The Art of Scannable Content: How to Write for Today's Online Readers

Here's the truth: There's no guarantee that anyone will actually read your writing online. You have to compel them to do that. And one way to do so is to create writing that’s effortless to consume.

Not sure where to start? That’s okay. This article will teach you the fundamentals. You'll learn how to drive audiences to read every word you write. You’ll learn how digital copywriters -- you know, marketers who use words to convert people online -- get and keep the most valuable commodity on the internet: attention.

However, in order to command an online reader’s attention, you have to first understand how they read.

The answer, of course, is that they’re not reading at all. On the internet, the majority of people are actually skimming. In fact, according to research performed by Jakob Nielsen, of the Nielsen Norman Group, only 16% of people online read word-by-word. Just about everyone else is a scanner, picking text apart for the bits that are valuable to them.

Knowing that, there are several ways you can write to make the process easier for people, ensuring that your message is entirely received.

Ready to learn a valuable skill?

How to Create Effortlessly Readable Web Writing

Jakob Nielsen holds a Ph.D. in human-computer interaction, which means he’s a foremost expert in web usability, as well as web writing. In other words, he knows how to engage internet users.

Nielsen says there are three best practices web writers should know, understand, and embrace. Here they are:

• Be concise: say everything you need to say in as few words as possible.
• Write for scanners: most people scan anyway, so why not make it easy for them?
• Use objective language: online, readers trust facts, not hype.

Below, I’ll dive deeper into each of these best practices, breaking them down and explaining their value. I’ll also prove their impact using an experiment performed by Nielsen in which he used this paragraph as a control:

Nebraska is filled with internationally recognized attractions that draw large crowds of people every year, without fail. In 1996, some of the most popular places were Fort Robinson State Park (355,000 visitors), Scotts Bluff National Monument (132,166), Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum (100,000), Carhenge (86,598), Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (60,002), and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446).

Let's start.

1) Be concise.

Many people, for whatever reason, have a tendency to bloat when they write. This bloating is the product of bad habits, which could include:

• Providing too much detail. This often happens when writers underestimate their reader’s imagination, intelligence, or base subject knowledge. The best defense against this blunder is knowing (and respecting) your audience.
• Repeating similar information in different words: There’s being verbose, and then there's being redundant. Both have no place in writing because they deliver little, if no, benefit. If you want to stave redundancy, try to keep your paragraphs to a single point or thought.
• Overusing the passive voice. Active voice (e.g., “Harry picked up the phone.”) is direct, confident, and to-the-point. Passive voice (e.g., “The phone was picked up by Harry.”), on the other hand, is weak and annoying to read. Avoid passive voice by ensuring that the subject of your sentence is doing the action, rather than being acted upon.
• Loading on the adverbs. Usually ending in -ly, adverbs modify verbs (e.g., “He spoke loudly.”). A light peppering of adverbs is fine. Overdoing it, however, could give writing the same anemic, feeble tone that passive voice conveys. Fight off adverbs by using stronger, more expressive verbs (e.g., “He clamored.”).

The issue with these actions is that they increase word count without necessarily upping the reader’s takeaway, or value. Not to mention it clutters the message, which makes text tedious and confusing to read.

Writing concisely means not using three words when two will do. It’s also as much about recognizing wordy writing in the revision stage as it is about having the ability to avoid it in the first place. Essentially, writing concisely takes editing willpower. Willpower to cut extraneous words or keep unnecessary ones out to begin with. It’s not a natural skillset by any means, but with practice and persistence it can be developed, honed, and mastered.

Here’s our control paragraph rewritten to be concise:

In 1996, six of the best-attended attractions in Nebraska were Fort Robinson State Park, Scotts Bluff National Monument, Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum, Carhenge, Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer, and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park.

The Result: This version of the paragraph performed 58% better with readers than the control.

2) Write for scanners.

Nielsen’s research found that 79% of people scan web pages. That begs the question: If the majority of readers already prefer skimming, why wouldn’t you want to make it an easy, enjoyable, and efficient process for them?

