Not to take away from the amazing results that can be achieve by reaching a large and highly targeted audience with your blog content, but not every benefit of maintaining a business blog is dependent on having huge readership.
The reality for most business blogs, at least when they're first starting out, is that readership can be low... very low.
It can be discouraging to those who are contributing content, and working like crazy to keep a blog afloat to not see unique visitors, page views and subscribers come in droves from the get-go.
Additionally, it can be tough to justify the ROI of your business' blog to supervisors, management or ownership without having incredible reach.
If this feels familiar, don't sweat it. There is huge value to be had in maintaining a business blog, even if your readership is low.
Demonstrate knowledge, expertise and experience
Direct prospective consumers or clients to your blog so that they can learn about your depth of knowledge, expertise, and industry or categorical experience. You don't need massive readership for these incredibly targeted visitors to your blog to experience value from their visit.
If your content is compelling and created to differentiate your business from the competition, you can expect huge conversion rates from these limited visits to your blog.
Feed your social media content pipeline
An article on your blog isn't necessarily just an article on your blog. A single article can easily be reverse engineered into updates for Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn, a multitude of tweets, inspiration for your next YouTube video, a series of Pinterest pins, and more. Needless to say, a single blog post can feed your social media content pipeline and translate to huge value across the various social media properties you are engaging consumers on.
Supplement pitch or RFP submissions
Many pitch and RFP requirements dictate what material is to be submitted, which limits opportunity for some organizations to showcase their the full breadth and depth of their capabilities. While decisions under these circumstances are typically supposed to be made based only on officially submitted materials, it would be negligent to think that there isn't accompanying research done on contending businesses such as yours. Take advantage of this by strategically posting content to your business' blog to support or prop up key capabilities, demonstrate relevant thought leadership to the RFP requirements, or otherwise supplement your case to be awarded the business you're pitching for.
Have you ever been discouraged to continue putting effort into your business' blog? What value have you experienced as a result of maintaining your business' blog?