How Microsoft Dynamics Partners Can Combat AI Slop by Writing About What They’ve Actually Done
There’s nothing wrong with writing about AI, Copilot, the latest Microsoft announcement or a new feature in the latest release. If you have something useful or original to add to the conversation, you absolutely should.
But those shouldn’t be the only places you look for blog topics. Some of your best content is probably sitting in your consultants’ and engineers’ heads, based on problems they solved for customers last week.
And right now, that kind of content matters even more. People are increasingly on the lookout for generic AI-generated content. One of the best ways to show that there are real experts behind your articles is to include details that only your team could provide: specific problems you’ve encountered, what you tried, what worked, what didn’t and what you learned.
Anyone Can Write About Features
Any Microsoft partner can publish a list of features in the latest release. AI can produce that article in seconds.
Instead, tell me how you’ve actually used those features.
Did a new feature solve a problem for a distribution company? Did your consultant discover something customers should know before enabling it? Did it save an implementation team hours of work? Did it sound great in the release notes but turn out to have limitations in a real-world environment?
Now you’re giving me information I can’t get by reading Microsoft documentation.
The same applies to integrations, migrations, reporting challenges, customizations, data problems and industry-specific requirements. Every time your team solves one of those problems, you potentially have a piece of content that demonstrates what your company actually knows how to do.
Ask What Your Team Has Solved Lately
One of my favorite questions to ask a consultant or engineer is, “What’s an interesting problem you solved recently?”
You may need to dig a little because the consultant might not think the answer is particularly interesting. To someone who spends every day implementing Microsoft Dynamics, solving a complicated integration or reporting issue can feel routine.
And don’t dismiss an idea because it sounds too specific. Imagine another company runs into that same problem six months from now and someone searches Google or asks ChatGPT how to solve it. Finding an article from your company describing almost exactly what they are dealing with is much more compelling than finding another broad article about the benefits of Microsoft Dynamics 365.
That technical article may not generate huge traffic, but it may attract exactly the prospect you want.
I’ve Heard This Directly From Microsoft Dynamics Customers
I’ve written case studies for many Microsoft Dynamics partners, which means I’ve had the opportunity to interview a lot of their customers.
More than once, a customer has told me that blog content played a role in choosing the partner.
They found an article while researching a problem, started reading more of the company’s content and came away thinking, These people know what they’re talking about. They have experience with the kinds of problems we have.
That is exactly what good technical content should do.
You don’t have to tell me repeatedly that your company has “deep expertise” or “decades of combined experience.” Show me by teaching me something that could only have come from people who have actually done the work.
Marketing Has to Find These Stories
The challenge is that marketing may never hear about these problems. An engineer solves something and moves on to the next issue. Unless someone asks, the story never makes it from the project team to the marketing team.
Make a habit of asking consultants what they’ve been working on. Ask what unusual issues came up during implementations, what was harder than expected, what customers frequently misunderstand and whether the team found a workaround other Dynamics users might appreciate.
A 15- or 30-minute recorded conversation can give marketing plenty to work with. You can also make this part of project debriefs by asking, “Did we solve anything here that other companies would benefit from knowing about?”
You don’t necessarily need to identify the customer either. Often you can describe the industry, situation, challenge and solution without including confidential details or going through the approval process required for a formal case study.
I Love Marketing. I Don’t Love Marketing Fluff.
I’ve spent my career in marketing, so I obviously believe in it. But I don’t want to read an article filled with marketing fluff, and I don’t think your prospects do either.
I want real advice from real people who know what they’re talking about.
Keep writing about AI, Copilot, Microsoft releases and new features when you have something worthwhile to add. But don’t automatically write another summary of the announcement because everyone else is talking about it.
Your competitors have access to the same Microsoft announcements, release notes and AI tools you do. They don’t have your team’s history of difficult implementations, unusual customer requirements, technical discoveries, workarounds and successful solutions.
Anyone can tell me what a feature does. Tell me what happened when you actually used it.
By Anya Ciecierski, Co-Founder, ERP/CRM Software Blog
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