Ultimately, if you want people to read your writing, you have to adjust to your audience. You have to be empathetic and courteous. It’s not about you, it’s about them. Don’t forget that.

Scannable web pages contain the following elements:

• Highlighting. Bold, italicized, colored, or hyperlinked text stands outs, which makes it more noticeable. Just don’t overdo it or the highlighting will lose its novelty and, in turn, its effect.
• Subheads. Clear, concise subheads will immediately tell scanners what they need to know -- and they’ll appreciate that. Cute, clever subheads, on the other hand, will only slow readers down.
• Bullets. Nothing breaks up text (and information) as well as bullet points and numbered lists do. Perfect for scanners who love to pluck.
• Whitespace. Blocks of text look daunting and intimidating to readers. Whitespace, like bullet points, organizes your text, giving it a more scannable and manageable appearance.
• Single-point paragraphs. Online readers -- especially if they’re researching a product or service -- are looking for takeaways. Focused, single-point paragraphs will make it easy to pick out those takeaways (while also giving you the opportunity to incorporate whitespace).
• Inverted Pyramid presentation. In academic writing, for example, students generally start with the foundation of their argument and gradually build on it until they reach the conclusion. Of course, in academia, professors are getting paid to read that stuff. No such luck with Internet audiences. That’s why web writers who start with their conclusion, and work backwards, usually have an easier time engaging impatient readers who just want to get to the point (i.e., benefits) already.

Each of these on-page elements give people something to hang their attention on, something to notice and gravitate to as they consume your content. Without them, your writing could appear too overwhelming to even begin, like the last pages of Ulysses.

Here’s our control paragraph rewritten to be scannable:

Nebraska is filled with internationally recognized attractions that draw large crowds of people every year, without fail. In 1996, some of the most popular places were:

• Fort Robinson State Park (355,000 visitors)

• Scotts Bluff National Monument (132,166)

• Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum (100,000)

• Carhenge (86,598)

• Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (60,002)

• Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446).

The Result: This version of the paragraph performed 47% better with readers than the control.

3) Use objective language.

Online consumers hate promotional writing, or “marketese,” as Nielsen calls it. Verbiage like “makes the perfect gift ...” or “best in the universe …” is almost universally regarded as empty. So if you want to avoid sounding like a snake oil salesman and actually earn some credibility online:

• Don’t be subjective. When relaying information about a product or service, for example, be fair and balanced. Nothing is perfect. There’s always a drawback. Don’t be afraid to share it with your prospects. They’ll trust you for it.
• Don’t boast without proof. It’s okay to brag ... as long as you support your claims using facts. Hyperlinking to reputable, third-party information, for example, is a solid way to earn online clout.
• Don’t exaggerate. Your farm does not produce “The World’s Most Delicious” watermelons (and even if it did, you wouldn’t be able to prove it). It does, however, produce seedless, uber-juicy, ultra-sweet watermelons that won the Blue Ribbon at last year’s State Fair. As Farmer Hoggett once said, “That’ll do, pig. That’ll do.”

As a web writer, you don’t want the audience to feel like your copy is clearly selling them. You want the effect to be much more subtle. Ideally, you want them to feel educated and excited after they finish reading. Give them a chance to sell themselves.

Staying objective will help you achieve that scenario.

Here’s our control paragraph rewritten to be objective:

Nebraska has several attractions. In 1996, some of the most-visited places were Fort Robinson State Park (355,000 visitors), Scotts Bluff National Monument (132,166), Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum (100,000), Carhenge (86,598), Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (60,002), and Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park (28,446).

The Result: This version of the paragraph performed 27% better with readers than the control.

All together now …

Yes, using these best practices individually can improve the performance of your web copy. But you won’t see spectacular results until you use all three at once.

Here’s our control paragraph rewritten to be concise and scannable and objective:

In 1996, six of the most-visited places in Nebraska were:

• Fort Robinson State Park

• Scotts Bluff National Monument

• Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum

• Carhenge

• Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer

• Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park

The Result: According to Nielsen’s study, this version of the paragraph performed a whopping 124% better with readers than the control.

Those results translate to more attention, more engagement and, of course, many more conversions. And it’s all thanks to writing that doesn’t quite feel like work when you read it.

