"Some of the most dramatic successes we've seen with blogging come from businesses in niche industries," she says.
Kolowich points to the success of tiny Conversant Bio.
The firm boosted leads seven times in 10 months by publishing six posts a month.
When it comes to blogging, the burning question isn't should, but how.
Conversant Bio found the secret to blogging success when it quit being a supplier and became a thought leader.
Instead of publishing hackneyed posts like "10 Benefits of a Tissue Sample for Research," the firm published posts about trends in cancer research.
The posts pulled prospects because they included keywords pharma researchers use when they Google—and not by accident.
Before writing any post, the firm learned the keywords prospects Google by asking cancer researchers. Its writers then created posts that included one or more keywords in the title, subheads, body and meta-tags.
Within 10 months of starting its blog, Conversant Bio saw visits swell to 34,000 a month (70% as a result of Google searches).
The firm turned readers into leads by offering them e-books based on the blog posts.
Conversant Bio's chief commercial officer anticipates a 14,500% ROI in the effort in three years.
