Month: June 2018

Podcast 62: content strategy, and how B2B web writing has changed

Posted on by The Radix Team

In a world where design dominates new website projects, copy often comes as an afterthought, or gets overlooked completely.

But why?

Great web copy is a vitally important part of any website. Get it wrong, and your customers will likely drop off because it doesn’t give them anything useful. Get it right though, and you get better page views, less page drop-off, and – most importantly – more conversions.

In the latest episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy, David and Fiona talk about writing web copy, content strategy, and what it takes to run a successful web copy project from start to finish.

Listen now to learn:

  • How we recently managed a successful web copy project for a large international client
  • What you should consider when briefing a writer on a web copy project
  • How strategist Irene Triendl sees the crossover between copywriting and content strategy

We also announce which piece of content is the latest to make it into our B2B Content Hall of Fame this month.

How to listen:

You can download the episode here (right-click and “save-as” to download). Or stream the episode in the player at the top of the page.

(Or you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here. Alternatively, add our RSS to your preferred podcast player.)

Credits:

Audio editing and music by Bang and Smash.

The Radix copywriting process: how do we work with our clients?

Posted on by The Radix Team

Entrusting your marketing copywriting to an external party is a big decision – and it’s only natural to have lots of questions about how the work is going to get done, and how the relationship is going to work.

One of the most frequent questions we get asked is about our process for producing a piece of writing work from start to finish. And that’s exactly what I’m going to outline in this blog…

Getting a quote

Before you work with us, you’ll usually want to know how much the work is going to cost. To make that part easy for our clients, we have fixed price lists for frequently-requested content formats like blogs, ebooks, and video scripts. We have one price list for clients that come to us direct, and another for agencies that are looking to get us on board as part of their client work.

As senior account manager Chloe Tidy explains:

“While our price lists don’t offer an exhaustive list of everything we do, they do offer an accurate idea of the content we can produce. If there is something that a client would like us to produce that isn’t on our price lists, we can always create a bespoke quote.”

All of our quotes reflect the time we expect to spend on a project. As standard, this’ll include time for:

  • A briefing call (where required)
  • Any additional desk research to inform the piece
  • A first draft (and, for longer-form pieces, an outline)
  • Review and proofing
  • Two rounds of reasonable amends

The briefing process

How do we get the information for the work we’re going to do? For the sake of narrative convenience, jump into the shoes of one of our regular clients. You’ve worked with us before – on a range of projects from ABM campaigns to web copy – and today, you need a blog for your website.

The blog, which has a working title of ‘The State of Cloud-Native Adoption in Fishmongery’, needs to be written – but to ensure we get it right, you’re going to need to brief us.

In classic ‘choose your own adventure’ style, you have two paths by which you can proceed:

  1. Provide a working title and a description of the desired outcome by email and/or a phone call, asking your dedicated account manager if they have the time to fit the piece into an appropriate writer’s diary. A briefing call will be arranged if there is not sufficient information provided, or the brief is particularly dense.
  2. Use the Radix briefing template to provide a full, written brief for a writer. When you are happy with it, you can send this to your dedicated account manager, who will assign it to the best writer for the job. A briefing call will be arranged if the writer has any questions about the project, preferably with a project lead at your end.

In cases where we are engaging with a new client, or it’s simply our first time tackling a project type, the process is a little more complex.

Senior Account Manager Sarah Gray explains:

“If it’s a complicated topic, or a new client, we’ll run the project by a senior writer to evaluate. If needed, we may also arrange a briefing call with the client before booking in time with the writer. Then, all that’s left before jumping into an outline or a first draft is to send the client a quote and confirm the timeframe for delivery.”

The first draft

So, where are we at? Let’s recap. So far, we’ve:

  • Received word of your new brief
  • Nailed down (figuratively) a writer for the job
  • (Maybe) had a wee briefing call to make sure we have the right info
  • Agreed on a quote and timeframe for delivery

Nice. Everything’s looking good. Now it’s time for our writer, depending on the outcome of the briefing, to either whip up an outline or jump right into the first draft.

With blogs, it’s likely our writer will have everything they need from the briefing (and maybe a little desk research) to begin the first draft. But with other projects – such as case studies or whitepapers – we often write an outline first.

…*Intermission*…

Shiba Inu Dog GIF

Internal quality control

On completion of the first draft, the writer will pass their copy to a content lead or another expert peer to review. This is where the amends process begins (and, in the best-case scenario, ends).

