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The right ingredients for your blog post

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Skip to Recipe

Is there anything worse than a typical recipe blog post? 

Imagine: you’re browsing the web on your mobile phone for that perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe to wow everyone at your family’s annual Memorial Day cookout. The top Google results look promising, and you click into the second search result entry with its enticing, ooey-gooey thumbnail: Mary’s Ultimate Soft-Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies (with a Secret Ingredient). Oh, yeah! You’re so ready to break out the flour and sugar and whip up a batch. Your relatives will have nothing but nice things to say if you can reproduce this delightful recipe. Even Aunt Karen with the chip on her shoulder (haha) can’t say no to a great chocolate chip cookie. 

You start scrolling through the recipe post’s introduction. Oh, nice – Mary developed these cookies herself from scratch over years and years of testing. Well, that’s cool. I wonder what kind of chips she recommends using. Ah, here we go, an overview of the types of chocolate chips available and the differences between them. And their origins and popularity levels throughout the globe. Well, I don’t know if I really need that much detail, let’s just skip that paragraph…

Ok, the secret ingredient is oat flour. I can either purchase pre-ground oat flour, or make my own from the oatmeal in my cupboard. That’s helpful. Oh, but now she’s talking about how she started using oat flour due to her son’s gluten allergy…for the next nine paragraphs. Hmmm, it’s almost like she’s just writing to write, or worse, just writing for SEO. 

Oh no, here we go. She mentioned ingredients you can add for a “twist,” and of course one of them is lavender. Whenever food bloggers mention lavender, you know they’re going to talk about- yep, there it is, Mary’s 14-day journal of her culinary exploration in the French countryside. OF COURSE. You’re nearly pulling your hair out as you hiss:

JUST GET TO THE RECIPE, MARY. 

Now, Mary is welcome to write about whatever she likes on her own damn blog. We’re not here to debate that. But Mary, would it have been too much extra effort to add a link at the top for those of us who just want to make your chocolate chip cookies in the next century? I wonder how many readers clicked away from the 20-mile-long recipe post in favor of a simpler (and briefer) offering. 

Your readers are busy, and you want them to get what they need out of your blog posts. Keep in mind the tips below when creating content, in order to whip up a successful and engaging blog post. If you don’t have the time (or desire) to write original content, share quality content to your WordPress, HubSpot, or other blog or website from your PartnerOn account. 

Keep it short 

When possible, keep your blog posts abbreviated and focused on a single topic. Ultimately, your readers are looking for a specific piece of advice or information that will help them learn more about your solution and make a purchasing decision. Recipe posts like Mary’s cause many readers to disengage as she jumps from topic to unrelated topic. Scrolling through 14 pages of content before getting to the recipe card is extra frustrating on a mobile device, where a thumb swiping in even slightly the wrong way can open unwanted ads or even bring the reader back to the top of the page to start all over again. 

Front-load important information

In your own posts, always offer an option to “Skip to the Recipe.” If your piece culminates in a prompt to join an upcoming webinar, include the registration information at the beginning of the post, as well as at the end. If your post is part of a series, link to Parts I and II at the top so that readers know what to expect, and put them back at square one if that’s where they need to be. The easier you make it for readers to find the information you need, the more likely they are to return to you as a reliable source of knowledge. 

Guide them to their next step 

For readers who do want to read more, include links to your other articles within the blog article itself or at the bottom of the page. This is a great chance for you to be strategic about your reader’s next step towards becoming a customer. 

Do you want them to read a related article that digs more deeply into a solution or that presents a use case? 

Do you want them to attend an upcoming virtual event that you’re offering for decision-makers?

Would you rather just invite them to contact you?  

These are all fantastic options to feature under your “Read More” or “Watch Next” subheadings. Just make sure that any links you include are set to open in a new tab, so readers can easily navigate back to your blog article. 

Mom’s on the Zoom!

