I have been asked a few times of late to give an example of how a blog can help expand the value of advertisements that are sent to schools.
So here is an example of a blog – it is in fact our blog: https://marketing.schools.co.uk
On this site we put up the daily emails that are sent to you from Schools.co.uk. Emails like this one in fact.
Which then raises the question: what’s the point of that?
First off, rather than being straight advertisements for our products and services I do try to write articles that help our customers get the best possible results when they are advertising to schools, and so the articles can on occasion have a broader appeal.
Which in turn means some readers do occasionally want to refer back to an item that they partially remember – and this site allows them to do so.
And although a website like our blog is not going to be top of the Google rankings when people search for “marketing to schools,” if someone were to type in “online techniques for persuading people to buy things” then we do sometimes pop up on the first page.
Not for every search of course, but sometimes, and that means that occasionally some people who are not on our mailing list are directed towards us.
Second, if someone comes to your main website and wants more information, beyond the technical details and features on your website, the blog could be just what they are looking for.
Now I must stress a couple of points here. A blog can take a while to have an influence so you do need to persevere. Second, if you just put straight adverts on your blog, its influence will be greatly diminished.
Where a blog scores is when it contains information that can be of use to the reader – beyond the information directly related to your product or service.
So effectively we now have three types of writing:
- The benefits of your product or service – this is normally put in the email
- The features of your product or service – this is generally to be found in the on the landing page of the website
- Background information that can be helpful to people who might buy your product – that is information for people who might not necessarily be ready to buy now, but might be at some stage.
Now what we do is try and merge 2) and 3) by writing our features in a more exciting and, dare I say, more informative way than usual. You will, of course, be the judge of that.
Thus a blog is not in any way a short term fix for getting more sales. It is a long term strategy that helps take your brand name or company name into a potential buyer’s mind.
There is one more point. The more entertaining the blog is, the more people will want to read it.
If you would like to talk about how your company could benefit from a blog and what sort of things might be put on a blog relating to your company, by all means get in touch and we’ll be happy to offer our thoughts.
Please do call 01604 880 927 or email Stephen@schools.co.uk
And do please take a look at our blog.