The content lead is one of the most important roles in our entire process. Think of them as your brand guardian, the final hurdle which our writers must leap before the copy lands in your inbox. Internally, we always allocate a content lead for each client. This way, they can build up a wealth of knowledge about you and apply it to the reviewing process, ensuring everything hits the mark.

In our role-play scenario, let’s say the reviewer spotted a non sequitur in the blog’s third and final act. Nothing critical, but enough of a reason to send it back to the writer with comments on how to amend the issue. With the amends made and the reviewer happy, the account manager will send the copy off for you to review.

Reviews and approvals

If the copy hits the spot, what happens next is up to you. If you think it needs some further work, or if the scope of the project has changed, you can let us know and our account manager will arrange for the writer to return to the piece. We can also set up a call with you to clarify the changes required.

As standard, we always include up to two rounds of copy amends in the quote – this way, writer and client alike are guaranteed leeway to tweak the first draft. When it comes to the amends process, we recognise that we’re delivering a product, and as they say in retail: ‘the customer is always right’. While that’s true *most of the time*, we prefer to see our work as a collaboration in which both parties learn from each other (and in turn, get the best outcome possible: damn good copy).

Once the copy is finished and approved, our account managers will send you the finished piece. And from there, hopefully the copy can do its thing!

Working with Radix

I hope this blog has answered any questions you may have had about the way we work with our clients, but if there’s anything you’re unsure about (or you have any other questions), please do get in touch on 01326 373592.

 

B2B Content Hall of Fame: the humour and humility of IBM’s Watson

Posted on by George Reith

AI has an image problem. Between the evil robots that permeate pop culture (thanks, Terminator and 2001: A Space Odyssey) and the likes of Elon Musk regularly reminding us of the dangers of AI, many see artificial intelligence as a source of fear rather than a useful tool.

This is just my (un)professional opinion, but this AI fear-mongering is far too often based on the fiction of AI rather than the fact. Ask anyone who’s spent some time with today’s AI and voice assistant tools, and they’ll quickly remind you that these things aren’t exactly equipped to enslave humanity.

While these technologies can (and certainly will be) very useful, they can also be downright comical. Whether it’s a lack of common sense, or their no-nonsense monotone, AI has a funny side that businesses shouldn’t be afraid to embrace.

That’s exactly what IBM has done with some of its Watson content, and its humorous, humble approach to marketing Watson makes it deserving of a place in the Radix B2B Content Hall of Fame.

From Jeopardy to comedy

Watson made a big debut in 2011, storming through a round of Jeopardy and dismantling its human competitors. So far, so scary AI. Though even in this early marketing stunt, we see a humorous – even human – side to Watson. Who doesn’t get a chuckle out of Watson’s monotone voice asking for a question from the “chicks dig me” category?

This humorous streak continues in a series of videos where Watson interviews a range of celebrities. Each one takes a different slant, both highlighting Watson’s unique capabilities, but also poking fun at the cognitive bot in a box.

“Today on the Watson show”

During an interview with Bob Dylan, the tables are turned on Watson’s usually monotone demeanour, with Dylan’s canned and repeated responses sounding more robotic than Watson’s line of questioning. There are also the less-subtle jabs at Watson’s singing voice; don’t worry vocalists, AI isn’t coming for your jobs just yet.

When interviewing Serena Williams, Watson is quick to point out its ability to rapidly analyse William’s match performance. When it gets a bit too big for its boots though (Watson is the “Serena Williams of cognitive computing”, apparently) the tennis superstar is quick to put Watson in its place. There’s a humility here you seldom see in traditional technology marketing.

When discussing empathy, love and storytelling with Steven King, the horror author extraordinaire urges Watson to “try writing a book. Find a remote hotel… bring the family.” And in a non-celebrity interview that explores its nicer streak, Watson assures young Annabelle that she is in good health based on her records – despite her being too sick to have cake at her birthday last year.

Out of the boardroom, into the zeitgeist

I’ll admit that the series does lean a bit too hard on showing what Watson can do, with jarring interludes from Watson that read more like a dry product brochure than an engaging repartee between interviewer and interviewee. This rubs against the grain of the otherwise light and enjoyable humour in the videos.

