kicking ass at b2b copywriting - 9 things every tech marketer must know

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Kicking ass at B2B copywriting - 9 things every tech marketer must know

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Kicking ass at B2B copywriting -

9 things every tech marketer must know

Follow Radix Communications on Twitter@radixcom

How important is good copy?

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

Here are 9 things every B2B tech marketer must know in order to kick ass at copywriting.

When 78% of UK organisations are producing more marketing content than before

But 51% say “producing engaging content” is their biggest challenge

And 46% say that “producing content consistently” is a problem1

One thing is clear:B2B brands need good writing now more than ever.

1 http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2014/12/uk-2015-content-marketing-research

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

01.THERE ARE SIX SKILLS THAT EVERY GREAT

B2B TECH COPYWRITER NEEDSGreat writing – You understand how your audience talks and you write that way. You bring your writing to life with metaphor, examples, analogies and anecdotes.

Business experience – You know what a supply chain is, how it works, and all the ways it could go wrong. You’re au fait with seven different categories of risk and you know your kaizen from your Kanban.

Tech knowledge – You can get to grips with the tech your brand or client sells: you know what it is, what it does, what makes it great and how it’s different from older versions and competing products.

Marketing chops – You know what an ebook is for, what an infographic needs to do, and how a nurture campaign works. You know what metrics you or your clients are measured on.

Audience empathy – You know who you’re writing for, and you feel their pain. You never start a project without a persona.

Interviewing skills – You’re confident, comfortable and curious in meetings and phone briefings. You know the questions that will draw out the most interesting information for the audience, and you’re not afraid to ask them.

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

Great writing – You understand how your audience talks and you write that way. You bring your writing to life with metaphor, examples, analogies and anecdotes.

Business experience – You know what a supply chain is, how it works, and all the ways it could go wrong. You’re au fait with seven different categories of risk and you know your kaizen from your Kanban.

Tech knowledge – You can get to grips with the tech your brand or client sells: you know what it is, what it does, what makes it great and how it’s different from older versions and competing products.

Marketing chops – You know what an ebook is for, what an infographic needs to do, and how a nurture campaign works. You know what metrics you or your clients are measured on.

Audience empathy – You know who you’re writing for, and you feel their pain. You never start a project without a persona.

Interviewing skills – You’re confident, comfortable and curious in meetings and phone briefings. You know the questions that will draw out the most interesting information for the audience, and you’re not afraid to ask them.

The good news is that as a marketer, you’ll already have your marketing chops and plenty of business experience.

And if you’re lacking in any of the other skills? You can learn and practise them.

Read more:

Why great writing isn’t the only skill that B2B tech copywriters need

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

02.GET TO KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

How do you get some of that audience empathy going – so you can write the way your audience talks?

You spend time getting to know that audience.

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

Social listening: head to your audience’s preferred social platforms and find out what they’re saying

In-person conversations: talk to existing clients and people at events

Talking to salespeople: because they’re the ones who talk the most with potential and existing customers

Create personas for each role or segment you’re targeting. And inform these personas with real information gathered from:

(Gasp!)

Read more:

A cheat’s guide to creating buyer personas in minutes

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

03.DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE YOU WRITE

If there’s one way to draw out the writing process before you start typing, it’s failing to do your research before you start.

But that’s not the only reason to do your research upfront.

If you can’t find evidence to support what you’re saying, it means you don’t have a convincing argument.

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

Before you write, find:

Quotes Make sure that what you want to quote fits the context you plan to use it in – and always go right the way back to the original source.Statistics

And keep a list of references that you can include in the finished content.

Read more:How to write an ebook for a B2B audience

Embrace the edit: 5 writing tactics for getting past the first draft

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

04.STORYTELLING IN B2B: IT’S MORE THAN

JUST BEGINNING, MIDDLE AND END

In his Content Marketing World 2014 keynote, Kevin Spacey said every story needs three things:

Authenticityor (as explained by several speakers at

2014’s CMWorld)

Sticking with the truth

Conflict

Audience

Suspense

A human connection

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

Putting the audience at the forefront, as the protagonist, the hero - creating a human connection

Grounding the story in real events – being truthful like this adds authenticity

Showing the protagonist’s journey and the drama it creates

(You don’t need to bring in House of Cards levels of suspense)

Storytelling is so much more than a list of things that happened.

Good storytelling in B2B content means:

If you can: cool.