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Guest post by Arya “Ary-Safari” Shimkus

I remember the old days like they were yesterday. Mom would wake up early in the morning, give me breakfast and snuggles, and then be gone for what seemed like an eternity. I’d spend my days napping, birdwatching, napping, running around, dozing, and also sometimes snoozing. After a few decades, Mom would come home, relieved to kick off her shoes, and of course I would be at the door to happily greet my weary Mama and beg for my dinner. 

Our routine has changed a little, since she’s ALWAYS home now! Mom doesn’t go into the office anymore; she’s brought the office home. It’s pretty awesome. I get to cry for more food whenever I feel like it, and climb all over her laptop during something called a “Zoom.” One time, I looked at the Zoom and saw some other humans and they said I was so cute! I guess a Zoom isn’t so bad, but they say there’s something called Zoom exhaustion where humans get tired from looking at it for too long. I think when that happens, they should just take a break and throw some toys for me to play with. 

Sometimes if Mom is on a Zoom, I hear and see other kitties, dogs, and occasionally even mini humans, too! I love to see all these new friends having fun on the Zoom when their humans are working from home, too. But, I noticed that sometimes the humans say “I’m so sorry” when their mini human cries or if their dog barks, and I really wonder why they are saying sorry. 

Sterling (my kitten sister from another mister) and I have a theory – we think that humans usually keep their office lives and their home lives separate. In the office, they have the people they work with and very important things to do, and then they get to come home and enjoy their time with us. We think it must be a little strange for them to be working on important stuff and also giving us attention at the same time. We agree that we can sometimes be just a little bit distracting, especially when Mom’s desk seems like a great venue for our next play fight. Dog barks scare us a little, but based on my interpretation, I think that dogs bark because they’re excited by the mailman or they just want to play. And of course, mini humans can cry for any hundreds of reasons (especially for food or attention, like Stirry and I do all the time!). All of these noises are totally normal “home life” sounds, but humans feel embarrassed because they know that babies and animals don’t usually belong in “office life” (until now). 

We don’t think the humans need to be sorry if other humans hear mini human cries or dog barks over Zoom, or maybe even see a happy cat butt sashay on their screens. I think those moments are a good time to laugh and remember that every human behind the Zoom is just that – a human with his or her own home life, that they have suddenly had to combine with their office life.

Here are our official tips for dealing with Zoom calls and pets:

  1. Show us off. Come on, we’re so cute. We’re also really curious about what you’re working on, and we want to cuddle up with you while you do it.
  2. Take play breaks. I bet your puppy would love an extra 15-minute fetch session in the backyard!  If your kitty loves snoozing as much as we do, maybe you would rather set an alarm and take a bonafide cat nap. We just want to hang out with you!
  3. If we’re being really annoying, give us some extra treats and shut the door. We’ll make up for lost time after your last Zoom of the day. 

3 Email Deliverability Challenges (and Solutions)

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Even the most astute and experienced email marketers face challenges when it comes to deliverability. Read on for a quick summary of three common issues when sending emails and ways to solve them. 

Authentication 

Are you adding a signature to your emails to verify yourself as an authentic sender? Sender authentication helps protect your email from being spoofed, and increases the probability that your email campaign will land in your recipient’s inbox. It’s best to configure your DNS settings before sending your first email campaign.

Spam complaints

Are your emails being marked as spam by your recipients? If you’re receiving a high number of spam complaints, it’s time to take a step back and figure out why. 

Here are common reasons for spam complaints:

  • You haven’t set up sender authentication (DKIM, SPF)
  • You bulk-sent your campaign, and the email might not be relevant to the recipient
  • You’re sending emails too often
  • You haven’t emailed this list in a long time, and they forget who you are
  • Your sender or subject line looks spammy
  • You don’t have permission to send to the recipient

Lists and Permissions

Do you clean your email lists after every marketing campaign? Leaving bounces, blocks, and undeliverables in your email lists can hurt your sender reputation and deliverability stats.

