by Deb Haynes Swider & Chat GPT | Jun 9, 2025 | Content, Marketing
AI is changing the game. Fast.
From writing blog posts to generating ad copy, designing images, analyzing audience data, and scheduling content, artificial intelligence has introduced tools that can automate—or at least accelerate—nearly every piece of your marketing workflow.
But here’s the truth: AI won’t replace your marketing team. Not if you care about connection, creativity, and brand trust.
What AI can do is help your marketers focus on the high-value work only humans can deliver: insight, intuition, and strategy.
If you’re wondering where AI fits into your marketing plan (and where it doesn’t), this blog breaks down what AI can and can’t do—and how smart businesses are using it to grow with human guidance.
Why AI Alone Isn’t Enough for Marketing
Despite the hype, there are several core reasons AI cannot fully replace a human marketer. Let’s break them down.
1. AI Lacks Strategic Context
AI can analyze data, but it can’t understand your business goals, industry nuances, or competitive landscape the way a seasoned strategist can. It doesn’t know your brand’s positioning, your customer’s emotional drivers, or your long-term vision—unless a human trains it carefully to do so.
A good marketing strategy isn’t just about tactics. It’s about aligning business objectives with brand storytelling and customer psychology. That takes human brainpower.
2. AI Doesn’t Do Empathy
Human marketers understand tone, timing, and audience sentiment. They know when to push, when to pause, and when to pivot. AI might be able to write a caption or email, but it can’t read the room—or navigate a PR crisis—with nuance and care.
Real relationships (and real loyalty) are built through empathy. That’s something machines can’t manufacture.
3. AI is Only as Good as Its Prompts (and Prompter)
Ever tried using AI to write a blog or post without giving it much detail? The result is usually bland, generic, and forgettable. AI doesn’t create from scratch—it responds to input.
That means it still needs a human to:
- Define the strategy
- Set the brand voice
- Curate the message
- Edit for tone, accuracy, and originality
The better the marketer, the better the AI output. But you still need the marketer.
4. AI Can’t Make High-Stakes Decisions
Should you reposition your brand? Invest in a rebrand? Launch a bold new campaign in response to a market shift?
AI might help you gather data—but those are judgment calls that require experience, intuition, and leadership.
No machine can replace that.
How AI Can Help You Market Smarter (and Faster)
Now that we’ve cleared up what AI can’t do, let’s talk about what it can—because it’s still a powerful tool, especially in the hands of a capable marketing team.
Here are 5 ways AI can boost your marketing efforts without replacing the human touch.
1. Speed Up Content Creation
AI writing tools like ChatGPT, Jasper, or Copy.ai can:
- Draft first-pass blog posts or social media copy
- Brainstorm headline variations
- Reword or repurpose existing content
- Generate basic email sequences or product descriptions
This doesn’t eliminate the need for copywriters—it frees them to focus on creative direction, editing, and conversion optimization.
2. Automate Repetitive Tasks
AI excels at:
- Scheduling content across platforms
- A/B testing subject lines or ad variants
- Tagging and categorizing CRM data
- Managing basic customer service responses
This means more time for your human team to focus on strategy, relationship-building, and innovation.
3. Personalize User Experiences
Using AI-driven tools, marketers can segment audiences, predict customer behavior, and deliver personalized content at scale. AI can:
- Trigger emails based on user behavior
- Recommend products dynamically
- Score leads for sales outreach
With smart implementation, personalization becomes scalable—and effective.
4. Extract Insights from Data
Marketing analytics platforms powered by AI can:
- Surface trends in user engagement
- Flag anomalies in ad performance
- Forecast outcomes based on past behavior
This helps marketing teams make more informed decisions without spending hours in spreadsheets.
5. Enhance Visual and Video Production
Tools like Canva’s Magic Design or Adobe’s Sensei use AI to:
- Suggest design layouts
- Auto-edit videos
- Generate on-brand graphics quickly
This supports faster production—while still requiring a human designer to guide aesthetics and tone.
The Winning Formula: Human + AI
AI isn’t your replacement. It’s your amplifier.
Used well, AI makes your marketing team more efficient, more consistent, and more informed. But it still takes people—people who know your audience, understand your mission, and can make real-time decisions with real emotional intelligence—to drive your brand forward.
If you want to grow your marketing capacity without sacrificing quality or connection, don’t ask how AI can replace people.
