Points 6-10 of my ten-point copy and content audit tool

Here’s the final part of a short series introducing my tool for assessing the suitability and quality of existing marketing content. You can also use it to assess new content while it's still in the draft stage.

If you haven’t read my blog summarising points one to five yet you can do it here. (Quick reminder, they are Context, Clarity, Comprehensive, Customers and Clickable.)

To wrap things up, this is a run through points six to ten.

6. Competition

If your competition has created similar content, you probably need to check how your piece stacks up against theirs. Maybe when you published your piece it was the best source of information around. But what if someone has since gone one better?

You could use other criteria in this framework to score competitor content, seeing how it matches up against yours in a head-to-head. For example, is competitor content more comprehensive than yours, or more customer focused?

For online content this step starts with Googling to find competitor content similar to yours. But don’t just use the obvious on-page copy for this comparison. Dig deep to see if competitors are publishing white papers, eBooks, videos, webinars, podcasts, slides, infographics, FAQs, case studies, how-to guides and so on.

I like to print out a few examples and get my Sharpies out. I annotate with notes on what I would like about the competitor content if I were a reader within the target audience. I do the same thing with hard copy content such as brochures or print advertising.

All the above refers to assessing how individual pieces of content stack up against competitors. It’s worth also mentioning some things you can look at to assess your overall content against competitors. Five criteria to consider are:

Volume. Does your total amount of content look slim compared to what your competitors offer?

Publishing frequency. If you publish news or a blog every couple of months and your competitors do it weekly, you may have a problem. (An easy fix to hide the fact that your frequency is poor is to remove dates from blogs, if you are blogging ‘evergreen’ content that will always be relevant.)

Subject matter. Are competitors covering subjects that you haven’t even thought of? (Or thought of but never got around to covering?)

Social media engagement. The level of likes, shares and comments competitor content is getting could be an indicator of how well their content strategy is resonating with audiences.

Traffic and SEO performance. Tools like Alexa, Moz and SEMrush can tell you how well competitor content is performing in terms of the traffic it’s attracting and its SEO performance.

7. Credibility

There’s a very simple question you can ask yourself to instantly assess the credibility performance of a piece of content:

If your most wanted customer read the piece, would they be more willing to do business with you as a result?

Improving performance in several of points 1-6 in this framework will bolster the credibility factor of your content. But now is the time to zero in on what you can do to go further.

Here are five examples of content you can add to build credibility:

1. Numbers. Do you have any stats that strengthen any claims you are making about the performance of your organisation, product or service? Remember to always say where those numbers come from, ideally referencing reputable external sources.

2. Expertise. Sharing genuine expertise could mean interviewing the experts within your organisation. Involve the people who know their stuff.

3. Co-create. Content created in partnership with credible influencers will likely carry more weight than content you produce on your own. Who do you (or colleagues) know across your industry? Can you involve them? (In a 2017 survey by DemandGen, 87% of B2B buyers said they give more credence to industry influencer content – so try to get influencers working with you.)

4. Links. You may not want to link people away from your content. But including a link or two that backs up anything you are saying makes you appear more involved and engaged in what’s happening across your sector.

5. More help (and less sales). Too much salesy content can ruin your credibility. You look desperate. Sell less. Help more people, more often. (Unless, of course, the content really is purely a sales piece.) 

8. Creative

Being creative all day, every day is hard. It’s easy to get caught up in a cycle of ‘churning out stuff’ rather than fully committing to excellent content. That’s why when you assess existing content you may find it’s a bit dull, even if when it was published everyone loved it. (Maybe everyone loved it because it was finally finished after a painful process.)

Assessing a piece of content’s level of creativity is not easy. It’s almost impossible if you just try to score it based on a single, blanket ‘creativity’ metric. This could be why advertising legend David Ogilvy preferred to use the word ‘remarkable’ instead of ‘creative’.

Instead, try asking these questions:

• Does it really answer a question or meet a need?

• Does it stir emotions?

• Does it have a great flow, like the best stories do?

• Does it instantly look as though it will be an easy, interesting read?

• Will readers think ‘this is about me and my life’?

