Category: B2B Copy Chat

Podcast 97: how to write valuable B2B content

Posted on by The Radix Team

In this month’s episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy, we’re talking about creating content with real value for the reader. More specifically, writing content that reflects your customers’ priorities and furthers your business goals.

In our feature interview, we get a lesson from the two inspirational voices behind The School of Valuable Content: Sonja Nisson and Sharon Tanton. We dive deep to discuss what prompted them to get the band back together, how they help marketers find that content sweet spot, and why client input is always the most vital part of content creation.

Guest co-host John Espirian – influential B2B tech copywriter, Master of LinkedIn and author of Content DNA – joins us to talk through his own experiences, and discuss how to create content that’s “relentlessly helpful”.

And to top it all off, you’ll catch another tip from our own team of experienced copywriters. This month’s words of wisdom are delivered to you by our very talented (and very wise) consultant copywriter Steve George.

A (super-quick) checklist for creating valuable content

As a brand, creating standout content is one of the best ways to attract your ideal customers, and build your reputation as an expert in your field. But it can be hard knowing what to write, or if your content has any real value (to your customer, or your business).

Sonja and Sharon suggest asking three quick questions:

Does your content help you meet your business goals?

According to Sonja and Sharon, this is the first question you have to answer. There’s no point writing content if it doesn’t further your cause in some way. Maybe you want to showcase your unique expertise. Maybe you want to share a success story. Or maybe you’re targeting a specific client. Whatever the reason, it’s important to know why you’re writing.

Is it (really, actually) helpful for your (real world) clients?

To create value for your clients, you need to answer a real challenge, and provide a solution your customers genuinely crave. But to do that, your content should be written with a real end-user in mind. According to Sonja and Sharon, a good litmus test is asking whether you (or your sales team) would be motivated to share it with a specific individual.

Does it add to the story you’re telling – without repeating yourself?

It’s hard to create truly insightful, original content all the time. Looking at a story from different angles is perfectly fine. But to make people want to keep reading, you have to ensure that you’re not just repeating content – and that every piece you write takes the story a step further.

Of course, there’s much more in the interview itself, so have a listen… and if you’d like to know more, maybe enrol in the School of Valuable Content yourself.

In the rest of the podcast, you’ll also hear a wealth of insights from David and John, including the importance of writing to specific reader profiles (or, as John calls them, “Pen Portraits”), and why you should never refer a “Salesy Douche Canoe”.

In this episode, you’ll find…

01.03 – A warm welcome for our latest guest co-host: John Espirian

04:25 – David talks valuable content with Sonja Nisson and Sharon Tanton

19:08 – John and David discuss how consistently valuable content, written for a specific audience, can build trust

34:22 – Our online community weighs in with valuable content obstacles and tips

41:00 – Steve George’s copywriting tip of the month

Was this your favourite episode yet?

We’d love to hear your thoughts. Tweet us at @radixcom on Twitter or pop us a message on [email protected] Or, if you fancy your chances of appearing on the podcast, send a voice memo our way.

How to listen 

Credits 

  • Firstly, a very big Radix thank you to John Espirian. You’re as skilled at co-hosting as you are at copywriting, LinkedIn, and frankly everything else.
  • Thanks also to Sonja Nisson and Sharon Tanton; it’s great to have you back! I think we all learned a lot from that fantastic interview – your students are lucky people.
  • We’re grateful to the awesome folk who answered our questions on social media: Fiona, Scott, Maureen, and Joe.
  • And Steve, thank you for providing an excellent copywriting tip of the month.

Podcast editing and music by Bang and Smash

Radix Copycast Episode 23: What “intelligent content” means for B2B copywriters

Posted on by The Radix Team

 

Content marketing is on the move. The next stage in its evolution will be “intelligent” content, according to Joe Pulizzi of the Content Marketing Institute, and a host of other luminaries slated to speak at next month’s Intelligent Content Conference in San Francisco.

According to Noz Urbina, one of the leading lights of the intelligent content movement:

“We need to think of language at the level of “systems”, not words or pages. Intelligent content is free from format, rich in semantic and structural metadata, and automation-system-ready.”


It seems that intelligent content is content that adapts itself on the fly to the needs and wishes of the person consuming it. It’s guided partly by what the user is doing at the moment of consuming the content, partly by the device they’re using, and partly by what the content delivery platform already ‘knows’ about the user and what they’ve done previously.

What does it mean for writers?

For the people writing content that’s destined to be adaptive, we think it will lead to some big changes in mindset and approach.

As Noz Urbina says above, adaptive content is “free from format”. Writers can no longer assume their words will be consumed in a linear fashion, with the user starting at the beginning and following the writer’s narrative thread to the end. Instead, individual users will take different paths through the content, depending on where they are, what they’re doing and what they’re interested in.

The difference between writing traditional content and writing adaptive content may therefore be like the difference between writing a novel or screenplay, and writing a choose-your-own-adventure book or videogame. In all cases, there is a story, but in the latter formats, the user selects the narrative path, rather than the writer.

For more on the challenges we think intelligent/adaptive content will present for copywriters and B2B marketers, listen to the podcast as we discuss:

  • How copywriting practices and business models will need to change
  • How it will affect collaboration between writers, designers and marketers
  • Whether writing apps like MS Word are still fit for purpose
  • What you can do practise creating non-linear content
  • … and more!

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

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here.

Alternatively: add our RSS to your preferred podcast player.

Music by Industrial and Marine.

Mentioned this episode

2014: The year social content dominated B2B technology marketing?