Ask how people can leverage AI to do what they do best.
Need Help Integrating AI Into Your Marketing?
Our agency helps purpose-driven brands combine human insight with AI-powered tools to grow faster, connect deeper, and scale smarter.
If you’re looking for ways to use AI without losing authenticity, reach out—we’ll show you where it fits, where it doesn’t, and how to turn it into a strategic advantage.
by Aaron Loveland | Aug 14, 2024 | Best Reasons to Blog, Content
Maintaining an active and engaging online presence is crucial for business success in the digital age. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is through regular blogging. A well-maintained company blog provides valuable information to your audience and significantly enhances your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. This blog will explore why blogging is essential for boosting your Google rankings and growing your business long term.
Table of Contents:
Why is SEO so important in digital marketing?
How does blogging help me rank on Google’s first page?
Use keywords and long-tail search terms for the best SEO results
How does off-page SEO help you get ranked on Google?
Example
Conclusion
How Loud & Clear Marketing can help.
Why is SEO so important in digital marketing?
Search engines – like Google – created the lay of the digital marketing landscape. So, to thrive in their arena, we must follow their rules. Following those rules by utilizing the best SEO practices will earn you visibility, traffic, and prospects.
The Million Dollar Question: How do you get ranked on Google?
If you run a business, you’ve probably already done some SEO research to bolster your digital marketing and help you get ranked on Google. You might have used free site ranking tools or targeted some Google SEO keywords. The best SEO goes beyond keywords to become a marketing strategy.
You might think you need to rank on Google’s first page for your industry niche. However, if you’re a local nonprofit supporting animal shelters, ranking at the top of the national “animal shelter” search result might actually hurt you. Yes, you would get more traffic, but it would not be relevant traffic. Relevance is as important as achieving that rank on Google’s first page, and also one of the best SEO strategies is to rank locally.
Why get to the top of Google’s search results?
Let’s start with the most important fact. According to research from Semrush, the first organic result has an average click-through rate of 22.4%, the second receives 13%, and the third gets 10%. So, the top three web pages that get ranked on Google’s first page enjoy the majority of the traffic.
It seems inevitable that you need to rank on Google’s first page and get to the top of Google’s search results. Luckily, there are a lot of first pages. With a targeted, localized digital marketing strategy, you can rank at the top of the right first page.
How does blogging help me rank on Google’s first page?
Every time someone performs a search, Google searches through billions of web pages stored in its index. However, not all webpages are valued equally because of Google’s SEO keywords process. Google wants to provide reliable information from trusted authorities with proven expertise. For that reason, it assigns value to keywords and then rewards content that uses the keywords Google thinks are important while answering queries asked in Google. Good blogging does just that!
For starters, consistently posting original blog content shows Google your business is active. Companies publishing regular blog content attract eight times more visitors and increase their chances for higher rankings by 434%! That’s partially because blogs generate more indexed pages— more mentions in Google’s vast library.
Furthermore, most blogs repeat a business’s name, address, and phone (NAP), which provides huge SEO help. If your repeated NAP information aligns with your Google My Business Listing, it helps Google verify your business. It also improves your chances of appearing in local search and map results. The top SEO blogs use this geo-targeting to attract local visitors who are much more likely to convert into clients (see our blog on how Google adjusted its best SEO practices to better serve local queries).
How are the best SEO strategies changing with Google’s new generative AI?
Google is always changing, and with it, so are the best SEO practices to get ranked on Google. You’ve probably seen Google’s new Search Generative Experience (SGE). It uses generative AI to write concise, summarizing answers to some queries. But that doesn’t mean blogging isn’t important. To write its answers, SGE uses the top SEO blogs.
How Google determines which top SEO blogs to reference is very similar to the standard Google search engine optimization method. Google favors blogs that consistently demonstrate Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). You can achieve this with a strong backlink profile and content optimization, all of which we will explore in this blog.
Use keywords and long-tail search terms for the best SEO results
There are four types of keywords, and the best SEO strategies use a healthy balance of all four.
- Topic keywords are broad general terms that can represent an entire industry or a blog subject. These work best as SEO research categories to generate blog topics. A local animal shelter might not get ranked on Google for “animal shelter.” However, by regularly posting blogs on that topic, Google’s search engine optimization process will gradually notice them as an authority.