If the answer is ‘no’ to all these questions, work is needed. The starting point could be to edit the piece so that the answer to one of the questions is ‘yes’.

9. Call to action

It’s hard to think of a reason NOT to have a call to action (CTA) in every piece of copy and content. Will including one bring in thousands of enquiries, every time? Of course not. It can’t do any harm though. And it will probably do a lot of good.

The simplest call to action is along the lines of ‘contact us to find out more’. But if you’ve put a lot of time and effort into your content, why not follow it through with a compelling CTA? Like these:

• Netflix have managed to provide three benefits within a single CTA device: “Watch anywhere, cancel anytime. Watch free for a month.”
• Basecamp make it a no-brainer: “Give Basecamp a try – it’s free for 60 days.”
• Rothy’s add an air of exclusivity to their mailing list sign up: “Find out first.”

Make sure your CTA reflects the context and where the reader is in the relationship cycle. If the content is likely to be one of the first places they come to, and you offer an expensive or high-involvement purchase, you may want to avoid a ‘Buy Now’ CTA. Something like ‘Learn More’ might be better.

And if you haven’t used CTA buttons within your content, start now. Pretty much all the A/B testing I’ve seen found that a CTA button gets more responses than a standard text CTA. Follow your main CTA proposition copy (eg ‘Join our subscriber list to get exclusive offers’) with a button. Ten examples of button copy to consider as a starting point are.

• Subscribe.
• Sign up.
• Join.
• Get started.
• Count me in.
• Yes please.
• Give it a try.
• Send me more info now.
• Take me to the good stuff.
• Get a demo.

10. Correct

When you review a piece of existing content it’s a good opportunity to check it for accuracy. Some of this is covered under ‘context’. For example, if a piece of legislation is mentioned you need to check that it’s still relevant and hasn’t been replaced by new legislation.

Here are some other things to check:

• Spelling, punctuation and grammar. Why not do a proofread, just in case any typos slipped through the net when the piece was published?
• Links. Are all the links still working and still pointing to the right place. Don’t send your readers off to 404 error pages.
• Contact details. Check that anyone mentioned as the contact person is still in position, and that any contact email addresses and phone numbers are valid.
• Images. Do you have permission to use any images that are part of the content? Include this step if the content was published at a time when people were using images without permission.
• Brand. If your brand (including your written style guide) has changed since publication, decide whether you want legacy content to follow current guidelines.

As always with proofreading, ideally it should be done by the writer AND somebody else, preferably someone who is good at it. It’s also the final step in any process, a time to spot and fix any errors, and not a time to do more editing.

Would you like the complete content audit resources?

The ultimate resource is my new e-book, which includes more detail and examples across all ten criteria, a checklist and scorecard, and hints and tips for easy fixes for the most common problems. Drop me an email now if you’d like to a copy (it’s free!).

Points 1-5 of my ten-point copy and content audit tool

In April I introduced a new tool tor assessing the suitability and quality of existing marketing content. It can also be used to assess new content while it's still in the draft stage, helping you to strive for a better finished piece. In this blog, I delve a little deeper into points one to five, and invite you to request the full 24-page e-book.

1. Context

Things change fast, and even the best content can soon become out of date. This part of the audit is designed to spot when that has happened. A simple way to think about this is to break the task down into considering the internal and external environments.

Internal environment

Sometimes internal changes mean that the content is no longer relevant to your organisation’s current strategy or activity. I saw a classic example of this while working with a client recently. They had just launched a new product with a distinctive name and were in the middle of a PR campaign to promote it. But two years previously they had used the same name for a very early version of the product that hadn’t really taken off – and their website was littered with blogs and other pages using the product name.

There was a big risk than when someone Googled the product name after seeing some publicity about it, they would be taken to a blog about the earlier version. Old content often ranks high in search results, especially if it has been extensively visited and shared. In this case, if someone landed on an old blog it would have confused customers, potentially losing sales.

External environment

If you’ve studied marketing, you will remember the ‘STEP’ model for analysing the external environment. You can use it here, considering the Social, Technological, Economic and Political factors that may make your content look out of date. (Other versions of the model are PEST, STEEPLE or PESTLE, but they all do the same thing.)

