Writing Tips for B2B Content to Break the “Will They Engage?” Barrier

6 minute read

Upland Admin

Using a unique mix of writing tips for B2B content helps organizations accomplish some very important things in a highly competitive digital space.

Well-written, dynamic, interesting content:

  • Builds interest and sustainable engagement with target audiences
  • Sets an organization apart from the competition in meaningful ways
  • Keeps clients moving through the buyer’s journey towards purchase, seamlessly
  • …and much more.

However, it all starts with crafting diverse, full-funnel content that offers a blend of an organization’s personality, offerings, and entry points, paving an easy path to purchase.

Understanding how to create content that gets engagement at the top, bottom and middle of the sales funnel, and keeps the purchase process flowing in a seamless way, means the organization has a profit engine that works while the company sleeps. It also means marketing teams have to get really clear on the nuances of content development and what form certain customers respond to most.

To develop content that hits key areas of engagement on a more regular basis, be open to doing a content assessment in 2017 and employ a few of these writing tips for B2B.

Write or Refresh B2B Content with These Simple Tips

Tip #1: Map out Content with Team Leads to Cover All Angles and Ensure Full Coverage of Expertise

We all know things another person doesn’t know. This is why it’s so essential for teams company-wide to collaborate and share responsibility for content development. Not only does it ensure time and money is spent on developing full funnel content, it includes important insight on what a real customer wants and needs as they travel through the sales pipeline.

Tip #2: Assess Your Buyer’s Journey, Toss Outdated Marketing Pieces, and Create Content that Meets a Specific Need That May be Lacking

While moving forward to create something new is always more appealing, it’s important to clear the decks of extra content noise, first. Old B2B content that’s stale or outdated can go. Then, reassess the big picture and see what may need to be added. Where do clients seem to stall or lose interest? What pieces convert regularly? What information is left out? This is where a meeting of team leads mentioned in the first point becomes invaluable.

Tip #3: Develop Buyer Personas Based on Clear Social and Web Analytics Data, then Match that to Sales Numbers

Personas are not an abstract concept, even though they start out that way.When you think about it, buyer personas are the extension of your most sought-after customers, blended with those who already buy products or services. One of the most important writing tips for B2B content is to know your personas and understand their language. Where do they hang out? What do they search for online? How do they consume content? This is how you begin to understand the core of who they are in order to write for them.

Tip #5: Know What Keywords Potential Clients Are Searching for and Use Them in Content

This one seems pretty simple as a B2B content writing tip, but it’s still a building block for attracting the right traffic. Be sure to check search results regularly and update current content or create new pieces quarterly to match search results or reflect keywords that gain conversions.

Tip #6: Format Content in a Way That Is Engaging or Inviting for the Customer.

In 2017, personalized content rules. What does this mean for writing tips for B2B content? Well, it means organizations can no longer ignore the need to create the same content in many forms. The truth is that anyone with access to the internet can find the same information a million ways, and will gravitate towards what they prefer. Analytics can help predict some preferences, but it’s important to create diverse marketing content like blog posts, white papers, podcasts, webinars etc. that share the same information in different ways.

Tip #7: Show Real Life Examples That are Relatable to Get Your Point across More Easily

Clients like a little lightness to their learning. When sales leads need to trudge through content or a process, many will look for simpler alternatives. If you have to educate, why not do it through engaging examples? Simple comparisons to everyday human experiences work really well, in addition to calling on nostalgia or common human truths. The aim is to get people to relate to a concept or feeling they already understand, and then expand it to products or services available in B2B content.

Tip #8: Simplify Complex Ideas by Breaking Them Down into Bite-Size Chunks

Education is the first and foremost goal of any B2B content. Provide a clear, simple explanation of offerings and present complex topics in a way that’s interesting, engaging and inspires people to learn more. As offerings are updated to stay innovative, provide the same bite-size approach for consistency and ease of engagement.

Tip #9: Gamify Content through Social Channels to Increase Engagement and Incentivize with Prizes

Yes, gamify. While this is not a new concept, it’s not always easy to do well. A B2B writing tip is to look at what channels have the most traction and create content in ways that appeal to that specific audience. There are language nuances, ways to format content (long or short form) and how to host contests or prizes unique to that social platform. The other option is to drive people to your website and have the “game” hosted there. Write content in a way that is light and fun and inspires someone to stay on the site longer.

Tip #10: Write Content from the Point of View of Key Buyer Personas

If you’ve completed buyer personas, start writing like them. How would they talk? What are they interested in sharing? The trick is in focusing on the nuances of a persona’s interests, language, and price points.

Tip #11: Tap Internal Sources to Serve as Subject Matter Experts or Set up Specific Times for Them to be Available to the Public for Questions and Comments

People want value, and they want to get it from the people who know the most. Setting up a space and time for a subject matter expert to interact with customers offers a way to get a slew of specific customer questions to turn into marketing content down the line. What a great way to tap into what B2B content to write next!

It’s not always easy to break the “will they engage barrier”, but calling on writing tips for B2B to craft full funnel content sets your organization apart in all the right ways.

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