Sales and marketing are probably two words that people avoid like a plague.

People hate to be sold.

What if you are a sales person, a marketer or a service professional who tries to dip your toe into marketing?

Perhaps you don’t feel like being rejected. You may think marketing takes too much time. Or probably you don’t like to push people into buying your product or service.

The fact is, traditional online sales and marketing messages have become less effective nowadays.

When did you feel paying attention to a banner ad on a web page? I bet it was long time ago. I didn’t even recall when it was the last time I clicked on one.

Even if we clicked, chances were we arrived at the site feeling suspicious. As the result, the conversion became way more difficult. Feeling pitched, we tend to resist — even if the product or service is great, chances are we are not ready to buy.

Studies have found that old banner advertising yielded an average conversion rate of a fraction of 1 percent. Banners are cheesy. They hurt credibility.

Sound familiar?

It is not because people have anything against your product or service. It is usually also not because of bad product or service. Often, we find the product on the best-seller list is not the best product we know available.

The fact is actually the contrary. People want to solve their problems and improve their life, even it those involve buying.

Whoever could offer a solution to remedy their problem in a way that is perceived as helpful will get the sales. It is an oversimplification of the entire process but still the point is clear.

A blog contributes meaningfully to overcome objections to buying from you. The objections are there naturally but instead of amplifying them with hard selling, we try to demonstrate otherwise by explaining how we actually understand the situation.

Copywriting rules apply as well. We don’t try to cheat people into buying, but we overcome their objections to buy from us.

What people want when doing a search online is information. They may try to compare prices, look for features, see if anybody was in the same situation, and so on.

In cases where the issue is not obvious, they even try to figure out what exactly the obscure problem is.

As a marketer, if only we could provide enough solid information about the problems and potential solutions, our prospects may have clearer view of the situation. They should have seen themselves getting the same kind of results as your past customers.

It goes without saying this process shifts their mindset from defensive to more open to suggestion. They see you as being resourceful, truly understand their problem and willing to help.

A blog establishes this environment perfectly where you can communicate with your own voice and personality, directly to your audience.

There are more things that a blog could contribute to your business as a marketing tool.

Blogging helps you increase credibility and position yourself as a thought leader in your niche. Throughout your blog, you have the chance to show you only adhere to hight standards of excellence.

Those should be reflected in every way in your business including your product or service.

Readers could involve in the process by actually give feedbacks or ask questions as they raise.

As the comments are publicly available for other to see, visitors should be able to decide if you are someone they could trust and want to do business with.

A blog as part of the whole social media tools has changed the way people do their marketing and generally their business online. It is going to stay for the long haul. Understand how it works, and you will not only turn the way you market your business but also your view and mindset toward marketing.

There are much more about creating a blog as a business and marketing tool. If you have not subscribed to the content feed, do so now. Business Blogging Tip email newsletter has quick and actionable tips delivered to your mailbox every week. Don’t miss out.