A typical scenario would be where a piece of ‘thought leadership’ content becomes out of date after changes in the economic situation. Imagine if you are a financial adviser and you have a major piece of content from 2008 discussing mortgage options. The housing market has changed since then, as have interest rates and rules around mortgage availability.

2. Clarity

It’s amazing how often something that the writer thought was very clear looks less clear when looked at again a while later. There’s something about coming back to a piece that gives us a different perspective. This is one reason why checking for clarity ('understandability') is part of the audit.

If you want to assess how clear and understandable a piece of content is, here are some tips:

Read it properly 

We often just skim through a piece of writing, missing out words or phrases and trusting our brain to fill in the blanks. You want to avoid that here. Now is the time to read the content properly. Every word, every sentence, every paragraph.

Be very tough on the content. If there is anything you don’t completely understand the first time you read it, it needs attention.

Read it out loud

When you read something out loud you perceive it in a different way. You’re more likely to spot any problems with clarity. If you find yourself stumbling over parts of the content, it’s probably an indication that there’s a problem.

Think like the reader

Again, be very tough on the content here. Look out for any word, phrase, sentence or paragraph that may be confusing to readers. Pay special attention to whether any abbreviations or industry jargon you’ve used will be understood by everyone the piece is aimed at.

A definition of jargon is ‘special words or expressions used by a profession or group that are difficult for others to understand’. But the problem with that definition is that it assumes everyone in a profession or group has the same level of knowledge and familiarity with jargon. That’s an unlikely scenario.

Identify the density

Unless you’re a brilliant writer, it’s likely that long sentences or long paragraphs will confuse or slow down many of your readers. I don’t usually give ‘rule of thumb’ advice but in this case, applying these three tips across a piece of content almost always improves it:

• Identify any sentences over 25 words and see if they can be rewritten or split into two.
• Insert line breaks in any paragraphs longer than three sentences.
• Insert subheadings after every three or four paragraphs. 

3. Comprehensive

In many cases, the best content gives readers all the information they want. It answers their questions and leaves them feeling glad they spent time with it. If I take the time to publish a page about a training course I’m running, I want people to see who the course is for, what’s included, how it’s delivered and how much it costs. If I don’t do all of that, I’m pretty certain that many people will click somewhere else rather than ask me for the missing information.

Most SEO experts also agree that comprehensive content tends to perform better. Google likes giving its users answers to their questions, and comprehensive content is usually more likely to do that. As a quick test, I googled ‘best way to control weeds’ and the first five pages listed were all 800 words or more.

4. Customers

The audit has already made a start on this, but now is the main place to ask whether the piece is really focused on the readers. (Usually this will be customers or potential customers, but other stakeholders may also apply here.) In short, is this something they will want to read and then be glad that they did?

Here’s a handy list of qualities that you can use to help with this assessment. The content may not fulfil all of them, but it should probably score well on at least one of them.

• Helpful. The reader can do something better as a result of reading the piece.
• Unique. It’s information that readers can’t get elsewhere, or if they can, they might struggle to find it all in one place.
• Interesting. The content maybe doesn’t have any practical value, but it’s informative nonetheless.
• Actionable. The readers can go and do a specific task after reading the piece.
• Inspiring. The content will inspire emotion, changing how people feel.
• Targeted. It’s clearly aimed at a specific segment/persona/situation.

On the other hand, non customer-focused content looks like this:

• Useless. It’s trying to help, but really it doesn’t.
• Obvious. It’s all stuff that the reader already knows.
• Generic. Lots of content is available elsewhere that says the same thing.
• Boring. Even if the subject matter is good, the writing style is totally uninspiring.
• For everyone. There's nothing specific to any particular type of reader. By trying to appeal to everyone, you appeal to no-one. 

5. Clickable

This is about getting people to the content in the first place. The question to ask is this: if people just saw just the headline, and maybe an associated image, would they be likely to click to through to the content? So, assuming that the content itself is strong, with good subject matter and well written, how are the title and image performing?

