When talking about the benefits of blogs for business, we cannot escape the concept of the Customer Journey. This concept was first introduced by OxfordSM (formerly: Oxford Corporate Consultants) in 1998.
The concept of the customer journey maps how the interaction between consumers and a brand runs. These interactions are mapped by taking into account the feelings, experiences and motivations of consumers. With this concept, a brand can better understand how consumers perceive the brand itself. The concept of the customer journey helps brands adjust their marketing strategies to match the expectations of potential customers. On the other hand, brands can also find out what channels potential customers are using. Then, brands can design the right way as well as choose the right channel to reach them.
The customer journey starts from the awareness phase (introduction), then consideration, followed by purchase, then retention, to advocacy (promotion). If you look at the illustration above, you can see that blogs appear in several phases of the customer journey. This means that you can use your blog to reach customers at different phases. Basically, no consumer wants to be "asked" to buy a product. That's why, if you notice, many mall goers try their best to avoid salesmen in stores. Any friendly chat from the salesperson will not be interesting because it is clear that the end goal is to get visitors to buy (hard sell).
People prefer a more subtle or soft-selling way of promotion. Various ways of building emotional connections and connections are appreciated. In some cases, potential consumers are not even aware that the content they enjoy is advertising. Only recently have they understood the purpose of the content, which is to subtly influence the purchase of a product or service.