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Is Blogging a Thing of the Past?

by Carrie Ashley

Hang Around

Copywriting

Remember the days of Bloglovin’?

Yeah. Me, too. I’m not ashamed to admit I used to read my digest emails religiously.

But in this new decade, blogging has taken a backseat to creating social media captions and Instagram Reels that inspire engagement and connections off the screens (hello, new clients and customers!).

Or…so it seems.

If you’ve been wondering what’s up with blogging in this new decade, trust me when I say you’re not alone. Lately, a few of my business friends have been asking me the same exact thing.

So, I figured it was time to share my two cents.

Want the tl;dr answer upfront?

Blogging is far from being a thing of the past. It’s actually evolving.

And here’s why.

The more blog posts you write…

The more opportunities to rank on those infamous pages of Google Search (if you do it right!).

The more traffic you bring to your site.

The more people will engage (and become familiar) with your brand.

The more leads you get for your products and services.

Makes sense, right?

But let’s unpack that a bit more.

If you’re anything like my clients and business friends, this question runs on a loop:

“What do I post about on social media today?”

Well, guess what?

Blog posts can help put an end to that. 

No, I’m not talking about those “shorties” you see sprinkled across the Internet.

I’m talking about those blog posts that have at least 1,200 words, which means some seriously good takeaways that prove to be valuable to your people.

Because, let’s be honest: it’s frustrating to click on a headline you think will give you something good, only to find out it’s a basic blog post that clearly avoids getting into the nitty-gritty.

*cue frustrated readers and losing out on leads*

Not to mention, Google actually favors in-depth content that provides tons of value.

Okay. I know what you’re probably thinking.

1,200+ words?! I can BARELY come up with the right things to say in an IG post.

But the good news is, you probably already have a running list of topics you can (and want to) write about. Topics you’re well-versed in, meaning, much to your surprise, when you sit down at your computer to type away, the knowledge you have to dish out comes naturally. So much so that, before you know it, hitting the brink of that word count won’t be top-of-mind. You might even go wayyyy over it from time to time!

And what if you struggle with the first step: coming up with blog post topics? Well, when you make time to create a strategic content calendar (based on what your reader wants to hear about, not what you want to write about), you’ll find it’ll be your new content creation best friend. (If you can’t imagine doing this yourself, my Pattern collab experience can help!)

Now that we’ve covered that, back to the original question:

How can blog posts put an end to the “what to post on social media” dilemma? 

Because it’s a macro piece of content, meaning you have quite a bit of goodness woven into your post (hello, that’s what’s up when you weave together 1,200+ words!), which you can essentially splinter off for your micro pieces of content (ex. social posts, emails).

Here’s how it works:

  1. Write ONE monthly macro content piece (aka a blog post!) on a topic your people will care to read about. (For example, if you’re a brand designer, you could dish out knowledge on how to know when you’re ready for a rebrand OR why your business needs more than just a logo.) I say one to start because you can always build up from there.

  2. After you’ve written it, break up that macro content piece into three to four different, easy-to-digest social media captions to feature in your feed. An easy way to do this? Use your blog post headings as a guide! Personally, I’m a big fan of using a takeaway or two for a text graphic on Instagram (check out this brilliant post from TONIC Site Shop). Oh, and while you probably want to send all that goodness out into the social media universe ASAP, limit it to one to two in a week to keep the momentum going.

  3. Can you keep it going from there? Absolutely! Promote your macro piece to your email list, too. Also, if you’ve been wanting to put Instagram’s video features to the test, go ahead and create a Reel or IG Stories series based on your recent blog post.

The biggest takeaways here? Macro content eliminates the need to reinvent the wheel for every platform. Also, there’s no need to worry about bombarding your people with the same topic over and over again.

When you make good use of the hard work you’ve already put into writing an intentional piece (aka repurposing), you get ongoing value exchange for weeks (maybe even months!) to plant across different platforms for the greatest possible reach.

Maybe you’re the analytical kind…

If that’s the case, the blogging stats don’t lie. Here’s some real proof to back up why you should care about everything I just laid out for you:

  • Sure, the latest trends show bloggers don’t publish blog posts as often as they used to. But they still publish several times a month.

  • 47% of buyers consume three to five pieces of content before making a purchase decision. This stat proves blog posts can be a considerable resource to show you genuinely know your stuff, and you’re the person your people should want to collab with!

  • Blogs are among the primary three forms of media used in content strategies today.

  • Businesses that blog get 55% more website visitors than businesses that don’t.

  • Companies with blogs produce an average of 67% more leads monthly than companies that don’t blog.

  • Businesses that prioritized blogging received 13X more ROI than those that did not.

  • 70% of people would rather learn about a company through articles rather than advertisements.

But even with these real trends and stats in mind, there’s no denying there are some challenges when it comes to blogging. You know, from the time it takes to consistently write successful pieces that keep your reader engaged (hey, it’s been proven that the more time you invest in writing, the better results you’ll get) to creating and sourcing visuals to pair with them, optimizing for SEO…need I say more?

So, if you want to add “write blog posts” to your to-do list, but you feel like you need to outsource to a copywriter to help you do that, send me a note today!

Let’s chat all about how you can get done-for-you content in your hands each quarter.

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