The headline/title. Look at the headline and ask yourself:

• Does it properly convey just how awesome the content is?
• Is it really likely to generate clicks?
• Is any data on click rates available to help you assess the title’s performance?
• Does it include words or phrases that your target audience are likely to use, including when using search engines?

The image. If the piece has a picture that appears in emails, on social media or elsewhere:

• Is it a good one?
• Is it likely to compel people to click to the content?
• And if there is no image, can you add one?

Would you like the complete content audit resources?

In my next blog I’ll take a closer look at points 6-10 of the audit framework. The ultimate resource is my new e-book, which includes more detail and examples across all ten criteria, a checklist and scorecard, and hints and tips for easy fixes for the most common problems. Drop me an email now if you’d like to be among the first to receive your copy.

Your ten-point copy and content audit tool

Is your content fit for purpose? Scary question, right? Most people involved in marketing know that too much of their copy or content isn’t as good as they’d like. But the task of going back through content to assess its quality and suitability can be daunting.

You wouldn't expect a doctor to look at a sick patient without any system for diagnosis. That's why I have developed this ten-point 'diagnostic tool' for copy and content. 

It's a method for assessing the suitability and quality of existing content. As a bonus, the tool can also be used to assess new content while it's still in the draft stage, helping you to strive for a better finished piece.

A copy and content audit everyone can use

If an organisation has been around for a while there could potentially be hundreds of pages of content available to readers. Lots of it may no longer represent the business the way it should (and some of it probably never did in the first place).

I have spent the last few weeks developing a simple framework for checking the suitability of existing and new copy or content. This post introduces the ten criteria in the framework and over the next couple of blogs I’ll flesh these out.

Best of all, in May I am launching a 24-page e-book that will include detailed notes and examples for each category, a checklist and scorecard, and hints and tips for easy fixes for the most common problems. (Drop me an email now if you’d like to be among the first to receive your copy.)

With that as the background, here’s the framework that will help you make the most of the time you have available for assessing and editing content.

1. Context

Content written some time ago may no longer be relevant to your organisation’s strategy, or to how the world is today. Content that is no longer relevant can be deleted, or you can bring it up to date.

2. Clarity

You may publish a piece thinking it scores well on clarity, but when looking at it again after a break you realise it’s not so clear after all. Use this opportunity to look out for the use of confusing jargon, badly written sentences, weak structure, dense formatting and anything else that acts as a barrier to clarity.

3. Comprehensive

This doesn’t mean everything has to be a long copy piece with tons of detail. But check that the essential information is included, in the context of the piece. You may be able to use the ‘what, when, where, who, why and how’ list as a quick check that the essential information is there.

4. Customers

Is the piece really focused on the readers? Usually this will be customers, but other stakeholders may also apply here. In short, is this something they will want to read and then be glad that they did?

5. Clickable

This takes being customer-focused to the next level. Is the content something that readers would be attracted to and happy to share with their network? This is also the category where SEO performance can be assessed.

6. Competition

If your competition has created similar content you probably need to check how your piece stacks up against theirs. Maybe when you published your piece it was the best source of information around. But what if someone has since gone one better?

7. Credibility

After looking at the piece’s credibility, clickability and competitive performance, you’re in a good position to assess its overall credibility. Ask yourself this: if your most wanted customer reads the piece, will they be significantly more willing to do business with you as a result?

8. Creative

Assessing a piece of legacy content is an opportunity to be more creative than when it was originally published. Does the piece feel a bit dull now? Would it benefit from a refresh?

9. Call to action

This one is simple: if there’s no call to action, add one.

10. Correct

We’re talking accuracy here, and this covers everything from spotting typos and dead links to checking that you still have permission to use any images that are part of the content.

After you’ve used this audit framework

If the piece scores well across these criteria you can consider recycling it, perhaps as a new blog or landing page. Then raise its profile across your marketing activity. If it scores very badly, and you don’t have the time or desire to fix it, maybe it’s time to say goodbye to it.

Would you like the complete content audit resources?

In my next two blogs, I'll look at the above list in more detail. But the ultimate resource will be my new e-book. Drop me an email if you’d like your free copy.

Three assumptions that will lead to poor marketing content

Is the way you write almost guaranteeing that your readers will move on to something else right away? It could be, if you are building unnecessary assumptions into your content.