But despite some flaws, the Watson conversations do two very important things:

  1. They disarm Watson. Whether through humour or humility, Watson is clearly not an evil AI overlord. It works with people, discussing their problems and proposing solutions.
  2. They move out of the realm of marketing material and into general culture. By bringing in recognisable cultural touchstones like King and Dylan, the series pushes beyond the walled garden of B2B marketing content and into the mainstream.

Both of these are done with the concept alone. But the execution brings the wry humour that wraps it all together as a genuinely engaging, enjoyable piece of content.

IBM’s general approach to Watson marketing has provoked the ire of some critics, with commentators noting that – whether due to overexcited journalists, or IBM itself – much of the discussion around Watson is unrealistic and focusses on capabilities that are very much the future of Watson rather than the present.

This all comes back to the problems AI solutions must overcome as they shift from a cultural mainstay into an actual tangible product or service. AI must prove it can really do the things it says it can do, and that it will do them in a way that works with humanity rather than against it.

But if IBM keeps marketing Watson in this way – through videos that demonstrate humility, humour, and empathy – I think Watson might have a fighting chance of entering the public consciousness as a force for good rather than SkyNet coming to life.

Want to write great landing pages? Follow these three simple rules…

Posted on by The Radix Team

Here at Radix, we write a lot of landing pages for clients. And yet, after five minutes of Googling “landing pages”, I noticed that every link had something in common: they all focused on design – and not the copy.

To me, this is alarming because it means there are countless people creating landing pages based solely on design, and not giving a fig about the content that’ll actually drive people to take action. You know, the stuff that people actually read once they land on your page.

I’m not saying design isn’t important, but with a landing page, you have 200-300 words (and very little retail space) to get your message across well enough that someone will click on your call to action.

Design alone won’t create conversions, no matter how great it might be.

What can create conversions is asking these three essential questions before writing (or briefing a writer on) your landing page.

1 – What’s the purpose of your page?

The sole purpose of a landing page (in B2B marketing at least) is to act as a portal for what you actually want a user to do.

This could be a simple call to action for a bigger piece of content or a gated contact form that’s the barrier between customers and assets.

All too often though, brands send people from an email or advert to their homepage, or worse, a page that has nothing to do with what they clicked on. And the result? Users will simply drop off your site without a second thought.

The reason? You didn’t deliver what you promised.

Getting a user to click through to your site is difficult – I mean really difficult. So if they’ve given you the time of day to hear what you have to say, you need to make sure it matches up with what you do next. You need to actually send them to the content you promised, preferably hosted on a clear, concise landing page.

Do this, and you’re more likely to keep your audience on your website, and capture their contact details.

2 – Where does your traffic come from?

You now need to consider how people will land on your page. There’s two reasons for this: the content needs to reflect where they’ve just come from, and it also tells you how committed and well-informed your reader is when they arrive.

The two main types of page we tend to write are for email campaigns and advertising/pay-per-click campaigns.

Email landing pages

Generally speaking, an email campaign will consist of many different levels, depending on where the buyer is in the funnel.

More and more emails are using call to actions as a way of driving people to a specific landing page. But this click is like gold-dust. So once you’ve captured people, you need to do your very best to prevent them dropping off your website.

Adverts/PPC

This is where many brands fall foul. If you’re not pointing your adverts towards relevant landing pages, you’re not just going to get high drop off, but you’ll also likely annoy a lot of people.

And they might need more information and persuasion than an email landing page, because ad copy is generally a lot shorter. As a rule of thumb, an ad landing page does the heavy lifting… an email landing page mostly needs to avoid getting in the way.

Remember: if someone’s keen enough to click on your advert, the least you can do is tailor your landing page.

3 – What do you actually want to say?

This is the bit where you keep your copy brief. Usually, the bulk of what you want to say is contained in the asset you’re promoting, so you simply need to give teasers here and point people towards it.

Here, a snappy title that lures the reader in is key. It doesn’t need to be clever or a play on words – in fact, the quicker it gets to the point, the better. Your messaging needs to be engaging enough to pull the reader towards your call to action, but brief enough to keep their interest.

Help your customers land feet first – every time

Ask yourself these simple questions, and you can save yourself a lot of stress with your landing pages.

As long as you nail your title, keep it brief, and treat every click with respect, you’ll be driving shed loads more traffic deeper into your website in no time.

As it happens, we do this content wtiting every day, and we’re pretty good at it. So, if you’d really like to take the stress out of your landing pages, feel free to get in touch. We’ll happily chat through your options.