What are your best tips for writing readable web copy? Share them in the comments below.

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3 Ways to Improve Your Twitter Ad Performance

Want a better return on your Twitter ads? Looking for cost-effective ways to reach relevant prospects? By adjusting your ad bidding and targeting, you can deliver affordable and appealing ads on Twitter. In this article, you’ll discover three ways to improve your Twitter ad performance. #1: Reduce Ad Costs With Bidding Options Automatic bidding is the [...]

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Are Display Ads Worth Your Time? [Flowchart]

There are a lot of reasons to avoid display ads. In recent years search, social, and video ads have cruised past display as the go-to ad format for digital marketers looking to give their campaigns a boost -- and for good reason. There’s not much to love when you look at display ad performance in aggregate. People don’t generally click on them or trust them, and many are actively blocking them.

However, good marketers know better than to trust data in the aggregate. There's evidence that display is undergoing a bit of a renaissance. Display networks have been infusing data and machine learning into display to create more effective targeting such as Google's Dynamic Remarketing, and smarter automated bidding strategies. These changes are making it possible for some marketers to effectively use display campaigns to build awareness and drive leads.

So should you use display ads? The short answer is probably not, but the flowchart below is a quick way to find out for sure.

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<p><strong>Please include attribution to www.hubspot.com with this graphic.</strong><br /><br /><a href='http://bit.ly/2a53iwC'><img src='http://bit.ly/29AXMmT' alt='The HubSpot Guide to Display' width='540px' border='0' /></a></p>

Now that you have a foundation to decide whether or not you should use display ads, let's break down the questions marketers should ask themselves before diving in.

7 Questions to Ask Before Launching Display Ads

1) Have you used ads before?

If you are new to ads, don't start with display -- even though they're generally the type of ad that most readily comes to mind. Banner ads were one of the very first ways the internet monetized traffic, but there are now many, many more ad options. While display ads are evolving into a more effective awareness and acquisition tool, I wouldn’t recommend any first-time online advertiser start with them considering they're often more complicated to set up and measure than other ad types.

2) Do you have time to educate yourself on display targeting?

If you are short on time, avoid display. While it's easy to launch a shoddy display campaign in a pinch, if you want your ad to be maximally effective, you need to take the time to understand all the different alternatives display offers -- which include a myriad targeting and creative options. If you’re pressed for time, try-self service social ads like Sponsored Updates or Facebook Lead ads instead.

3) Is your company bought into ads?

If your boss doesn’t like ads, she’ll hate display. Make sure management is bought into the idea of using ads as a way to grow business in the first place before exploring display ads. Display ads can drive relevant traffic to your site, but more often than not, they represent one touchpoint in a long customer journey. Unless you’ve got a sophisticated attribution model built out, it will be hard to calculate accurate ROI from display ad spend. If you need to demonstrate immediate value to your boss, start with a bottom-of-the-funnel ad campaign, which will more directly drive leads.

4) What display network are you considering?

Do you plan to use a third-party ad network that hasn’t established itself yet? Proceed with caution. Some of these companies promise lots of impressions, but bear in mind that impressions don’t grow your business. To move the needle, you need qualified leads, and those only come from a relevant audience. To ensure your ads drive relevant traffic, go with proven partners with great ad technology, such as Google, Yahoo, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

5) Are you in ecommerce or have a long sales cycle?

Display ad technology is more valuable for some industries than others, most notably ecommerce and B2B companies with long, complicated sales cycles. Here's why:

• Ecommerce: Remarketing is a type of display targeting that advertises a specific product or message to a user who has already expressed interest in that product. If you’ve ever put a pair of sneakers in an online shopping cart but ultimately didn’t buy, you may have seen ads like these. Display ads that use remarketing targeting give ecommerce marketers a second chance with a customer they know is interested, and have a much higher CTR than display ads that use more generic targeting. Get an in-depth introduction to remarketing here.
• B2B companies with long sales cycles: With more product information online than ever before, your prospects are doing copious amounts of research before they ever talk to your sales team. Use display and social ads to target prospects who you think are in the market to buy your product. Although it can be hard to measure the impact of these ads, they will ensure your company stays top of mind throughout the buyer’s journey.

