Does B2B Business Blogging Really Work In 2019?

Posted April 1, 2021

In All Posts, Blogging, Content Marketing

It’s easy to see how blogging would work in a business-to-consumer environment, but it’s not always obvious how B2B business blogging works. Some of the arguments against business blogging (and yes, there are still marketers resistant to the idea!) are:

My clients don’t read on the internet – they work!
Blogging is part of social media, and companies blog most networking sites.
Our company bids for business – there’s no point in blogging.
We do “real” advertising – we have a marketing budget for it.

And so forth…

And yet, B2B business blogging is working. Or it certainly seems to be, if statistics are any indication. The 2018 Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends Report from Brightcove shows that 79% of B2B marketers are using blogs as a strategic tactic, up from 76% in 2014, and that 60% consider them to be one of the top 5 most successful channels used to distribute marketing content.

Viva la Difference!

There are differences, however, mostly in terms of the strategic approach to business blogging. Some of the most effective tactics are:

Length: 42% of companies publishing blog posts longer than 2,000 words say it drives stronger results than shorter posts.
Frequency: Of the 21% of respondents who published more often than once a week, 46% say they can see it making a difference.
Writing investment: The average time it takes to write a business blog post is 3.5 hours. Respondents who spent 6 hours or more on posts can see the improvement in their results.
Original research: 56% of bloggers have noticed the difference it makes to do their own research, instead of relying on exisitng information.

So, Why Does B2B Business Blogging Work?

For a number of reasons:

It’s cost effective. You don’t need to pay to post on your own website, so for smaller B2B companies it’s worth it regardless of the return. Any return on zero spend is a good one. Many small business owners can’t write, though, so they have to pay for professional blog writing services and that racks up a cost. It’s not usually exorbitant, though.
It offers media variety. Business buyers are people first, and engaging their attention requires just as much interesting material as consumers do. Because blogging is able to include a range of different content types, such as video, graphics and images, audio, slide presentations, photos and infographics, it gives you a better chance of grabbing—and holding—your buyer’s interest.
It boosts your searchability. Blogging is still the single most effective method of publishing fresh content regularly on your website. You really can’t rewrite your web pages too often, and static websites just don’t get indexed by the big search algorithms. So if you want to appear on Google’s results when a user searches, you need a blog regardless of whom you are marketing to.
It builds your reputation and brand. Unless you’re IBM, you need to build brand awareness and credibility on an ongoing basis. Having a blog gives you the chance to voice opinions on current affairs, share industry news and position your company as an expert on your area of specialty. And you can—and should—do this no matter who your target audience comprises.
It provides fodder for your social media. One of the biggest challenges for small businesses trying to get to grips with social media is finding material to publish as status updates. Having a blog gives you something to share, and you can use the same post over and over again for social networking platforms by picking out individual points to highlight.