- Targeted keywords: These are focus keywords that directly relate to the content of a blog post. That local animal shelter might identify “foster programs” as a topic keyword and then generate “how to foster a pet” or “pet fostering tips” as target keywords. These targeted keywords can then become entire blog posts.
- Semantic keywords: These keywords support your targeted keywords by demonstrating your content’s depth. These related keywords provide the best SEO support when written organically into your content. Examples: “steps to becoming a pet foster parent,” “benefits of pet fostering,” and “preparing your home for a foster pet.”
- Long-tail keywords: These are much more specific. While they have a lower search volume, they enjoy a higher conversion rate. These keywords have great lead-generation potential because they reflect a user’s immediate intention. For example, when you read “step-by-step guide to fostering cats” and “what supplies are needed to foster a pet,” you know exactly what the searcher wants to do. Use these in your blog’s titles, H2 headings, and subheadings. However, they can also benefit you by being organically woven into the main content, similar to semantic keywords.
What free site ranking tools can help me check my SEO rankings?
- Google Search Console: This is a free tool provided by Google. It can check blog rankings, but it provides much more SEO help.
- Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (AWT): This free site ranking tool scans your website to find which keywords you already rank for.
- Seobility Ranking Checker: Simply enter your domain to check your website’s Google ranking.
- The HOTH Google Rank Checker Tool: Find the top Google SEO keywords already driving traffic to your site.
Remember, most free site ranking tools have limitations that encourage you to purchase the premium version. If you are determined to use free and only free site ranking tools, it’s best to use multiple tools from your digital marketing toolbox to paint a comprehensive, three-dimensional picture. Rankings fluctuate, so check blog rankings regularly for the best long-term marketing strategy. Sometimes, we obsess over individual keyword ranking when we need to step back and see the whole strategy.
If all this SEO research and monitoring feels overwhelming, then you’re not alone! Many small businesses are better empowered to succeed when their SEO marketing strategy is supported by a marketing agency. Businesses that invest in local SEO lead generation enjoy a 40% increase in their online visibility. The best SEO strategies are not one-and-done tactics; they are a continuous effort, but they bring long-term results. A digital marketing agency can provide ongoing SEO research to ensure you always stay competitive.
How does off-page SEO help you get ranked on Google?
Off-page SEO is what you do outside of your website to help you get ranked on Google. The top SEO blogs use backlinks to prove to Google that their expertise is authoritative and trustworthy. Backlinks are when another piece of content links back to another piece of content. We’ve done that several times throughout this blog already. If Google was a traditional library, backlinks are citations, saying “We got this information from this source.” Google’s search engine optimization process sees these as endorsements—votes of confidence – effectively signaling the source must be correct and trustworthy if others are using it.
Ideally, original content organically earns backlinks over time by being competent and trustworthy. However, the top SEO blogs receive additional boosts:
- Guest posting: Your blogger can repost or adapt your original blog content for other reputable websites. You’ll get the best SEO results by contacting industry magazines, local, new sites, or trade publications. Google’s SGE values backlinks as expertise.
- Social media: Promote your content on relevant social media platforms. Engage with your audience, encouraging them to share or engage with it. Google is increasingly including social media posts at the top of its results. For example, year-old Reddit posts are getting to the top of Google search results because people trust them. You can even recycle blog content by breaking it down into more digestible social media posts like short-form videos. However, that kind of marketing strategy deserves its own article (stay tuned).
- Influencer collaboration: The influencer economy is so vast that there are influencers for every business niche, including B2B. Reaching out to influencers provides mutual benefits. Your target audiences can “cross-pollinate” by amplifying each other’s content. You can save the influencer time and effort by providing them with content. Some branding firms go so far as to specialize in influencer marketing. That kind of marketing strategy may become increasingly important as Google evolves. Google’s SGE values social media and user-generated content as experience.
- Good old Public Relations (PR): Before the digital age, PR was how companies promoted their news. A press release could carry newsworthy content from outlet to outlet across the company’s reach. PR is still vital in the SEO age. Today, digital public relations help small businesses grow their reach. Digital public relations can be especially advantageous in promoting content across a local region.
Occasionally, low-quality, spammy backlinks can harm your website’s Google ranking. If your links are associated with a “bad crowd,” Google might think you’re part of that crowd. Luckily, you can use Google’s Disawvow Tool to disassociate your site from those “bad influences.”