6) What’s your goal?

Display ads may or may not be the right choice for your campaign depending on your goal. Are you aiming for awareness, nurturing, or lead generation?

• Awareness: Display ads can be a wonderful way to grow awareness and create demand for your product. While it's always a best practice to get as specific as possible with targeting, display can provide massive reach. Consumer brands or companies that want to drum up awareness fast can benefit from display ads.
• Nurturing: As long as you are using smart targeting, display can also help nurture leads and prospects down your funnel. Use strategic targeting like retargeting, similar audiences, custom audiences, or topic targeting if nurturing is your goal, and make sure your display ads support a larger marketing campaign.
• Lead generation: Generally, display is a bad way to capture leads or drive a specific action from a customer, like filling out a form. If lead generation is your goal, target only the most relevant audience, and use CPC bidding instead of CPM.

7) Are you running Google search campaigns?

If you’re already running Google search campaigns, bottom-of-the-funnel display ads can be a good complement. First, ensure you feel comfortable with the performance and profitability of your existing search campaigns, and then add bottom of the funnel display solutions like Remarketing Lists for Search Ads.

Display ads aren’t right for every B2B advertiser, but they can add significant value in the right situations. Still not sure if display ads are a smart idea for your business? A test never hurts.

Marketing tactics create different results for different companies, so just because something does (or doesn't) work for one organization doesn't mean it will (or won't) for you. When it comes to ads, always trust your own data.

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3 Tips to Use Affiliate Links on Pinterest

Do you use Pinterest to generate revenue? Have you considered using affiliate links on Pinterest? Because Pinterest users are looking for useful and inspirational products, the platform is a natural place for marketers to share items and services they believe in. In this article, you’ll discover how to prepare for and use affiliate links in [...]

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From Proposal Requests to Getting Approvals: 6 Email Templates to Make Agency Communication Easier

When you've got an important email to write, it can seemingly take hours. You write, revise, delete, and agonize over every word, link, and even your email signature. 

And if you are selling your staff's time in the form of the billable hour, this can be a huge waste of resources. 

While we're talking about one-on-one communication, it's a worthwhile pursuit to create a library of canned email responses or templates that your team can use for specific activities or in response to clients. It ensures that the communication from your team is clear and consistent, makes it easier to respond to requests more quickly, and removes the uncertainty that junior staffers feel when dealing with a difficult situation.

Below you'll find a starting point for building out your library of email templates that can be customized. Use these to make your client communication more efficient.

6 Email Templates for Communicating With Clients

1) When a Prospect Requests a Proposal

Next steps

Hi [First Name],

Thank you for your interest in [Agency]. We’ve worked with many companies that have struggled with [Key Challenge]. You can read up on the successes of our previous relationships here [Link] and here [Link].

We don’t create proposals at this point in the process as we’re a results-driven agency, meaning we need to better understand your business, challenges, and needs to be able to determine if and how we can help. Because of this focus, we only take on a certain number of new accounts per year -- those clients who we are confident we can produce results for.  

I’d love to schedule a call or in-person meeting to learn more about your marketing and sales goals for the year, your current marketing activities, and how our agency could work to improve results for [Company Name].

Here are a few dates and times that would work for us.

• [Date and Time]
• [Date and Time]
• [Date and Time]

Looking forward to chatting.

Best,

2) When a Client Requests Out-of-Scope Work

> RE: Additional Content Projects

Hi [First Name],

Thanks for sending over the information on the additional content pieces you would like us to create prior to the launch of the new website. It’s a great idea, and I think they will add a lot of value to visitors who are unfamiliar with your brand and products.

I’ve gone ahead and updated the scope of work [Link or Attach] to include these two new content projects, which you will see reflected in the revised quote. The price for the additional content offers comes to [$X,000]. Take a look, and let me know if you have any questions. Once you approve, I’ll add those two projects to [Project Management Tool] where you’ll be able to review and track the timeline for completion and approvals.