Here’s a quick look at three examples of assumptions that can damage your content – but that can be easily fixed.

                                                                                                

1. Assuming that people remember the last thing you wrote

Often in a blog or email newsletter article you read something like ‘following on from last month’s update on our CFD-3000 widget we are delighted to announce that…’

The writer is assuming that the reader read the previous piece AND that he/she remembers it. In reality of course, the reader may never have read the previous piece, and even if they did it might have been one of dozens or hundreds of pieces of content they had to process on that day. There’s every chance it will have been forgotten by now.

An easy alternative would be to write something like: 'Last month we wrote about the new capacity of the CFD-300 widget (you can read about it here), and now we have even more good news about the upgraded product.’

So don’t be afraid to recap on what was written previously, even if you think most readers will remember it.

2. Assuming that people know who you are

Just because someone is on your email database doesn’t mean they will instantly recognise your company name when you send them an email. This is especially true if you don't send emails very often.

Some newsletter copy jumps right into content without reminding people who the sender is and what they do. Like this: ‘It’s been a busy month for all of us here. We’re especially pleased that our product manager Peter has completed his Level 5 training and is now fully on board with our product portfolio.’ 

The poor reader is thinking ‘I think I know who this is from but I’m not sure’ or worse still, ‘I have absolutely no clue who these people are’.

So make it a habit of having the essential ‘remember us’ copy as early as possible in the piece. For example, a strapline can do the trick, like ‘Keeping you informed about the latest poultry-keeping accessories’.

3. Forgetting that many of your readers are in different sectors

This applies especially to LinkedIn. Do you feel as frustrated as me when you browse through your LinkedIn feed? Among the dozens of updates I have to wade through, many of them make absolutely no sense to me.

Like this: ‘Had a great time at CuddlyFun2016 this week! Awesome performance from everyone involved and we have been nominated for the prize of ‘Best Exhibitor’! WooHoo!’ But I have no idea exactly what CuddlyFun2016 is and I can’t remember what my connection’s business does. 

So how about writing: ‘Really enjoyed showcasing our superb teddy bear outfits at the world’s biggest soft toy exhibition this week. Awesome performance from the team and we were nominated for ‘Best Exhibitor’ at CuddlyFun2016! WooHoo!’

Yes, I know – the main target audience for a post like that IS people who know exactly what CuddlyFun2016 is. But presumably you are connected to everyone else because you want to communicate with them on some level, so why not do it with clarity for them too?

Step into your readers’ shoes for a moment

As with all good writing, the trick is to remember that your readers don’t live in your world. They aren’t as interested in you and what you do as you are. So give them those extra little bits of information to help them quickly ‘get’ what you’re writing about.

Five ways to bring your B2B copy to life

Last month my mini series on B2B copywriting continued with a promise of some tips for bringing potentially uninspiring subject matter to life, so here it is. I start with the foundation for writing more engaging B2B content, and then look at four approaches you can take.

1. Know the subject. (I mean, REALLY know the subject.)

This is where it all starts. You have to know your subject matter inside out. Usually, that involves talking to the experts. You need to be great at asking the right questions and at listening hard to the answers. You need to be able to get along with people who would rather be doing something else than talking to some idiot from the marketing department.

It’s only when you talk to the experts – the people who know the product well, for example – that you’ll get to the really good stuff. The details about the situation that will get readers to sit up and take notice. Being a good copywriter is at least 50% about being good at going out and finding the good stuff, even if people in the business don’t think it’s there.

And if at all possible, try to experience the subject matter yourself. If I am writing about a new type of exercise bike I want to ride it for a while and try all its settings and features. I need to experience it in a way that works for me, so I can write with authority and confidence about it. A few years ago I wrote about a new type of very expensive pillow, so the client gave me one and I slept on it for a week before starting on the copy.

2. Tell a story

You’ve heard this one a thousand times already, but that’s because it’s a good one. Usually there’s a story to be told. A beginning, middle and end that can guide the reader through what you want them to know.

