Did you know that companies that have blogs generate an average of 67 percent more monthly leads than companies that don’t?
Or how about the fact that 55 percent of marketing professionals list blogging as their top priority?
You get the point. Blogging is no longer an afterthought. It should be at the forefront of every marketing plan, especially for those in the competitive automotive industry.
But that’s probably not enough to convince you. You’re looking for more concrete information on why blogging for the automotive industry is so important.
Below, we discuss five reasons to start, manage, and promote an auto blog. Let’s take a closer look!
1. Position Your Brand as an Industry Leader
As an auto parts manufacturer or retailer, you know one thing to be true: there’s no shortage of competition. And for that reason, you’re always looking for another way to rise to the top.
When your brand is recognized as an industry leader, customers find you. Not only that, but people trust you to guide them.
Blogging allows you to gain the trust of your audience. You do this by sharing advice and guidance, giving your thoughts on the industry, interviewing influencers in your space, and answering questions (and that’s just the start).
With an automotive blog, you control every aspect of the content. From the topic to the angle to the length, you’re in full control. This allows you to position your brand as you want it to be seen by your audience – and that’s something that auto enthusiasts love.
If positioning your brand (or yourself) as an industry leader is one of your primary goals, focus on creating content that fits into one of these six categories:
- Educational content
- Identification of trends
- Research reports
- Interviews
- Op-eds
- Inspirational content
Not everyone will agree with every piece of content you create. All you can do is stay true to your brand, present accurate data, and let your audience tell you what they do and don’t like.
It’s not easy to position yourself as a leader in the automotive industry, but maintaining a high-quality blog is a good place to start.
2. More Search Engine Traffic for Your Car Blog
With so many ways to drive traffic to your website, it’s easy to overlook search engine traffic. And that’s especially true if you’ve tried and failed at search engine optimization (SEO) in the past.
One of the biggest benefits of blogging is the ability to create content that generates search engine traffic. When this happens, you’re getting targeted traffic for free. No more paying for ads on Google or Facebook.
With 68 percent of online searches beginning on a search engine such as Google, you can’t afford to overlook this opportunity. It’s too good to pass by.
Blogging allows you to create content designed both for users and search engines. You can target keywords related to your industry, products, and services, all with the idea of generating targeted organic traffic.
For example, here are some keywords you may chase as an auto parts manufacturer or retailer:
- Auto parts manufacturer
- Car parts manufacturer
- Auto parts retailer
- Car parts retailer
- Auto parts for the aftermarket
- Auto repair
- Car repair
- Auto parts
- Car parts
- Auto industry news
- Automotive news
- New car auto parts
Imagine that you’re blogging for an aftermarket auto parts retailer. How much traffic could you drive to your website by ranking on the first page (preferably number one) of Google for “auto parts” or a similar keyword?
Well, according to Ahrefs, the term “auto parts” gets approximately 334,000 searches every month.
So even if you don’t make it to the top spot – perhaps just the first page – you’re still in line to receive traffic.
Let’s not sugarcoat it: there’s nothing simple about reaching the first page of Google for competitive keywords. However, with the help of a high-quality blog, you’re in a much better position to reach this goal.
3. A Place to Share Auto News
Where do you turn when you have auto industry news to share? Do you distribute a press release? Do you email your list? Do you rely heavily on social media?
While there are many ways to share automotive news, a blog is one of the best. Here’s why:
- Full control: You have all the space and flexibility you need. This is in contrast to a press release, for example, where you have to work within the constraints of the distribution service. Along the same lines, you can work with other bloggers within (or outside of) your company to assist with content creation.
- You know your audience: Based on past results, you have a general idea of how many people visit your blog everyday. Furthermore, if you dive into the analytics, you’ll come to better understand who’s reading your blog and what they’re looking for. This allows you to create your news accordingly. Maybe you find that your audience is most interested in classic cars, car problems, and anything that has to do with aftermarket Kia parts. This information is invaluable during the blogging process.
- Opportunity to address any type of news: Maybe your company released a new product or service. Maybe they hired a new CEO or CMO. Perhaps you want to comment on the latest news story that’s making its rounds. Again, with full control, you can address any type of auto news that you want. And when doing so, there are no constraints.