Thanks,

3) To Send Over a Project for Approval

> Website Redesign Comps

Hi [First Name],

I hope you’re ready!

The team just finished up the design comps for the redesign of the homepage, and I'm so excited to show them off to you. I think you’ll find that while the two versions are very different, they both solve the problem of your visitors failing to understand how easy to implement your solution is.

But first, we want to highlight a few things from the approved creative brief to set the stage:

• [Target audience]
• [The problem the design should solve]
• [The action viewers should take]
• [The emotion/feeling people should have when viewing]

Now, here are the design mockups with an accompanying description of why we made certain decisions.

• Version 1 [Link]
• Version 2 [Link]

After viewing these, please let us know if you have any opinions on the following for each design:

• What’s memorable?
• Which do you think will appeal more to your target audience?
• Is the messaging in line with the needs/challenges of your visitors?
• Is the call to action compelling and clear? Could we do anything to improve this?
• Which one do you think will perform better with your target visitors?

As we mentioned in our last meeting, we think it would be valuable to do a heat mapping test on these two version to determine which converts at a higher rate. Here’s a [Link] to the description of the project and price for that test.

If you’d like to have a call to discuss this, click here [Link to Online Booking Calendar] to schedule time on my calendar.

Thanks,

4) To Follow Up With a Client

> Following up on the design comps

Hi [First Name],

I wanted to follow up with you to see if you have any feedback on the design comps I sent over late last week. Please let me know if you have any suggestions/questions or inform me of your approval of one of the designs.

To meet the requested launch day of [Date], we will need at least [# of Days or Weeks] for development and testing. If I don’t receive your approval by [Date], we’ll have to push back beginning on Phase II of the project, which will impact the final delivery date.

I’ll follow up by phone if I don’t hear from you by tomorrow morning.

Thanks,

5) When You Need to Push a Deadline

Important information on the website launch date 

Hi [First Name],

I’m checking in with some news on the project. Everything looks really good right now, as you saw during our check-in last week, but we actually encountered a problem that will impact the original launch date. We’re not going to be able to meet the original due date because of [List Reasons]. While this is something we discussed was a risk factor that could impact the launch date during the project scoping, we were hoping it could be avoided. We’re doing everything we can to minimize the impact, including [State Actions Taken].

Based on the timeline of the vendor, I’ve adjusted the milestones, including your review and approval dates, in [Project Management Tool]. The new final delivery date is set for [Date].

I apologize for any negative consequences this may have on your schedule. I’d be happy to discuss how we can help to reduce the impact of any issues due to the change.

Please give me a call to discuss this further if you’d like, or you can schedule a time with me here [Link to Online Booking Calendar].

Best,

6) To Ask for a Testimonial

RE: June Results

Hi [First Name],

I was very happy to see the results of the analysis of the website redesign’s impact on Q3 marketing and sales -- as I’m sure you were.

On that note, I was wondering if you would give us permission to showcase the project on our website. And if so, would you be able to write 4-5 sentences that describes your experience working with us: What did you like working with us? What results have you seen? Why will other clients like you enjoy working with our team? We’d love to feature the project, your testimonial, and your name/headshot in a call out on our site. If you’d like some inspiration, here are a few examples [Link] of kind words from previous clients.

Let me know if you have questions or need more information. We really enjoyed working with you on this project.

Thanks,

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What 3,000+ Job Postings Taught Us About Today's Content Marketers

Do you have what it takes to succeed in today's modern marketing world?

As the marketing landscape continues to shift, the requirements and expectations surrounding content marketing roles are evolving. Even if you've got the strongest writing chops in the game, you'll need to find other ways to expand your skills if you want to differentiate yourself.

While more and more businesses are seeking talent to fill communication and marketing roles that require constant adaptation to the latest trends, they often struggle to recruit and retain qualified professionals.

Thanks to outdated university programs, there’s a talent gap, and the next generation of modern marketers’ skills and knowledge must go beyond traditional curricula to remain competitive. So in this high-demand, low-supply content marketing economy, where are the jobs and what are recruiters searching for in the ideal applicant?