Read more:

How to tell a compelling B2B story using comics

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

05.THERE’S GOOD JARGON AND THEN

THERE’S BUZZWORDSLots of people think jargon is the natural enemy of great B2B copy. Actually, it isn’t.

When used appropriately, jargon can do two things:

Bring clarity to your content

and

Show confidence in what you’re writing about

NOTE: Jargon is not the same as buzzwords – pointless neologisms (derived mainly from nouns contorted into verbs) that make you sound like you know nothing.

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

How do you decide when and where to use jargon? You need to answer ‘yes’ to the following:

Does it suit the tone of voice

you’re aiming for?

Is it jargon that’s used by your

target audience?

Yes, you really need to get to know your audience.

Answered yes to both of those? Then it’s OK use jargon in the piece of copy you’re writing.

Read more:

Does jargon kill B2B copy – or does it bring it to life?

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

06.IF SOMEONE SAYS YOUR COPY NEEDS TO

BE MORE “SPARKLY”, IT DOESN’T MEAN THROW A TUB OF GLITTER AT IT

Some other adjectives you may hear instead of “sparkly”:

PunchySnappy

DynamicEnergeticVibrant

CompellingEnthralling

(There are more.)

But they’re not suggesting you break out some PVA glue and a tube of glitter.

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

Use shorter words and sentences

Write as though you’re talking to a person

Use real life examples

Bring in metaphors and visual imagery

What your colleague or client means is that you should:

If that’s not enough, look at other pieces of great content and think about what makes them work.

Read more:

Help – my client wants my copy to be ‘more sparkly’! What do I do?

Good thing you’ve got that audience persona sheet in front of you.

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

07.WHEN EDITING YOUR WORK, READ IT BACK

TO YOURSELF, OUT LOUD, FIRSTOkay, so you’ve finished writing your copy and it looks good – you think. But put yourself in the reader’s shoes. Does it read well? Is the language clear? Do your metaphors make sense? Have you used one particular word too much? Does it sound clunky, or dry, or passive?

It’s time to:

READ. IT. OUT. LOUD.

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

Sections that sound awkward

Words that are used too many times

Parts that don’t quite fit the tone of voice that you were aiming for

(And most importantly)

Bits that don’t make any sense

What does reading out loud do? It helps you identify:

Where your tongue starts to stumble, your reader’s brain will start to wander.

Read more:

Five writing tips I wish I had been taught in school

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

08.USE WIREFRAMES TO GUIDE DESIGNERS

Is there something in your piece of copy that needs to be treated differently from the rest of it?

Like a stat. Or a quote.

Then call that content goodness out.

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

You know which pieces of your copy are important to the content and your audience. So if you don’t want a designer second-guessing you, it’s perfectly fine to box things out.

Or use bold.

Italics.

Underline.

Highlight.

Just make sure you’re consistent in how you call a designer’s attention to key elements of your copy.

Read More:

Radix Copycast episode 9 – designers vs. copywriters (it doesn’t have to be all-out war)

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

09.KNOW THE VALUE OF YOUR COPY – AND

SHOUT ABOUT IT!Your words are not a commodity. Great content makes things happen.

Clicks. Shares. Retweets. Conversions. Recommendations. Orders. Purchases.

If your words lead to a $2m deal, it’s only right that you should get the kudos. It could get you a fantastic promotion – or that dream job. And it shows just how valuable great copy can be.

So keep an eye out for the true value of your copy. Know when an ebook led a prospect to buy. Or when your blog post convinced someone to pick up the phone.

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

A/B test your content and copy

Crack out the data from your CRM and marketing automation systems

Talk to salespeople about content that led to actions from prospects and leads

Listen out for anecdotes from customers about how they found your business

How do you find out the value of your copy? You need to take a quantitative and a qualitative approach:

(Gasp!)

Read more:

The problem with establishing the true value of marketing copy

#b2bcopychat @radixcom

Radix is a copywriting agency for the content marketing era. We work with marketers to develop programmes of content that guide customers through every stage of the buying process.

We specialise in the B2B technology sector, with expertise in enterprise hardware and software, networking and electronics.

We’ve written for innovative tech companies large and small, including Sprint, Fujitsu, Gemalto, Civica, Salesforce.com, Veeam, Experian, Oracle and Spirent.

www.radix-communications.com

#b2bcopychat @radixcom