Automotive companies, such as those that focus on manufacturing and parts, are never hurting for news to share with their audience. It’s a good idea to distribute your news through as many channels as you can while placing special emphasis on your blogging efforts.
4. Personalized Audience Engagement
It’s one thing to share content with your audience. It’s another thing entirely for them to engage. This is where personalized engagement comes into play.
Here’s a telling excerpt from Salesforce:
Most customers (73%) now expect companies to understand their needs and expectations. Personalization — already recognized by marketers as having a big impact across the customer journey — is a given. Customers want a tailored experience as they progress from first hearing that a company exists all the way through to deciding to buy from them. For example, from seeing your ad on the side of a bus all the way through to clicking ‘buy’ on your eCommerce site. They also want these tailored experiences coupled with concierge-like engagement from customer service.
This goes back to having full control of your auto blog. You don’t have to ask anyone for permission. You can publish what you want, when you want, all with the goal of connecting with your audience on a personal level.
Once you define your target audience, you can then create personalized and engaging content.
Take for example an auto parts aftermarket retailer that’s trying to reach individual car enthusiasts who are interested in electric cars.
What type of blog content can you publish that will pique their interest?
Here are some title ideas:
- The Most Popular Aftermarket Parts for Electric Vehicles
- Which Electric Cars are Most Expensive to Repair?
- Electric Car Reviews: Which Models Are Most Reliable?
- DIY Parts Replacement for Electric Volkswagen SUV Models
- Which Concept Cars Are You Most Excited About?
- Supercars and Sports Cars Are Expensive to Repair: Are You Okay with That?
These titles are personalized with the idea of reaching electric car owners. You could drill down even further, as time and resources allow, with titles such as:
- Which Electric Cars Sell Best in California?
- The Average Cost of Electric Car Parts in the United States
- BMW, Ford, or Toyota: Which Parts are Most Expensive in NYC?
- Which Green Car Do You See Most Often in Miami?
- Used Cars and Road Trips: Check These Parts First
- The Best Electric Car Repair Shop in Chicago
We’ll leave you with this statistic: 74 percent of customers feel frustrated when website content is not personalized. That alone should drive your approach to blogging.
5. More Content and Car Talk to Share
There’s more to a blog post than what you see on the surface.
In its own right, a blog post can attract search traffic, engage your audience, and hopefully keep visitors around long enough to make contact (or even make a purchase).
Since you put a lot of time into creating high-quality content, you don’t want to stop there. Here’s what this means:
- Share your auto blog posts on social media: For example, if you have a large Facebook and Instagram following, use it to amplify your blog posts to your audience. Not only does this allow you to reach people who are already familiar with your brand, but it can also attract a new audience.
- Share it with your email marketing list: You don’t want to share every blog post via email, but doing so every now and again when you have useful information at your disposal is smart. You hope that a good percentage of recipients either respond or visit your website, but even if they don’t, there’s still a chance they’ll read the content. Brands like Automoblog, Car and Driver, and Humble Mechanic do this well.
- Turn it into other forms of content: For instance, pull out the most engaging parts of the post to share on social media. Create a couple of podcasts from the content. Pull a few blog posts together and turn them into a research report or slide deck. This allows you to share the latest news and other content in multiple ways.
When you look at a finished blog post, you should see more than what’s on the page. You should see an opportunity to distribute the content to your audience, while also using it to create other forms of marketing collateral.
You Own Your Automotive Industry Blog
There’s one last thing you need to know about starting an auto blog: it’s yours and no one can take that away from you.
When you share all your content on social media, it can be taken away from you at any moment. Maybe the platform shuts down altogether. Or maybe they decide to suspend or ban your account.
You don’t take this same risk with your own auto industry blog. You create high-quality content on the topics of your choosing, knowing full and well that it’ll stay live on your website until you decide differently.
Look at what other companies have done. Jalopnik, Hemmings Daily, and Motor Trend are great examples. They own all their content, and all their content drives traffic.
Wouldn’t you like to do the same with your auto blog?
Final Thoughts on Winning Big with an Auto Blog
Do you see why blogging for the automotive industry is critical to your marketing success?
While the five points above are reasons enough to maintain a car blog, don’t stop there. The more content you create, the more benefits you’ll discover.
Soon enough, you’ll have an industry-leading blog that positions your brand for success. And along with that comes more traffic, more conversations, and hopefully more revenue!