By examining over 3,300 job listings specific to content marketing on Indeed.com, Fractl’s latest research reveals the state of our industry’s job market and supports the notion that today’s competitive candidate must be a hybrid marketer -- part technician, part artist.

3 Key Takeaways From Today's Content Marketing Landscape

1) Experience is often valued over academic credentials.

There’s been a long-standing debate on whether experience or education is more important -- some argue experience is more valuable than a degree, while others say a formal education is the foundation for a successful career.

By looking at the minimum level of experience required, as well as the highest level of education preferred, the data show degrees beyond a bachelor's aren’t usually needed, even for senior-level positions. The findings support a Chronicle of Higher Education survey, which reveals the media and communication industry values experience over academic credentials.

2) Location makes all the difference.

Not surprisingly, states well known for their plethora of media giants and tech startups like New York and California had the highest number of content marketing jobs posted per capita, with Massachusetts being the highest at 37 jobs per 1,000 residents.

At the same time, states with growing creative economies like Washington and North Carolina also ranked high (18 and 12 respectively). Meanwhile, 12 states throughout the Great Plains and Mississippi Valley are essentially dead zones with zero postings for content marketers.

3) Hybrid skill sets are becoming more important.

Most importantly, the data found a recurring set of key skills recruiters are searching for in the ideal content marketing applicant. Individually, these skills are widespread in various marketing roles but together, these skills create the ideal hybrid content marketer that drives innovation and engagement.

9 Technical & Creative Skills Every Content Marketer Should Master

Technical Skills

As marketing becomes increasingly more dependent on online platforms and digital tools, technical skills are essential. Familiarity and proficiency of these skills and tools help once-siloed departments collaborate more efficiently, and courses and certifications allow marketers to easily demonstrate their commitment and competence.

1) SEO

At the very least, content marketers must have a basic understanding of SEO tactics like keyword analysis, link building, and on-site and off-site optimization in order to create and execute successful campaigns and strategies.

The complex world of technical SEO can seem intimidating, but Moz offers an in-depth Beginner’s Guide to SEO outlining everything from how search engines operate to common myths and misconceptions. For professionals looking to gain practical experience in technical optimization strategies, Coursera partnered with UC Davis to design a six-course specialization.

2) Google Analytics

Given that the final phase of a content marketing campaign is measuring and reporting performance, proficiency with one of the best and most commonly used data analysis tools is a necessity. Google provides free training, support, and even certification for their analytics tools, including online courses ranging from platform principles to mobile app fundamentals.

3) HTML & CSS

While most content marketers won’t need to build an entire website from scratch, knowing just a bit of the most common and basic coding languages -- HTML and CSS -- can help immensely, particularly when working with content management systems for everyday tasks like blog posts and landing pages. For quick reference guides, HubSpot offers a free guide to HTML hacks plus a FAQ on CSS.

4) Programming

Not understanding programming basics puts marketers at a disadvantage when it comes to negotiating fair budgets, setting realistic timeframes, and knowing the possibilities and limitations of potential projects when collaborating.

Codecademy has been a go-to authority for learning to code due to its interactive and, more importantly, free tutorials. Udemy also offers low-cost courses in programming languages. And both offer lessons for the basics, as well as more advanced languages like Ruby and Python.

Creative Skills

While most technical skills reflect specific, concrete, and practical expertise, creative skills are more conceptual. Though usually learned best through firsthand experience, seeking out advice from industry leaders is another useful way to build these in-demand talents.

5) Writing

Content marketers must consistently produce quality content in order to tell their brand’s story while engaging a target audience and influencing the customer experience. Regardless of the format, channel, or vehicle, writing will always be the core of content marketing.

The industry raves about Ann Handley’s bestseller Everybody Writes, an exemplary writing guide and content marketing handbook. HubSpot also put together a list of resources and tools to help improve writing ... because sometimes words are hard.

6) Marketing Strategy

Depending on your organization's goals, there are a lot of different ways to approach your marketing strategy. However, generally speaking, all marketing strategies aim to unite various marketing and sales efforts to achieve a competitive advantage. Content marketers must understand not only how their role impacts the overall marketing strategy, but also the bigger picture -- the strategy itself.

