says Sandra Mpouma, head of digital marketing at RationalFX. “So, in terms of business strategy, create loyalty, trust, [and] be transparent and competitive, which is very important nowadays.”
Blogs vs. Other Marketing Channels
Now that other content marketing channels – namely video and podcasting – have surpassed blogs, will blogs soon become redundant? Well, it all depends on the user personas you’re targeting. But even as other platforms grow, blogs …read more
Source:: HubSpot Blog