Let’s say our local animal shelter partners with a marketing agency to execute a robust SEO strategy. What kind of results might they get?
Their strategy would start with SEO research, guiding their biweekly blogs. If they publish consistently, then their indexed pages will gradually grow, increasing their chances of getting ranked on Google. We already know businesses that invest in local SEO lead-generation enjoy a 40% increase in online visibility. However, visibility takes time and persistence. The animal shelter won’t feel the full results until around six months.
During that time, for example, the marketing agency helps the animal shelter engage with its community. It promotes its top SEO blogs across social media and makes the rounds of guest posting. Its content reaches local newspapers and neighborhood newsletters. A high school volunteer even contributes an article to their school’s newspaper, sparking an influx of high schoolers.
Through social media, the animal shelter connects with a local cat café and dog training school. The three of them swap content and always repost each other’s blogs. The marketing agency discovers a few cat owner influencers in the same region and fosters excellent collaborations.
With patience and persistence, this local animal shelter could generate 67% more leads each month than it did without SEO help. Those leads are also 61% less expensive than leads generated through outbound strategies.
Conclusion:
Incorporating an active company blog into your digital marketing strategy can be a powerful tool for improving your Google rankings and attracting more visitors to your website. Regularly publishing high-quality, keyword-rich content can enhance your lead generation and SEO efforts, build valuable backlinks, and establish your business as an authority in your industry. Take advantage of the numerous benefits that blogging can bring to your digital marketing strategy and long-term lead-generation efforts.
Ready to elevate your business with a strategic blogging campaign?
Our expert digital content marketers will design a customized blogging strategy that boosts your Google rankings and drives business growth. Let’s get started on your path to digital success! Schedule a FREE consultation today!
About Loud & Clear Marketing
LCM was founded in Leesburg, Virginia, by Sharon L. Wright in 2012. Joined by Deb Haynes Swider in 2019, Loud & Clear Marketing is a woman-owned, integrated marketing agency specializing in brand-led lead generation. From branding and public relations (PR) to digital and social media marketing to web development, our team of community builders helps businesses and nonprofits grow so our communities will prosper.
Let’s get started on your path to digital success! Schedule a FREE consultation today!
by Aaron Loveland | Aug 7, 2024 | Analytics, Content, Lead Generation, Marketing
Turning prospects into loyal clients is crucial for sustained business growth, especially in this ever-increasingly competitive landscape. Every buyer navigates through a consumer path, and every business is unique, so how do you build a funnel for sales?
Whether you’re a marketing manager, sales professional, or business owner, you probably already have a rough idea of your sales funnel. Analyzing it, breaking it down into manageable steps, and improving it with strategic actions will help your business grow. Continuing with an unclear or disorganized lead path can stunt your growth, hurt your brand, and waste your sales team’s time.
We’ve helped dozens of businesses optimize their lead paths, from local mom-and-pop stores to national franchises. In this blog, we’ll offer valuable insights and practical tactics from our experience. Let’s dive in and master your sales funnel strategy.
Table of Contents:
- How do you identify and attract quality prospects?
- What are effective lead-generation techniques?
- How do you nurture leads for maximum engagement?
- How do you convert leads into clients?
- How do you measure and optimize your lead path?
- How can Loud & Clear Marketing help?
How do you identify and attract quality prospects into your inbound marketing funnel?
To build a sales funnel and achieve conversion rate optimization, start by identifying your target audience and creating buyer personas—detailed but fictional profiles of your ideal clients. Most small businesses look to their existing clients to build buyer personas. In the beginning, a branding and marketing agency might study a competitor’s target audience to identify new opportunities and ways to differentiate.
For your consumer mapping, utilize available metrics— internal sales data, website analytics, and social media insights. You can also conduct customer interviews to gain deeper insights into their motivations, challenges, and preferences.
The goal is to develop a professional, demographic, and potentially psychological profile to guide your sales funnel strategy. For example, one corporate photographer might identify and target event coordinators, while another corporate photographer specializes in headshots and targets a Chief Brand Officer.
Buyer personas are not rigid boxes every prospect must neatly fit into. They are helpful comparisons to build a sales funnel around. Buyer personas help you understand how potential leads make decisions so you can draw them into your digital customer journey. Once you know what resonates with them, you can craft compelling content specifically around their interests and needs.