Where did your lists come from? Organically built, permission-based lists have better open and click rates than purchased lists. This is partially because recipients on a permission-based list are expecting to hear from you. Using purchased, rented, or borrowed lists is not only a questionable practice; it can put you at risk for violating CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and other local privacy laws. 

Here are some steps to improve your email deliverability: 

Request DKIM records for sender authentication. Simply send an email to support@contentmx.com and provide the email address that you will be using to send emails from your PartnerOn account. We will provide you with CNAME records to add to your DNS.

Make sure to also add ContentMX to your SPF record for better deliverability results. 

Take advantage of the high-quality email content and subject lines created by our professional editorial team. Make sure that you are segmenting your audience into different lists based on their needs and their status in their buyer’s journey. 

On that note, regularly clean your lists for invalid email addresses, bounces, and undeliverables. As a PartnerOn user, we expect that you will only use permission-based lists from a reputable source. Learn more about your email benefits with your PartnerOn account. 

Check out our Email Deliverability FAQ for troubleshooting advice, and watch our Email Basics webinar if you’re new to sending emails from PartnerOn. 

Are you a Digital Selling Master or Apprentice? II

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Part II: It’s about more than just wine

Readers who enjoy wine might appreciate this anecdote.

Like most wine drinkers, I am quite particular about my grape varieties and sweetness levels when deciding which bottle to buy. I am (like your own customers) also one to thoroughly research any product before purchasing.

Recently, I was perusing the Facebook comment section of a post by a popular company that specifically sells only very dry wines (my personal preference). I had taken a look at their website, and while I was interested in trying some of their wines, I was disappointed to learn that their products are only available through a six-bottle monthly subscription of $159. In the post’s comment section, I requested that they consider selling their wines a la carte for the pickiest of customers (me), and for those who might not need a full six-bottle subscription every month. 

Not an hour after making this comment, I received a private message on Facebook Messenger. Michelle, the woman who contacted me, had seen my comment on the wine company’s Facebook post. Incidentally, Michelle owns a competing (smaller) wine company that also offers my beloved bone-dry wines. She wanted to let me know that her company not only has similar products to her competitor, but they also sell their wines a-la-carte! Michelle even took the time to suggest a few varieties that she thought I might enjoy, and provided information about the wine’s sugar content. 

Needless to say, I visited Michelle’s website and ordered a few bottles of delicious wine to enjoy this winter. 

Michelle’s message was instrumental in my decision of what wines to purchase, and (more importantly) from where. While the larger wine company eventually responded to my comment (very corporately), Michelle gave me something that the larger company did not: a personalized answer to my exact request. Her message put a name, face, and personality to her brand that doesn’t often come through with large corporations, who tend to use highly constrained language and boilerplate responses, even in private messages.

What was most interesting to me, though, was how she came to message me in the first place. Be honest: how many minutes do you spend in a week scoping out your competitor’s posts? Well, this might be your sign to start doing so. There’s no harm in sneaking around a little to see what leads are saying about your competitor’s products or services- in fact, feedback aimed at companies similar to your own can teach you how to create an equally (or even more) successful strategy. Michelle’s private message to me wasn’t sketchy nor sales-pitchy; it was genuine and tailored to my situation. It was smart. She won my customer loyalty away from a huge competitor. 

Why can’t you do that, too? 

Admittedly, Michelle’s success in winning me as a customer required a little extra time and effort on her part. While many PartnerOn users manage to increase brand awareness and score new leads just from consistently posting content, others are looking to up the ante. The second (very important) ingredient to success is engagement, or building a trusting relationship between you and your leads. 

I’m assuming that you read Part I and have a solid foundation of digital selling (if you haven’t yet, go read it!). If so, congratulations to all of you newly-minted Digital Selling Apprentices!

I hope that in the past couple of weeks, you’ve taken some time to post consistently to social media and that you’ve started to generate some expectation from your followers. I want to see you level up today with these tips to becoming a Digital Selling Master. 