Want to sharpen your skills? Harvard Business Review complied their top 10 reads on strategic marketing, and HubSpot created a strategy guide specific to content marketers.

7) Content Strategy

While content marketing and content strategy are often used interchangeably, both are very different practices. Ultimately, content strategy is the planning and management of content, while content marketing is a marketing approach that uses content to establish customer relationships and position the brand as a credible expert. Still, one can’t exist without the other, so content marketers should be well versed in strategy to avoid creating content with no long-term vision or plan.

To improve your content strategy approach, check out Erin Kissane’s The Elements of Content Strategy for insight on its roots and basic principles.

8) Thought Leadership

Thought leadership is commonly referred to as the end goal while content marketing is the means. Establishing yourself or your brand as an industry expert or authority leader through demonstration is an essential skill in a competitive landscape.

Recognizing the term’s various definitions, LinkedIn’s detailed three-part e-book specific to marketers helps demystify thought leadership and its applications throughout each stage of the buying cycle.

Dorie Clark’s Stand Out interviews industry thought leaders to teach readers how to develop ideas that go beyond self-promotion and perspectives that will inspire others to create an organic following.

9) Brand Development

Brand development entails everything from defining and positioning the brand to distinguishing its value. Taking into consideration the overall business strategy, brand development maintains an organization’s image to build brand equity and ensure brand integrity.

HubSpot offers two great resources for content marketers in regards to branding, an essential guide as well as a free ebook explaining online branding’s role in inbound marketing.

Ready to Improve Your Content Marketing Skills?

Regardless of years of experience or level of education, the most vital takeaway for any content marketer is the importance of continuing education and staying up to date on the latest industry news and trends.

Beyond the specific books, digital guides, and courses mentioned above, there are a whole host of podcasts, webinars, newsletters, and articles readily available. Sites like HubSpot, Moz, MarketingProfs, and Contently are just a handful of resources curated by industry leaders that you should reference regularly for continuous improvement and education.

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Email Delivery vs. Deliverability: What's the Difference?

We spend hours planning out every detail of each campaign, crafting the perfect copy and agonizing over fonts, colors, and spacing. We talk through our personas, target audiences, and messaging. We build emails from scratch or lovingly modify templates so that we’re putting our best foot forward with our email marketing campaigns.

With all the blood, sweat, and tears that go into our emails, there’s nothing more heartbreaking than finding out the message never made it to our subscribers. No matter how carefully we plan our campaign strategy, design, and development, if the email doesn’t reach the inbox, it doesn’t matter.

Making it into the inbox is one of the more ambiguous, misunderstood elements of sending great email. Marketers often mix up a key distinction: delivery vs. deliverability. Though the terms are often used interchangeably, they have very different meanings.

Email Deliverability vs. Email Delivery

Let’s start with the basics: What are we even talking about? Here are the simple definitions:

• Delivery refers to whether or not a receiver accepts your email. This comes before the inbox or spam folder distinction. Can the message physically be accepted in the first place?
• Deliverability or Inbox Placement refers to where that message ends up once it is accepted; in other words, the inbox, spam folder, or another folder.

When it comes to understanding the difference between delivery and deliverability, ask yourself these questions:

1. Can a receiver accept your message?
2. Does it get to the inbox?

Let's dive into both.

Can a receiver accept your message?

At its core, delivery refers to whether or not a receiver accepts the message you’ve sent. This comes before the spam folder is ever considered. Does the domain or email address exist? Is your IP address blocked?

Imagine your email is a busy business traveler on her way to a conference. Successful delivery would mean that the traveler arrived at the correct airport. (If anyone from New York has accidentally gone to LaGuardia instead of JFK, you know how these types of mix-ups happen!) She then proved her identity with a ticket and passport, and airport security verified her as safe to pass through security to her departure gate.

Similarly, when an email is successfully delivered, that simply means it made it to the intended recipient’s mailbox -- and that could be in the inbox or the spam folder.