The first stage of a digital marketing sales funnel is the awareness stage. At this point in the digital customer’s journey, you must build trust by establishing your business as an authority. You can do this several ways, including but not limited to:
- Blog Posts: These informative articles educate your audience, answer common questions to get found on the web, and gradually build your domain authority and your SEO rankings.
- Whitepapers: These provide in-depth insights and research findings. They can generally be referred across an organization, helping them address a pain point.
- eBooks: These offer comprehensive guides on relevant topics. If written well, they might be referenced for years to come.
In general, you should focus on crafting supportive content that will strengthen your sales funnel strategy. However, that is only one half of the equation. You must engage with your target audience to start their digital customer journey and feed your inbound marketing funnel.
- SEO Optimization: This goes hand-in-hand with blogs. Use your target audience’s common questions to generate keywords you can target in your blogs.
- Social Media Promotion: Use the consumer mapping research you did for the customer personas to find your target audience’s social media channels.
- Targeted Advertising: Use your consumer mapping research to pinpoint the best target for your advertising. Use Google and social media ads to attract the right prospects.
What are effective lead-generation techniques?
Effective lead generation comes down to understanding your audience. You know the English proverb, you attract more flies with honey? Spark lead generation by providing helpful resources to potential customers.
- Lead Magnets: This lead generation content takes the form of valuable resources like checklists, templates, and reports. The idea is to provide content your audience will use in their work. Valuable lead gen content gradually grows trust and keeps you at the top of your leads’ minds as an authority.
- Webinars: Live sessions are a great way to engage with prospects personally. A moderated Q&A can help you build a rapport. Engaging with your target audience at this point of their digital consumer journey grants insight into their consumer path. You might learn new challenges, pain points, and preferences you can address by talking with your prospect.
- Landing Pages: Landing pages are web pages specially designed for conversion optimization. To achieve this conversion rate optimization, build yours with a specific call-to-action (CTA) in mind. In this sense, they become a mini funnel for sales. For something with a low buy-in, like an online course, you can address all of your target’s fears, uncertainty, and doubts (FUD) on one page. However, something with a higher buy-in, like B2B software, will require a more robust sales funnel strategy.
The lead generation content above drives prospects from the awareness stage to the interest stage. These engagement tactics use that interest to promote a specific action, driving your prospects into the next phase: appraisal/consideration.
- Call-to-action (CTA) Buttons: CTAs written with your consumer path in mind can provide conversion rate optimization. The optimal CTAs for each stage depend on your overall sales funnel strategy. Using the landing page example above, a software provider would enjoy a higher conversion rate with a product demonstration CTA than a buy-now CTA. Think of CTAs as stepping stones bridging the digital customer journey.
- Gated Content: Premium content often requires an email address to access. If you have successfully proven yourself an expert and piqued your prospect’s interest, an email is a great price.
- Sign-Up Forms: Sign-up Forms are very similar to gated content. Sign-up forms work best and enjoy the greatest conversion rate optimization when they are simple. The goal is to make it as easy as possible for your prospect to sign up.
How do you nurture leads through conversion optimization?
Even if your awareness content has attracted the highest-quality prospects and they’re interested in your branding, they might still not be ready to buy. These are called not-yet-ready (NYR) prospects and are still valuable to your sales funnel strategy. B2B services only have around a 2% conversion rate. In other words, only 2% of your target audience will need your services at any given time.
Use this time along the digital customer journey to nurture leads. People want to do business with people and brands they know, like, and trust. This phase of the consumer path focuses on expressing your brand and providing content that’s about them.
- Email Newsletters: Regular newsletters can serve as regular touchpoints with your leads. Newsletters keep you top-of-mind. Your brand name will be there when an NYR prospect resumes their digital customer journey.
- Personalized Content: Make your offer about them. Tailor content around a lead’s interests, behaviors, or needs. For example, an advertising & marketing agency that targets non-profits might provide content personalized to specific causes. If your sales team keeps detailed notes of leads through the consumer path, they can reference those details for a personalized touch.
- Drip Campaigns: Drip campaigns automate sending timely, relevant emails. Most sales funnel CRMs can set up drip campaigns based on specific triggers or time intervals. Drip campaigns prevent dormant leads from falling through the cracks while ensuring leads receive the right information at the right time.
The content above goes hand-in-hand with the engagement tactics below to effectively build a sales funnel.
