How to monetize your brand's blog in 2023

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Are you struggling to monetize a blog? Don't despair.

Whether you run a personal blog or manage the official blog on your company website, you can monetize your blog if you have the right know-how.

There's no exact formula to start making money, but there are strategies you can try to figure out what works best for your content, your business, and your audience. Below, we'll dive into some of these ideas and share some tips from HubSpot's blog leaders themselves.

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Blog Monetization

When you think about blogging, belgium phone number material it's often thought of as a lot of work for little reward. However, blogging can be one of the best ways to generate revenue for your brand or business. Blog monetization is the process of making money from your blog, whether it's for a personal brand or for your company.

How do blogs make money?

Before we dive into monetization strategies, you might be wondering, “how will my blog make money?” You can do this in a variety of ways, including lead generation, affiliate marketing, brand partnerships, collaborations, or advertising. Check out the video below for more blog monetization tips, examples, and a step-by-step guide.


Now that we know some ways blogs can make money, let’s dive into the top monetization strategies for your blog.

How to monetize a blog

1. Assign blog posts to specific conversion points

You can use your blog to generate leads and conversions as a business. “Conversion is the foundation of blog monetization,” says AJ Beltis , senior marketing manager of content strategy and media conversion at HubSpot.

Beltis adds, “Whether it’s an e-commerce purchase, a demo request, or downloading a content offer, it’s imperative that your blog posts point to an intentional, related next step in the buyer’s journey.”

So, you might be asking yourself, “how can I do that?” Beltis’ advice is to ask yourself what someone reading this specific blog post from your company would want or need.

Next, you need to create the assets needed to make the conversion happen through your pages, forms, or website content. After that, you will naturally place your calls to action in your blog post so that readers remember what the recommended next step is.

"By placing these CTAs in the appropriate sections of your blog, you're more likely to capture the attention of high-intent readers. This process puts more readers on the path to becoming paying customers for your business," Beltis adds.


2. Include information about your product or service in your blog posts, but do so sparingly and thoughtfully.

When writing blog posts, it's important that each post isn't just a sales pitch. Your blog posts should provide value to everyone, not just your customers. However, you do need to mention your product or service.

"If you're writing content about the best tools for X, and your product or service is a good solution for that user's search query, I recommend including it in the overall tools roundup to increase exposure and ideally drive more prospects and customers to your business," says Caroline Forsey , senior marketing manager on the Hubspot blog team.

"This is one of the most effective ways to monetize your blog in the long run, particularly since that same piece of content could provide your business with potential customers in the next 3 to 5 years," he says. Again, this doesn't mean you should always be promoting your product or service.

Forsey adds that you risk damaging your blog's reputation if you do this too often or out of the appropriate context. "Readers don't want to see a 'buy my product!' CTA on content that's irrelevant to the solution," she says. "If they get the sense that your content is nothing more than a gimmick or a hidden advertisement, they'll distrust your brand as a whole," she adds.

To avoid this, Forsey suggests mentioning your product or service only where it makes sense and in a list of other tools you would recommend for businesses. This way, readers will feel like you are providing useful information so they can make their own decision based on their needs.

"Trust me: If readers enjoy reading your content and feel that your brand is genuinely helpful, they will give your product or service a second look," he says.


3. Create a lead funnel for your product

If you work in a B2B company or have a long sales cycle, reading a blog post is often the first interaction a potential customer will have before making a purchase. It’s also the most crucial stage of the inbound funnel.

Attracting your audience's attention with useful, educational content creates a larger pool of people to convert into leads and close customers. Your blog marks the beginning of a relationship with your consumers.

Lestraundra Alfred , managing editor of Marketing News, says, "If you're looking to increase your blog's exposure, your content should help bridge the gap between the problem the reader is trying to solve and your product, which can serve as a solution."

"By creating content that your ideal customer is searching for and interested in, you can build a strong community of readers who are a great fit for your product and, when nurtured, can become customers for your business." Ideally, you'll want to create compelling blog content that your audience can easily discover through a Google search or on social media.

You can also pay to expand your distribution on Facebook, which has the best targeting tools of all the social media sites and is cost-effective, or through paid search, which can get you to the top of Google SERPs, although some keywords can be quite expensive.

Once people start consuming your blog content and want to read it on a consistent basis, they will sign up for your email subscription. This way, those who were once strangers to your brand will become regular visitors.

When these visitors read enough blog posts, you can entice them to download conversion offers, as Beltis mentions. You can then nurture qualified leads with more blog posts via emails or Facebook ads.

Consistently educating them and helping them solve their problems will boost their confidence, making it more likely that they will move toward the middle of your funnel when they are ready.

Finally, once you see that they are researching your product or service, whether by reading case studies, requesting a demo, or trying to contact sales, you can move them to the bottom of the funnel where the sales team will qualify their fit.

Your sales department will convert some of these leads into customers, and they'll thank you when they do: your blog made your brand known.