How to become a Digital Selling Master

Continue everything you’ve been doing as an Apprentice, plus make sure that you pay close attention to these steps: 

  • Go where your target audience goes
  • Be the real deal 
  • Build the relationship

Go where your target audience goes

You might already have mapped out your ideal lead and their customer journey when you started your business or the last time you tweaked your marketing strategy. If you haven’t done that, now is as good a time as any! 

In the world of digital selling, as in real estate, location is extremely important. Are your target leads using LinkedIn to connect with others and find opportunities? Have they all but abandoned Facebook? Make sure that you understand who your audience is and how they research and gather information in order to make a decision. There are endless websites and books all about market research and personas. Knowing more about these topics (and putting tried-and-true strategies into practice) will amplify your selling game. 

If you’re at a loss, take a leaf out of Michelle’s book by simply scoping out the competition. Who is your biggest competitor in your geographic area and in your target verticals? Where are they posting? How are they engaging with their own audience and responding to inquiries?

Be the real deal

You know by now that millennials (whether consuming as B2B or B2C) crave authenticity in their business interactions. That means you can’t fake it and still make it with a good chunk of today’s workers. If you’re sliding into your lead’s DMs (as the kids say), you had better have something high-quality to offer them – drop the sales facade. The best strategy is to be personable and on-brand. 

When you do find that opportune moment to privately message an interested lead, be careful about what you write to them. You only get one shot with a private message, and you don’t want to be ignored, rejected, or even blocked! Write a sincere message that addresses your lead’s pain points and that brings them closer to their goals. Here are a few tips for a good opening DM. 

Offer value first

Michelle had the chance to provide something that I was actively looking for: a non-subscription order of very dry wines. She immediately said, “I saw your comment on my competitor’s post, and here is what I have to offer.” She didn’t ask me to order her product, or even for me to visit her website; she first offered me a solution of value without asking me for a thing in return. 

To continue the conversation with your leads, you might recommend a thought leadership piece, share a free version of your ebook, or provide quality deliverables that you received from PartnerOn. 

Keep it short 

Michelle’s message was a paragraph long, and only included enough information to address my pain points. She ended it there, but offered to send me more information if I wanted. Her initial message intrigued me, and my follow-up questions to her about sugar content brought me closer to my goal of ordering wine. 

There was nothing fishy or disingenuous about Michelle’s message, and it wasn’t “sales-y” enough to turn me off. Your messages can just as easily accomplish the same end, as long as you keep them simple, authentic, and purposeful. 

By the way, this was Michelle’s actual first message to me:

“Hi Amber! I saw your comment on (competitor’s page) and wanted to let you know about my wine company! We also sell organic and vegan wines that are dry and free of all preservatives and pesticides. Unlike (competitor), you can buy our wines a la carte without a subscription. I would love to send you more info, if that’s ok?”

Build the relationship

What happens when I run out of wine? 

Although Michelle and I haven’t gotten this far in our business relationship, I wonder what will happen once I’ve received my shipment of wine. Will she reach out again to ask what my favorite variety was, recommending similar selections based on my taste? Will she offer a discount if I remain a loyal customer? Or, will another competitor sweep in with a better offer and steal me from her? 

I’m curious about the actions you take, reader, when a lead becomes a customer. Do you have a follow-up process mapped out, whether that’s a classic phone call or a monthly newsletter to keep customers up-to-date? Do your customers remember you the next time they need to update their equipment, and are they aware that you offer the newest security system that they could really use right now?

Your B2B relationship doesn’t end with the sale. Since most technology gets updated at least every few years, you would be remiss to treat someone as a one-time customer and lose out on the compound revenue that often comes with a loyal business relationship. If you don’t have a follow-up plan, carve out an hour this week to draft a couple of email templates and plan a few calling campaigns to your current customers. You might be surprised at how happy they are to hear from you. 

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