7+ Reasons Why Blogging Should be One of Your Aviation Marketing Tactics

Let’s chat about blogging. Blogging first appeared in the early 2000’s and by now we should all know what it is. Just ask anyone, they will probably say something like “an online journal” which can be true, but the formal Oxford definition is actually a lot more business minded.

Noun – a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Pretty interesting right? Especially right now when content is king in the marketing world. Yet in Aerospace and Defense blogging has been slow to grow as a leading marketing tactic– which I find very interesting and hard to believe as a marketer. Especially when there are so many advantages to blogging and on its surface doesn’t appear hard to do. Could it be because it requires a consistent effort in either curating and/or writing appropriate and relevant content?

Why should your aerospace business be blogging?

• Blogging is a very cost-effective tactic (can even be free once it’s up and running on your website)
• It is an effective long-term marketing tactic (definite bang for your buck)
• It really doesn’t take up too much time or resources
• It is an easy task to share

Still not convinced – let me hit you with a few more quick facts…

• 409 million internet users read about 20 billion blog pages monthly
• 53% of marketers prioritize blogging as primary content marketing strategy
• Blogging continues to flourish with 12% increase in the last 5 years
• Blogs were ranked the 5^th most reliable source of information
• 63% of consumers have purchased items recommended in a blog post
• 77% of internet users (worldwide) enjoy reading blogs
• People in the US alone read blogs 3x more than emails

But let’s dig a bit deeper here and talk about the overall business advantages to blogging as applied to the Aerospace, Aviation, and Defense market.

Back up your claim of being “The Market Leader”

All aerospace businesses strive to be the market leader and believe it or not – blogging can help position you to be just that. By blogging, you are consistently creating helpful content about your area of expertise which helps to prove your credibility but also builds trust with your readers over time. Also the more content you have online – the more your content will be discovered and the more known you will become. But you need to be purposeful with your blog.

Some things to keep in mind when you blog:

• To prove expertise, you need significant coverage of the topics you want to be known for
• Don’t just talk about your products, discuss your industry as a whole to prove your place in it while adding your own commentary so readers understand your company position
• Make sure your content is valuable to your customer or potential customers and furthermore – understand who your audience is
• Don’t be afraid to discuss your trade secrets. I know this probably just gave you a bit of heartburn but let me explain – We’re living in the age of the internet; if anyone wants to find out how to do something, they can do so very easily. But your business isn’t solely based on you knowing information; it’s also about your experience and expertise. So go ahead and give them something (Kelly Samuel, Snack Toronto)

Helps with SEO

The term SEO can feel daunting but really it doesn’t need to be. In our blog “SEO for (Aviation) Dummies” we explore the various facets of SEO –  one of our main points is that SEO comes down to the quality of your website and its content.

In addition to being one of the quickest and easiest ways to add content to your website, blogging specifically helps boost SEO by positioning your website as a relevant source for your customers’ questions or needs. Blogs with useful content demonstrates (to both Google and your audience) that you can be a trusted source of information and should rank well in SERP results.  And, the more content you provide, the more search engines have to crawl and index. So as long as your blogs include helpful and relevant content – it will boost your SEO.

Return Website Traffic

When pulling website analytics for our clients in the Aerospace & Defense industry that DO NOT have a blog – the website traffic is almost always 90+% new traffic . This is because there is very rarely anything new or exciting being added to the website on a regular basis for visitors to explore – so why should they come back? A blog is a great way to keep your website traffic engaged and interested. Why is this important? Well for starters it keeps your company top of mind – so when there is a need related to what you offer, you are the first brand that comes to mind. Additionally, if the traffic is your customers, it can turn them into brand enthusiast.

Why should we care?

• Repeat customers spend more (300% according to RjMetrics)
• Repeat customers are easier to sell to
• New customers cost more (by approximately 5X)
• Repeat customer promote your business (they refer 50% more people)
  

Subscribers – the more eyeballs the better

Looking to build an email list? Start a blog. If you provide helpful, relevant, and interesting information on a consistent basis – people will subscribe. You will also earn their trust and they will be interested in what you have to share. And why ultimately do we want subscribers? They are now people who we can market even more to . . . and they actually want to hear from us.

Speaking of which – you can subscribe to our blog here  Subscribe

Teach and explain more about your products & services

Our industry is quite unique. We are constantly developing new products or technologies often focused on a specific niche. Being so specialized can make it challenging to be found in search results and drive high traffic numbers to our websites. Blogging is a great way to create context around our areas of expertise and help better explain more about them and why our prospects should care. It also is a great space for us to answer FAQs before they are asked – making the buying process just a little bit easier for our prospects.

Fuels your social media

Social media – to be honest, I have mixed feelings here with our industry, but as new generations enter the Aerospace and Defense workforce, social media marketing will be inevitable. Social platforms are a great place to connect with your customers, increase awareness and can potentially boost your leads and sales. Blogging helps to create an endless supply of shareable content that can help to fuel your social media.

Develop New Sales Funnels

Blogging can actually help you develop new sales funnels. How? Well it all depends on your blogging strategy but if you use your blogs to link internally, lead to product pages, and embed forms where appropriate you can create a strategic path that converts traffic into sales. It’s like having a 24/7 salesperson.

How to get started?

When first starting off – it is easy to over think this but really you just need to get started.

What you can do today:

1. Add a blog to your website (your web developer can help with this)
2. Create a posting schedule (how often can you create and post new content consistently. We recommend at least once a month when starting out but the more the merrier.) Create that consistency, even if slow in the beginning, and then build and grow.
3. Create a list of topics
   1. What products do you want to expand on?
   1. What keywords do you want to show up for?
   1. What are the top questions your sales team gets asked?
   1. What makes you unique?
   1. What current events are affecting our industry? Maybe you have a unique take on them?
4. Start Writing

Or give us a call – we can help! Contact us

Happy blogging!