- Segmented Email list: Not every lead circling your inbound marketing funnel is the same. Divide your leads into smaller, more specific groups based on demographics, behavior, or purchase history. Catering to these segments will improve your conversion rate optimization and reduce the number of recipients who unsubscribe.
- Personalized Follow-Ups: Treat your leads as individuals to show that you understand and care about them. Remember, a sales funnel strategy aims to build genuine connections. Personalized follow-ups foster loyalty and long-term relationships.
- Automated workflows: Automated workflows save you time and energy while providing your leads with the right information at the right time. A sales funnel CRM with automated workflows provides efficiency, consistency, and scalability in the long term.
How does a strong digital marketing sales funnel help to convert leads into clients?
At this point, you’ve attracted quality leads and nurtured them to know, like, and trust you. To complete the sales funnel strategy and close the sale, you’ll have to convince your lead to pull the trigger. So far, they’ve taken small steps along their consumer path. In their eyes, the purchase is the biggest commitment, so you need to address their fears, uncertainty, and doubts.
- Case studies: Case studies, or customer success stories, showcase your past success and results through storytelling. Define the problem, demonstrate how you solved it, and prove the results with data. Case studies are one of the most versatile assets for your entire sales funnel strategy.
- Testimonials: Testimonials can be simple positive reviews on Google or bold block quotes invigorating your marketing materials. Similar to case studies, testimonials can enhance any step of the lead generation process.
- Product Demos: Have you ever taken a car for a test drive before purchasing it? Product demos solve uncertainty and empower your leads to try it out. So far, the digital customer journey has been hypothetical, but product demos make the solution tangible—real.
- One-on-one consultations: Personal consultations empower you to address your leads’ needs. View this as customer journey consulting, where you can turn your branding into a positive, hands-on experience.
- Free trials: Similar to product demos, free trials provide a risk-free way for leads to experience your offerings.
- Special offers: You cannot change a lead’s urgency— either they are ready to buy or not. However, limited-time discounts or packages can incentivize actions, leading to conversion rate optimization.
We’ve divided the phases of a sales funnel strategy into content pieces and delivery methods/engagement techniques. We’ve separated them for easy reading. However, these tactics almost always interweave.
You can leave case studies behind after a product demo, promote testimonials across social media channels, and share new case studies via your newsletter. When you view your sales funnel strategy like that, it sounds less like a funnel for sales and more like an elaborate dance. Partnering with a branding and marketing agency becomes especially advantageous. Like a dance partner, a marketing agency can launch you in the right direction.
How do you measure and optimize your lead path?
There is always room for improvement in any sales funnel strategy. Before optimizing your consumer path, you must measure your current sales funnel. Analytics reports and multiple performance metrics allow you to view your lead path from several angles. For example, conversion rate measures the percentage of leads converting into customers, customer acquisition cost (CAC) calculates the total cost of acquiring a new customer, and funnel velocity measures how quickly leads move through each stage.
Most sales funnel CRMs offer built-in reporting. Performance metrics are quantitative data; we can refine our sales funnel strategy with qualitative data— customer feedback. Asking for reviews is always helpful, but we must go deeper. Customer surveys allow you to collect more in-depth data from more clients.
Use this data to update and refine your sales funnel strategy regularly. You can even do A/B testing to further your conversion rate optimization. A/B testing is when you use two versions of the same content (like a landing page or drip campaign) to see which performs better. It’s a cost-effective way to make data-driven decisions.
Conclusion:
Mastering the lead path is essential for any business looking to grow and succeed. By understanding and optimizing each stage of the journey from prospect to client, you can increase your conversion rates and build a loyal customer base. Implement the strategies this guide discusses to enhance your marketing and sales efforts and watch your business thrive.
Ready to take your lead conversion process to the next level?
Schedule a free consultation, and let’s discuss your lead path and how we can help you convert prospects into clients!
About Loud & Clear Marketing
LCM was founded in Leesburg, Virginia, by Sharon L. Wright in 2012. Joined by Deb Haynes Swider in 2019, Loud & Clear Marketing is a woman-owned, integrated marketing agency specializing in brand-led lead generation. From branding and public relations (PR) to digital and social media marketing to web development, our team of community builders helps businesses and nonprofits grow so our communities will prosper. You can find more information about Loud & Clear Marketing at www.LoudandClear.today.
by Loud and Clear | Jul 16, 2020 | Best Reasons to Blog, Content, Marketing, Media Relations, Public Relations
Give Your Business Brand a Personal Touch. Use Your Blog To Tell a Humanizing Story.
