Good B2B copywriting is powerful.
At its best it makes the reader think, act or feel something. That’s not to say it’s going to change your outlook on life, or even rush to make a purchase, but, at the very least, it’s got to be engaging.
Whether it’s taglines, social posts, thought leadership or emails, if you lose the reader’s interest the whole thing falls down. So how can you make your brand’s copy more compelling?
Read on to learn a few of our top tips.
- Keep it simple
A faculty of venerated academics may, conceivably, be captivated by verbose proclamation of bona fide concepts… but in marketing, keep it simple.
Using big words might seem impressive, but there’s no faster way to make your readers’ eyes glaze over. It’s not a case of talking down to them; it’s simply good practice to put your ideas across as succinctly as possible.
Afterall, the easier something is to read, the more likely people are to read it.
That extends beyond word choices to formatting. Large paragraphs can be off-putting – how many times have you opened a webpage, seen a daunting block of text and promptly clicked on something else?
Instead, consider short, skimmable paragraphs, which are more reader-friendly. Where appropriate, bullet points and lists will naturally draw readers’ eyes down the page.
- Speak your readers’ language
When writing a piece of B2B copy, you might find yourself talking to C-suite executives, software developers, sales reps, contractors or hedge fund managers. Just remember: they don’t all think and communicate in the same way.
Think about how you can tailor your copy to your audience. What are their priorities? What are their aspirations? Is it appropriate to use jargon? Which jargon? Look at the world through their eyes and shape your approach accordingly to show to your reader that you ‘get it’ – whatever ‘it’ is.
And avoid the temptation to fall back on B2B buzzwords. Verbs like ‘harness’, ‘leverage’ and ‘unlock’ are everywhere. It’s not that they don’t have their place; they’re exciting and action-oriented. It’s just that they don’t necessarily tell the reader anything.
If you’re promoting a product and service, and want to speak your audiences’ language, you’ve got to answer the ‘what’s in it for me?’ question.
The best political communicators understand this point. Instead of explaining how they’ll ‘grow the economy,’ they promise to ‘put more food on the table.’ As a message, it’s more tangible and more likely to address the concerns of individual voters, making it more resonant.
The same applies to B2B copywriting. Concrete benefits outweigh abstract verbs every time.
- Structure: the backbone of effective copywriting
A painful truth, especially with longform copy: there’s a good chance people won’t read the whole thing. Or past the halfway point. Or beyond the introduction.
In fact, sometimes, the headline might be the only thing they read. And that’s ok.
But it does make the structure of your copywriting all the more important.
Journalists get it. It’s why, in newspaper articles, you’ll never read the details first. They’re usually reserved for the second half of the article, after the writer has already established the crucial ‘need-to-know’ facts.
B2B audiences are often time-poor and want the key info, pronto. If the point you’re trying to communicate is buried within the body of your copy, a chunk of your readership will miss it.
When you sit down to write, ask yourself: if there’s one thing I want my reader to take away, what is it? Express it early – the headline if possible – and be confident in your writing. If you’ve found the right audience and written compellingly enough, the reader will take it upon themselves to find out as much as possible by reading to the end.
- Surprise!
B2B writing often calls for a touch of gravitas; if you’re talking directly to professionals, of course you want to come across as authoritative. But there’s still scope for some playfulness.
After all, the greatest sin a copywriter can commit is to bore their reader. Luckily, there are some simple ways to avoid this pitfall. The thing to do is keep readers on their toes.
Varying your sentence lengths is a good place to start. Too many short sentences can make copy disjointed and jarring. Too many long ones bunched together, will come across as monotonous. By mixing long, medium and short sentences, you can enhance flow and readability, and prevent readers from nodding off.
Making surprising word or narrative choices are another way to catch and hold attention. Nowhere is that more crucial than at the start of your writing, where a punchy first sentence is a must. If you can find a way to introduce your subject in a way the reader won’t expect, you might be onto a winner.
In these early days of widespread AI usership, where lifeless copy is being churned out in ever-greater quantities, sparkling words written by actual human copywriters are becoming increasingly distinctive and powerful.
- Get the professionals in
At The Think Tank, we’re well versed in delivering content that builds brand awareness, changes perceptions and grows revenue.
Take our ‘Noise Annoys’ campaign with Oscar Acoustics. Our team developed a whitepaper about the surprising impact of noise in offices and built an entire campaign around it. Using this piece of finely-crafted hero content, we generated over 100 downloads, more than 50 pieces of press coverage and multiple leads – not to mention four titles at the UK Content Awards.
Want to develop copy that gets noticed and gets results? Get in touch.