Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Reddit. There’s no end to the number of places a business can promote, engage and entertain their customers and potential customers. There’s heated debate over which platform is best for converting readers to buyers. But when it gets down to the actual numbers, blogs win hands down. They’re part of the top three platforms for effective marketing—creating audio/visual content, white papers and article/blog content. Not surprisingly, the three biggest pulling platforms are also the three hardest platforms to execute well. Whether it’s B2B or B2C the goose that lays the golden egg is the website that consistently produces quality content, written, audio or visual. The best social tactics are a lot like the best relationships—they require time, effort and engagement.

I’m not surprised to see that blogs are considered nearly four times more effective as a social media-marketing platform, than advertising on social media. The reason that blogs play into the natural purchasing behavior of prospects is their mind-blowing ability to engage their audience: First they have a thought. Then they validate (research) the idea. Next they consider options. Next they make a decision to buy, wait or drop. Finally, if they decide to buy, they go with the brand that meets their expectations and is the one that they know, like or trust the most.

Blogs naturally support the early stage of research, since they are informative. Blogs may offer consideration options and comments from other consumers. They contribute to the conversation. And if the customer is inclined to make a purchase, they already have an increased “know, like and trust” for the blog, so that site has a leg up on the sale. Readers consider blogs they read regularly like friends. They go there first for word of mouth referrals.

The lesson for you? Start blogging!