Loud and Clear Marketing has a vision for your business’ success. Our sights are squarely set on helping every client make progress toward business goals by helping them harness the power of a compelling, storytelling company blog.
Regularly publishing unique blog content on your company website is among the most surefire ways to set your business apart from the crowd. LCM has taken a deep dive into the top reasons why blogging works in this Best Reasons To Blog series. Of all the reasons a company should be blogging, this one is probably our favorite:
Every blogpost is a golden opportunity to create a new impression in the mind of a potential customer. Tell a story or two. Talk about local happenings. Make a human-to-human connection with your blog content. Write posts on your company blog that engage with the people in your target market. Let your business be something that’s knowable, friendly, and personal.
Always be thinking about the stories your company can tell that will connect with the folks in your target market. For example:
- Tell your origin story. Why did you get into the business? What’s your background? For a family business, let’s meet the family. Sole proprietors, tell us how you got your start.
- Out and about? Attend a recent event? Sponsor a local Little League team? Host a charity drive? Every single engagement with the community you serve is a story waiting to be told. Don’t keep it a secret!
- Show the grow. Hit a company milestone? Reaching a new level of customers, revenues, or years in business is a worthy story. Take pride in the business? Benefit from the hard work of your employees? Grateful for all your customers? Say so in a blog.
- Introduce us! Have you hired a new key employee lately? Is someone retiring after years of dedicated service? Did a member of your staff just earn a new professional certification? Then let’s meet them…by blog!
In recent years, businesses have made blogging a greater part of their marketing outreach – and for some very good reasons.
According to stats reported at http://www.impactbnd.com/blogging-statistics-55-reasons-blogging-creates-55-more-traffic, 77% of all Internet users regularly read blogposts, and 61% of online consumers have purchased something due to a recommendation in a blogpost.
Moreover, the Content Marketing Institute says that 70% of consumers would rather learn about your company through articles (such as a blogposts) than through ads (https://www.launchwaymedia.com/blog/2017/7/11/10-stats-that-prove-startups-and-small-businesses-need-pr), and 81% of businesses reported that company blogs are critical to their marketing success.
Let Loud and Clear Marketing help you set your sights on success and reaching your business goals.
Contact Loud and Clear Marketing by phone at 703-261-4252 or on our website. Let’s get to work designing a custom blogging strategy. Let’s tell the stories that build lasting personal relationships between your company and your customers.
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LCM’s Best Reasons To Blog In 2020: A Five-Part Blogpost Series
Reason One: Boost Your Google Rankings With Better SEO
Reason Two: Get More Leads, Earn More Business
Reason Three: Define Your Company’s Unique Sales Proposition
Reason Four: Establish Credibility as THE Local Leader In Your Industry
by Loud and Clear | Jul 16, 2020 | Best Reasons to Blog, Content, Marketing, Media Relations, Public Relations
Blogs Show What You Know Through the Three E’s: Establish Credibility. Educate Customers. Earn a Reputation.
Loud & Clear Marketing has always been in the business of helping clients creatively show off their industry expertise through a variety of media and marketing tools. Our specialty lies in setting our clients on a path to help them define themselves and create effective ways to be in the best position to be seen as THE local leaders in their market and industry.
Nowadays, we have a (relatively) new trick in our bag: Blogging. One of the most effective, most creative methods for a company or organization to demonstrate its market leadership is through a steady stream of brand-defining content known as a blog.
If you aren’t publishing a regular (and interesting!) company blog, you’re missing out. But your competition isn’t.
A blog is one of the most powerful tools in the modern marketing toolbox. Blogs enable businesses to build authority as THE preeminent thought leaders in the local industry. Blogs enhance your company’s reputation in the local community, making you THE go-to reliable resource for your products and services.
Blogging keeps your company front-and-center and top-of-mind with customers. How? Through a process we like to call The Three E’s: Establish, Educate, Earn.
— Establish presence and credibility, both online and in the real world.
It pays to tell folks where you are. Especially if you’re in a field service business, such as an HVAC repair company, or a neighborhood business like a family restaurant, be sure to mention all the towns, cities and localities your company serves in all your blogposts. (Doing this provides a valuable SEO boost, like we discussed in Reason One of this special LCM Blog Series.)