For a new product, the beginning might be that someone spotted an opportunity to help businesses improve efficiency. The middle might be years of product development. The end might be the launch. That’s the basic framework, but within each element there will likely be plenty of meat to put on the bones: the detail that fleshes out the story.

3. Get personal

Most people like people. We like reading about them. We like their story. So if there’s a person who features in the subject matter, see if you can focus on them.

On a simple level, an interview with a qualified expert on a subject is generally going to be a more attractive proposition than a general guide to the subject.

Compare these teasers:

Option one: ‘Read our five-point guide to getting the best car insurance deal.’ 

Option two: ‘Veteran insurance claims assessor Tom Upton shares 30 years’ experience on the must-have features of car insurance.’

But see if you can go one step further and really bring out the personal story. Has Tom met people who lost a lot through choosing the wrong insurance? Is Tom part of an initiative to improve road safety standards?

4. Focus on one thing

Imagine for a moment that a journalist is faced with the task of writing a story about someone who has just renovated and sold a house for a big profit. The actual story will involve many different things. There’s the financial side, right down to what mortgage arrangement they had, their previous experience, the suppliers and tradespeople they used, how they juggled family and work commitments, the local market conditions, and so it goes on.

So guess what journalists do? They look into all the detail and pull out one especially unusual or interesting facet of the story, and focus on that. It could be that the project took just two weeks, or that the developer was 18 years old, or that builders found a rare fossil in the floor. This is bread and butter stuff for journalists. They are always looking for an angle to bring subject matter to life.

It’s an approach that you can take in your B2B writing to. What angle should you go for? Of course it should be one that will resonate with the people you are aiming the piece at. One question to ask is: what is the biggest problem that this product/service/project solves for people? If you can find an angle based around that problem, and its solution, you are on a winner.

5. Be reader-specific

One challenge with B2B copy is that it might be read by several types of person in an organisation. If I’m writing something about a new piece of sales software it might be read by the sale director, sales manager, sales people, head of IT, finance manager and so on.

Covering all the bases in a single piece can be tricky. But if I commit to writing pieces aimed squarely at a single type of person, I can make it much more interesting. So how about a suite of pieces, with each one clearly labelled as being for a specific audience? Or if it has to be one piece, let’s break it into chunks and use clear subheadings so everyone knows which bit is for them.

So the next time you write B2B copy, try some new techniques for bringing it to life. No matter how dull the subject matter might be at first, if you dig deep, get to understand the people behind the subject and look hard for an angle, you can liven up the message. 

More tips for better B2B copywriting

A recent Marketing Booster looked at some of the differences between B2B and B2C copywriting. The main one was the way that – generally speaking – B2B readers are interested in features and detail. Their expertise means that they need to read the technical stuff, as well as the benefits.

Benefits do of course matter. However they need to be very relevant to the audience, which is why I looked at how thinking about ‘results’ rather than ‘benefits’ can help us focus in on what really matters to the B2B reader.

I promised more on things to consider when writing B2B copy, so in classic ‘people like lists’ fashion, here we go…

1. Shelve the spin

Whatever your political beliefs, you have to admit that much of the EU Referendum campaigning saw politicians take spin and the application of media training to a new level. Avoiding important issues may work for them, but savvy buyers will not like it if you do it in your marketing communications.

If something about your product or service is a bit ‘meh’, don’t try to pull the wool over your readers’ eyes. It is possible to be honest, without appearing too negative.

Let’s take a fictional example to see how you can do this. You are promoting a product that excels in one area, but is nothing better than standard in another. Here’s one way to address that: 

The central hub of the GH200X meets all the industry standards, but it isn’t what makes this product so special. Look past the hub and you’ll see a clever gearing system that means you can easily switch between six speeds – one more than most similar units. 

That extra gear is especially useful when you need to tackle extra-heavy loads and it’s why the capacity of the GH200X is 25 tonnes.

See how easy it is to quickly move on from the ‘standard’ feature and get to the more exciting bit? But at the same time, we have ticked off the standard bit too.

2. And avoid even more spin

It’s easy to get dragged into writing general, meaningless, trite phrases. So go easy on phrases like ‘class-leading performance’ and ‘unrivalled expertise’ UNLESS you can back them up with facts. Or just give people the facts and let them make up their own mind.

