Are Wellness Blogs Still Relevant?

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“Blogging is so yesterday. It’s all about social now.” True, or false? It’s a question that’s uniquely important in health and wellness, where engagement and trust spell the difference between success and failure.

The best ways to maximize the value of content constantly evolve — and at their core, blogs are just one more channel for content. As new communication channels emerge, blogs too must evolve in order to keep engaging customers with your content.

Blogs have been around for a while, and let’s face it, they’re not new. They’re not sexy. And often, they’re not current — but that’s the fault of the business, not the platform.

The mix of communication channels is constantly shifting. Old-school static web pages have faded from relevance as sexier ways to share information have arrived. Up-to-the minute Facebook Live and Periscope videos and multi-platform tools like Hootsuite make the content’s origin less important than the fact that it is instant and everywhere.

But not so fast. “Hooting” an infographic on your diabetes self-management program in half a dozen different channels isn’t going to suddenly wake up an unoriginal me-too marketing campaign; and going live on Facebook with a feed that says, “Hi… I’m Beth, a nutritionist, and I’m here at the Health Fest at BigCorp Medical” isn’t going to interest anyone, regardless of how cool the latest trendy communication channel is.

Awesome content always rules, and where there is an effective means of sharing it, there will be engagement. The question, then, isn’t whether blogs are relevant, but whether YOURS is.

Your wellness blog is still relevant, if:

  • You’re publishing original content specifically relevant to your target market that resonates with the concerns of your audience.
  • You’re dialed into whatever’s top of mind for your clients or members and your team has a gift for communicating that in writing.
  • You consistently share your original content in high-engagement venues — whatever they may currently be. Right now that’s not just social media tools like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn, but email (see our article on dark social).
  • You’re actively using your website’s blog as a source for trackable email links or to encourage traffic on social (ex: comments and shares).
  • You’re actively using your blog content to spark engagement, build trust, and convey a unique sense of who your business is for and what your business is about.

As a friend of mine likes to say, “if they’re still clicking, it’s still ticking.”

You’re wasting your time if:

  • You don’t leverage the content in your blog posts through coordinated use of social media, email and PPC advertising. It begs the question of why you have one in the first place.
  • You’re just blogging because you were told you need to have a blog.
  • You struggle to think of fresh topics that would interest current or prospective customers.
  • You primarily post “me-too” content that’s commonly found on other websites.
  • You’re counting on affiliate links, sponsored content or display ads to monetize your blog.
  • You think that writing a one-time guest blog will move the needle for your wellness business.
  • You’re hoping to that your blog will bootstrap your currently nonexistent personal brand.

If you’re doing these things, you’re basically on autopilot, or worse, flying without a destination in mind.