Did your email get to the inbox?

Also known as inbox placement, deliverability refers to where that message ends up once it’s accepted. Did it get to the inbox?

Let's return to our travel metaphor. Our traveler has made it through security to the correct gate and now needs to get to her destination.

Deliverability is akin to where the traveler's flight ultimately arrives. While most travelers safely get to their departure gate (delivery), weather or other mishaps may reroute them, for example, from Dallas to Houston (deliverability).

Deliverability consists of three parts:

1. Identification: This is the set of protocols that prove you are who you say you are when you send an email, such as Sender Policy Framework (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-Based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC). Each of these terms function like your passport, license, or background check. Are you Jane Doe, the hard-nosed lawyer from upstate New York? Or Jane Doe, the collegiate swim coach from southern California? Your ability to get on the correct flight to your intended destination hinges on your identity.
2. Reputation: Your sender reputation is essentially a score that signals how trustworthy you are. Each organization and internet service provider (ISP) might have different scores for you. Generating positive subscriber behavior, like engaging with your email or marking you as a trusted sender, is the best way to boost your sender reputation -- which you can do by sending relevant, personal emails to your subscribers.
3. Content: Is your message appropriate for your audience? Is it relevant? Are you combining copy like “Make money fast!” and “Work from home” with poor sending practices like buying an email list (noooooo!) or preventing unsubscribes? Using excessive exclamation points, weird formatting, and URL shorteners can all impact your email's deliverability based on your previous sending patterns. Think about it from your subscribers’ perspective. If you receive an email with the subject line, “MAKE MONEY TODAY!!!!”, are you really going to open it? Tailor your message to what your subscribers care about to make the most impact.

Identification and reputation account for most of the reason an email lands in the inbox or the spam folder. Think about waiting in line for an airport security screening. If you don’t have a ticket, you won’t make it past the first desk. And if you’re on the no-fly list, you’re not going anywhere.

Delivery issues mean that something may be wrong with your infrastructure, you’ve got faulty email addresses on your list, or you've received enough negative user interaction to warrant a block. Deliverability issues indicate that your sending and permission practices might be out of whack, or your email list is generally disinterested in your content.

How to Make It to the Inbox

Now that you know the difference between email delivery and deliverability, what does this mean for your marketing strategy? Here are three best practices to ensure your messages make it to subscribers' inboxes.

1) Make your list squeaky clean.

Even though we love permission-based marketing, when it comes to emails, permission can expire. A large number of inactive subscribers can dramatically impact your deliverability because they offset your engagement metrics. Consider removing or suppressing inactive customers after a set time or automating a re-confirmation campaign.

If you’re having deliverability issues, it’s possible your list includes spam traps, which look like real email addresses, but are used to identify spammers. Sending to one can indicate poor list hygiene or spammy acquisition practices, like buying and renting lists or scraping email addresses off the internet.

Removing invalid emails on a regular basis and re-confirming your inactive subscribers can help declutter your list.

2) Make it easy to unsubscribe.

It’s a common myth that unsubscribes are bad, but there’s no evidence that unsubscribes and unsubscribe rates via the direct unsubscribe link in your email affect your deliverability. In fact, it can actually help by boosting your subscriber engagement and cleaning up your email list. If you’re sending targeted campaigns to people who want to receive your emails, then you’re bound to increase opens and clicks, and decrease your bounces.

Don’t hide your unsubscribe button. Make it clear and easy to find in your email, whether that be in the footer or at the top. Streamline the unsubscribe process so that it’s one step -- otherwise, you’re fighting a losing battle against the dreaded “report as spam” flag.

3) Make your emails personal and relevant.

Marketers and subscribers often define spam differently. Subscribers don’t think in terms of spam filter testing or algorithms, but in terms of relevance. Are you sending content that matters to them? This is ultimately the most important question to ask yourself before hitting "send" on any email.

Email is one of the most personal channels in a marketer’s arsenal. Sending emails that resonate with your audience and leverage the 1:1 nature of the medium won’t just positively impact your deliverability; it will also boost reader engagement and build better relationships with your audience as well.

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