3. Be consistent

As organisations grow, so does the amount of information across their websites, catalogues, marketing campaign materials and so on. And that’s when things can get messy.

Some businesses have a real problem with this. Product descriptions on multiple media are written by the product, sales and marketing teams. So a customer could see the same product explained on the website and in sales presentations, product literature, advertisements, promotional videos and elsewhere. Different writers could have created each piece of content, with no process in place to ensure consistency.

Readers might see the same product being named in several different ways. To use a fictional example again, a single product might be listed as a 25kg Hub, a Central Hub Maxpower, Maximum Power Central Hub and so on. There are also often inconsistencies in product features, specifications and positioning messages.

Not all B2B customers will notice this or care about it. But some will, and arguably it’s the ones with the most money to spend who will pay most attention to detail. Remove the confusion and make sure everything is clear and consistent.

4. Involve the experts

Unless you are truly an expert in the subject matter, get the help of people who are. Delve deep into their knowledge and experience. And if you are a good writer but not so hot on talking to people, prioritise that as something to work on.

5. Don’t be dull

Finally, just because I am calling for the inclusion of information, detail and depth in B2B copy doesn’t mean it has to be dull or boring. In the next Marketing Booster, I’ll share some tips for getting some life, colour and even excitement into your writing, no matter what the subject matter.

How does B2B copywriting differ from B2C copywriting?

I sat in on a great online interview with a B2B specialist copywriter some time ago and it was interesting stuff. (The half-hour interview is with Michael Fischler and you can hear it here.)

What struck me about the interview was a point Michael made about features and benefits. In short, he said that B2B copywriting should be heavier on the features than B2C. That's because B2B buyers are usually knowledgeable - experts in many cases - who need and expect to see certain 'nuts and bolts' information.

As a broad principle, I agree 100%. If you are working on a piece of B2C copy, in many (most?) cases the reader will have little knowledge about the finer details of the subject matter.

Someone choosing which shampoo to buy doesn't usually know the difference between ammonium chloride and sodium lauryl sulfate. And most TV buyers don't really know whether a 1600 Hx processing rate is a useful feature.

Marketers do of course often include this type of information in consumer campaigns. It sounds good, and that's OK I guess.

And yes, there are 'prosumers' who know their stuff. My nephew is one. He's a total video game geek who definitely knows whether his next PC should have a dual-core processor or a quad-core one.

But generally spaking, it's the B2B readers who know the technical issues and requirements. You're writing for a company that makes saw blades used in quarries? Well, you had better include information on applications, noise performance, yield, efficiency, precision, rim width, rim depth, arbor size, recommended RPM and so on.

That's not to say that you shouldn't also write about the benefits. But maybe the thing is not to concentrate on the benefits that are obvious, given the features and technical information. The reader will probably know that the more teeth per inch the blade has, the finer the cut. So listing the teeth-per-inch may be enough to get that message across. But if not...
 

What is a benefit, anyway?

One useful trick when writing is to think of 'results' instead of 'benefits'.

We may think that a benefit of more teeth per inch is a finer cut. But the result might be 'less waste', which could hit the spot with readers better than 'a finer cut'.

If the result is 5% less waste that's even better. If it's an average of $15,000 less waste per day in a typical granite quarry, even better still. Even the most technically-aware B2B reader will be interested in that, so long as we back it up with evidence.

(By the way, I know nothing about saw blades or quarries, so forgive me if you do and my examples are silly!)

For every benefit we might include in B2B copy, we should really push ourselves hard to question its value for the reader. Work hard on the research. Talk to the experts in your business. If you can identify some great results that the features achieve for customers, they could be worth including.
 

More next time  

What else should you bear in mind when writing B2B copy? Look out for some more tips and tricks in the next Marketing Booster.

Recording audio makes you a better writer

f you find yourself in a role where you have to write a lot of content every week (or even every day) it can soon start to get pretty exhausting.

No matter how well you use techniques for research and planning before you write, there will be many times when your fingers hover over the keyboard, but your brain can’t get them to move.

