In this article, we’ll walk you through the top three reasons why the general consumer population is driven to read blogs.
We’ll also show you how to create blog content that fulfills your reader’s needs while still subtly spreading brand awareness.
3 Reasons People Read Blogs
1. People read blogs to learn something new.
By far, the most common reason that people will read a blog post is to learn something new. This result doesn’t surprise us at all.
Why? Posts that include guides, step-by-step processes, tutorial videos, or fast-facts often gain a large amount of search traffic. This is because people are looking up instructions for how to do things on Google every day.
Even when posts aren’t informing people of how to do something on a granular level, blogs that discuss complex topics such as studies, trends, or topics people are less familiar with can pique a person’s curiosity.
Psychologically, people crave new information similarly to how they crave food. As a blogger, you can harness this to create content that both piques curiosity, while discussing topics related to your brand, service, or products.
For example, on the Marketing Blog, we might show our readers how to publish an Instagram Story. By doing this, marketers or social media users who want to learn how to do this could find our content in search or on social media and read it to learn how to create this content.
On a broader scope, our blog might create multiple pieces of content that discuss a trend from multiple angles. For example, when the app TikTok emerged, we wrote a few blog posts to answer common marketer questions like, “What is TikTok?”, “How do brands market themselves on TikTok?”, or “How do you leverage influencer marketing on TikTok?”
Aside from helping our readers, guide or trend-related blogs allow us to highlight the level of research and knowledge we’ve gained as marketers. This could also demonstrate to a prospect that Green Stick is a credible company that sells quality products within the marketing industry.
2. People read blogs to be entertained
While people crave knowledge, they also like to be entertained. Each day, people might read blogs that tell interesting stories, make them laugh, or intrigue them in some other way.
But, as a business blogger, You might be asking yourself, “How can I entertain my readers while still keeping my blog professional?”
The truth is, when you think creatively, there are a number of ways you can entertain your audience while still staying on brand.
For example, you could create a fun infographic or photo post about a viral trend in your industry. While your readers might not be willing to invest in this viral trend, the imagery and information about the trend might entertain them. In one of our posts, we highlighted funny memes that marketers used in their actual campaigns.
Alternatively, you could also create a fun, but informative, video or podcast to go with your blog post. With this added layer of content, you could dive deeper into discussing a viral marketing trend, or interview an industry expert that people in your field follow. While this might not be “entertaining” for people outside of your industry, it might be more interesting than the average blogs people in your field might be reading.
3. People read blogs to learn about trends related to their job industry.
While people might not be interested in reading blogs that specifically discuss your product or brand, they could be more intrigued by a blog that discusses an industry your product and service is affiliated with.
While the poll result noted in the introduction came from general consumers with mixed professional backgrounds, it’s likely that those in the workforce will read a blog if it educates them or provides them with valuable information about their industry.
One example of a brand that discovered how industry experts read its industry-themed blog is American Scientist. Recently, the science blog conducted a study to learn about what motivated its blog readers to visit its site. They found that the average reader was either highly educated in science and technology or was actively working in STEM fields.
American Scientist also discovered that these readers, who already had some expertise on the topic, weren’t interested in general science news. They were actually interested in reading the American Scientist blog for specific “nuggets” of new scientific information, studies, or findings.
From the above study, and what we’ve learned when developing Green Stick’s Marketing, Sales, and Service blogs, industry experts or professionals will read blogs to learn something more specific about their industry.
While it can be great to run with one successful content type, the blogs with the most credibility and quickest growth often have a mix of content that entertains and informs readers, makes them aware of brands or products, or teaches them something new. And, with 9% of consumers saying that they’ll read blogs for “all” reasons listed, there’s a good chance that a mix will intrigue and fulfill the reading needs of multiple groups.