Are there measurable benefits to blogging?

When my parents bought their first home in the 1960s, there was exactly one Realtor in town, and they went to him and he helped them find their home. When we bought our first home in the 1990s (pictured at the right), we asked our friends who their Realtors were and then chose from there. That's not how clients choose their Realtors any more. There's an avalanche of information on buying and selling a home available at the fingertips of clients - like Trulia - and clients use the internet to learn about the products and services they are interested in. If a business provides useful tools, interesting content, and relevant information, the client will be attracted to the website. If not, then the client might or might not stumble upon the Realtor's name, and that's not a chance I'm willing to take!

Hubspot.com is a provider of online marketing software. They conducted rather in depth surveys and market studies to analyze  how the components of marketing budgets impacted the business. The study considered the difference between what they label as "inbound" and "outbound" marketing strategies. Inbound marketing strategies include Facebook, Twitter, web sites, blogs, and other social media. Outbound marketing strategies include trade shows, print and television advertisements, and direct mail campaigns. 

The results of their market study won't be a surprise to anyone here in Active Rain. Businesses which spent at least 50%  of their marketing budget on inbound marketing strategies spent 60% less per lead (an average of $134 per lead) than businesses that spend 50% or more of their marketing budget on outbound marketing strategies (an average of $332 per lead).

The study went on to compare the various types of inbound marketing strategies and concluded that social media and blogs are the most rapidly expanding category of all marketing strategies. Not only are they the lowest in cost, but they are also among the highest in lead generation. 40% of businesses in this study report that they have acquired at least one customer via social media and blogs. Whereas many people had previously considered social media and blogging to be primarily for the purpose of brand awareness, "street cred" to some, it actually does generate leads that translate into customers.