One technique that I have been using for years (and more so than ever lately) has proved to be wonderful for overcoming this problem: recording conversations.

So if I am writing a case study, I will record the conversations I have with the product/service users that are talking me through the case in question. Or if I am writing a blog post that will be attributed to someone else, I will have a chat with them about the subject matter and record that too.

On almost every occasion, when I listen back to the recording I can transcribe it and edit as I go. Pretty soon, I get very close to having a proper draft of the case study, blog post or whatever else it is I am working on.

Because I am working from the expert’s actual words, the piece I write will usually be better than if I worked from my notes.

In fact, recording is much more effective than taking notes. Unless you are a very fast writer or know shorthand, you’ll never be able to get every word down – but it’s the details that note-taking often misses that will make for good content.

Here are some tips for getting the most from this technique:

Audio quality really matters

If the recorder on your phone works well then so be it. But you may need to get a dedicated audio recorder instead to make it easy to listen back to the conversations.

You may also need to invest in a good separate microphone. Again, it depends on what results you can get from the built-in mic on whatever equipment you use.

Try it for recording phone calls 

I can record conversations with people I actually meet, but most of the conversations I have are by phone, so I have my tools for recording calls set up and ready to go with just a couple of buttons to press.

I put people on speaker phone and record via a mic into a digital recorder but you can get more sophisticated tools for this that link your phone straight to your PC.

Test, test and test 

Do some dummy runs to make sure the equipment works. For the first few real recordings, do a little test and check via playback before you start.

Always keep checking that you are still recording as you go along. Trust me, devices stop working, batteries run out and recording media gets full. Don’t get so engrossed in the conversation that you don’t notice that you are still on ‘pause’ or that you have run out of disc space.

Take notes too 

Just in case the recording fails and you notice too late, notes make a pretty good back-up.

Put your subject at ease 

Make sure that the other party knows that this is just for your purposes and that it won’t be listened to by anyone else.

If you haven’t already done so, get recording – I’m certain that your writing will improve and that you'll find the process a lot easier too.

Think like a cynical customer - it'll help you write better

When you start work on writing some new marketing materials you no doubt talk to colleagues about the product or service. One of the problems you might find is that everyone is very positive about the product. Why is that a problem? It’s because your readers are almost certainly not as keen on the product as your colleagues are.

In fact, it’s likely that readers (ie potential customers in most cases) are starting out from a cynical standpoint. And it’s your job when copywriting to anticipate that attitude. Being able to act as devil's advocate when researching subject matter is essential if you are to write truly outstanding marketing content.

Try to imagine the reader thinking: ‘Here we go again - someone else trying to flog me something I don’t need’. Once you can do that, you are in a much better position to write because you are now focused on trying to move the reader from that point of view to one where they will consider investigating or buying the product.

To get myself (and the other people involved in a project) in the right mindset I have a killer question I often ask during the briefing/research process:

‘Why wouldn’t someone buy this product?’ Or better still: ‘Why aren’t they buying it?’
You can imagine the sort of answers you’ll get to that question:
•    They’ve never heard of us.
•    They think it’s too expensive.
•    They think the competition is better.
•    They have no evidence to back up our claims.
•    They think they can manage without it.
•    They have been to our website and got lost in the terrible navigation.
•    They don't know anybody else that uses it.
•    They don't fully understand what it does.
•    And so on.

As you can see, this is a time for total honesty from you and your colleagues. You have to play devil’s advocate and you have to be tough when you do it.

Addressing readers' concerns head-on

Once you have identified 50-100 reasons why someone wouldn't buy the product, here are three further steps:

1. Identify which of the reasons can't be addressed. (There may be some that you really can't do anything about.)

2. Identify which of the reasons can be addressed BUT not with words. For example, if the product doesn't come in red you can't really overcome that objection in a brochure. This sort of thing needs addressing by someone else and may be for the long-term.

3. Identify which CAN be addressed by your new marketing content. For example, if something is seen as expensive maybe you can write about payment plans, whole of life costs, the reasons that it costs so much (eg better materials are used than anyone else’s product) and so on.

Now you are all set to get working on marketing messages that will probably be much better and compelling than if you didn't go through this type of process.