Along with establishing your geographic presence, use your blog to establish your professional credibility. Assume the role of THE local authority in your industry. Talk about the latest news and developments. Tell the customer why it matters. Share insightful stories from behind the scenes.
Speak directly to customers and potential customers in your market. Let them know you’re there – and that you’re there for them!
— Educate current and future customers about the value your business brings.
You know you’re better than the competition. But why? Blogs provide the ideal platform for a company to reach its customers and prospects, and show off the unique value you provide.
What does your company do, and how does it do it? Tell stories about problems your company has solved, experiences you’ve gone through, ways you’ve grown and expanded. Identify your company as THE local leader.
Post confident, authoritative blogs. Talk about interesting stuff. Add in a bit of multimedia flair (videos, pics, graphs and graphics). Let customers know what they’ll get when they do business with you. Relate useful information, describe technical details, tell real-life stories that demonstrate without a doubt your business knows its stuff.
— Earn a reputation of quality and trustworthiness.
Blogging is an inescapable component of marketing. It’s so essential, in fact, that a stat from http://www.inpactbnd.com/blogging-statistics-55-reasons-blogging-creates-55-more-traffic points out that 56% of businessowners have successfully used blogs to position their companies as thought leaders within their markets.
The Fear Of Missing Out is very real. Don’t get FOMO-ed out of more customers, sales and profits. If your company isn’t blogging to establish itself as THE industry authority within your market, your competitors will be happy to fill the gap for you.
Let us help you communicate your company’s expertise, experience and hands-on knowledge. Contact Loudoun Clear Marketing at 703-261-4252 or https://loudandclear.today/consultation/. We can help you implement a customized blogging strategy geared to your company’s strengths, and help you build trust with your customers through regular blogging of useful, unique content.
Whatever you’re in the business of, be the business people want to do business with.
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LCM’s Best Reasons To Blog In 2020: A Five-Part Blogpost Series
Reason One: Boost Your Google Rankings With Better SEO
Reason Two: Get More Leads, Earn More Business
Reason Three: Define Your Company’s Unique Sales Proposition
Reason Five: Engage Directly With Customers and Make a Personal Connection To Your Company
by Loud and Clear | Jun 13, 2020 | Best Reasons to Blog, Content, Marketing, Media Relations, Public Relations
What Truly Puts Your Business Above the Competition? Highlight Your USP With Blogging.
Loud and Clear Marketing is all about casting a laser focus on the best way to tell a clients’ unique story – and there may be no better way to reinforce your company’s unique story than through a blog.
Developing your story involves digging deep into what sets you apart from the competition. Think about your company in the context of its industry. What does your business offer that no competitor offers? What are your difference-makers, your distinguishing qualities, your value-added differentiators? What is your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?
Your company has its own USP…probably more than one. A company’s unique selling proposition is a specific benefit your company provides which customers could not get doing business with any competing company. Companies often draw their USPs from their mission statements, industry experience, or service offerings.
What problem does your company solve for its customers better than anyone else?
Blogposts are the perfect medium to answer those questions. In 1,000 words of skillfully written content – together with pictures, videos, graphics, and other multimedia to tell the story – a blog defines your company’s unique sales proposition and disseminates it on the Internet for all to see.
If the goal is to set your business apart from competing companies in your market, blogging works.
- According to a statistic reported on HubSpot at http://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics, 55% of companies with blogs on their websites make blogging their top inbound marketing strategy and report seeing benefits from their blogging.
Let’s tell the story only your company can tell. Let’s take advantage of your company website to make your unique selling proposition absolutely clear. Let’s blog about the products, services, experience, certifications, education, community involvement or company history that really set your business above the competition.
Let’s get started blogging in 2020. Talk with Loudoun Clear Marketing at 703-261-4252 or https://loudandclear.today/consultation about designing a customized blogpost strategy that brings out your company’s most unique qualities…and brings out the customers.
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LCM’s Best Reasons To Blog In 2020: A Five-Part Blogpost Series
Reason One: Boost Your Google Rankings With Better SEO
Reason Two: Get More Leads, Earn More Business
Reason Four: Establish Credibility as THE Local Leader In Your Industry
Reason Five: Engage Directly With Customers and Make a Personal Connection To Your Company
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