B2B Marketing Archives - Page 2 of 9

Five ways B2B marketers can go the extra mile with data privacy

Posted on January 25, 2024October 7, 2025 by Steve George

In marketing, almost everything we do is driven by customer data in one way or another. It helps us understand customer sentiment, expectations, and needs, enabling us to create relevant, high-impact campaigns and content.

But with great power comes great responsibility. Following the great GDPR panic of 2018, we all know not to put personally identifiable information into the public domain, or seriously misuse it. But beyond that, how much time do we really spend thinking about data privacy and our day-to-day role in upholding responsible data practices?

To mark Data Privacy Week, here are five things B2B marketers and copywriters can do to safeguard data privacy, without compromising on the value customer data can deliver.

#1) Personalise, but don’t go overboard

We’ve all come across content, ads, and offers that feel a little too targeted to us. It’s an unsettling feeling that gives people the impression they’re being monitored, rather than simply catered to.

But overpersonalisation doesn’t just put people off; it can be bad news from a data privacy perspective too. The more customer data you gather and use in your campaigns and content, the greater the risk of that data being exposed or compromised.

Encountering overpersonalised offers and content brings privacy right to the front of your audience’s mind, leading them to ask questions about what you’re gathering and why. Suddenly, a campaign that you wanted to drive sales starts driving a very different kind of engagement – changes to cookie settings and personal data visibility.

#2) Get rid of data and materials you no longer need

Under EU GDPR law, people have the right to have their personal data erased if it’s no longer necessary for the purpose you originally collected or processed it for. But how often do you go back and clear out old data once a campaign is complete?

As copywriters, it’s our responsibility to dispose of the sensitive data and materials our clients provide us with as soon as they’re no longer necessary for us to do our jobs. Marketers should follow the same principle. Once reference materials no longer have practical use for you, get rid of them. The less sensitive data you hold, the less there is to be compromised.

#3) Be cautious when using public AI models and tools

In 2023, marketers everywhere began experimenting with public AI models – most commonly, ChatGPT. But in the rush to see what they could get out of it, very few people spent time thinking about the security and privacy of what they put in.

AI models learn from the prompts users give them as well as the gigantic datasets they’re trained on. If you use sensitive data – such as your own proprietary research or details about a specific customer you want to target – as part of an AI prompt, it can leak and begin to appear in future outputs from the AI model, creating privacy issues.

Specific AI-related regulations have emerged to help account for its potential impact on data privacy. So, any marketer who wants to use public (or even private) AI models to generate content or make decisions should do so very carefully and understand the privacy risks AI can expose them to.

AI models learn from the prompts users give them as well as the gigantic datasets they’re trained on.

#4) Use data to answer specific questions

One of the key principles of GDPR is purpose limitation. It says that any personal data you gather should be collected for specified, explicit, and legitimate purposes. So, whenever you’re using or gathering customer data, you should start with a specific question in mind.

Plan out exactly what you want to know about your customers, and what you intend to do with that insight. All too often, people start with a scattergun approach and aim to learn everything possible about a customer and their needs. That quickly takes marketers into dangerous privacy territory, and annoys customers too.

#5) Champion prudent, high-impact data use

Marketers collect a lot of personal data from their customers and audience – but they’re not alone. Virtually every team in the modern enterprise uses customer data in some capacity to drive their operations and make informed decisions.

As the team closest to customer data (and the origin point for a large proportion of that data), marketing has a unique opportunity to champion responsible data practices.

By demonstrating how the right data, managed and handled in the right way, can drive business value without sacrificing customer privacy, marketers can help other functions maintain compliance.

Mindfulness is half the battle

It’s not rocket science. As the team closest to customer data, marketers should be the first to think about the impact of how it’s used.

The good news is that when they do, everyone wins. Organisations avoid compliance breaches, their reputations remain intact, and customer trust in their brands grows.

So, next time you’re using sensitive data to make decisions or create content, think carefully about what comes next and keep privacy in the front of your mind, so your customers don’t need to.

Why it’s time for B2B marketers to enter the data mesh

Posted on December 15, 2023October 7, 2025 by Matt Godfrey

B2B marketers love data. Marketing was one of the first business functions to put big bets on analytics and automation, and today, the best B2B marketing campaigns are driven by data. It might not always be complete or accurate, but data helps talented marketers set the general direction of their campaigns and pin their instincts on something tangible.

But what if marketers could easily access trusted data (and lots of it) and use that data to deliver better results?

What if they could uncover new insights hidden in data throughout the business – and use them to create hyper-personalised content and more effective campaigns?

What if they could imagine possible futures for their campaigns and quickly test their hypotheses to see what works?

Well, in a data mesh, they can.

What’s a data mesh? And why should marketers care?

In large, complex organisations with monolithic data architectures, accessing timely, relevant insights can be a laborious process. It relies on specialist data teams to drag insights kicking and screaming out of a central data lake.

The data mesh approach helps overcome these difficulties by decentralising the data architecture and making each domain (marketing, sales, product, etc.) the owner of the data it produces. It’s an approach that’s been growing in popularity over the last few years (which explains why tech consultancies often ask us to write about it) as large enterprises look for ways to reduce organisational and operational complexity.

In a data mesh, the people closest to the data are responsible for managing it and using it to create “data products” that solve their most pressing issues or open up new opportunities.

Federated data ownership removes the operational bottlenecks of centralised structures, so marketers can access and use data how they need to, when they need to. And with data products visible and accessible on a self-service platform, everyone can access products built by other domains and combine them in useful new ways.

New marketing opportunities – and responsibilities – in the data mesh

The data mesh approach empowers marketers to cut out the middleman and start experimenting with their data to find ways to improve content and campaign results. When data users become data owners, the possibilities are limitless.

Marketers who build and own data products can understand their customers and prospects better than ever. They can optimise their campaigns on the fly and conduct low-risk, high-reward experiments with different approaches. They can even begin to create the kind of hyper-personalised content and communications that most marketers can only dream of.

More than most business functions, marketing thrives on data from across the organisation. Insights from sales, service, product, R&D, manufacturing, supply chain, and more can all add valuable context to marketers existing knowledge about their customers.

With a data mesh approach, marketers can easily access data products from other business functions to quickly create new capabilities. For example, combining product and sales data products with a customer-intent data product might help marketers target specific prospects with campaigns that are more likely to land.

But before we get too carried away, it’s important to remember that federated ownership also means federated responsibility. In a data mesh, every domain is a data custodian, so marketing becomes responsible for the governance, compliance, and quality of its data.

Meaningful change takes time

Adopting a data mesh approach requires a fundamental cultural shift; it’s a completely different way of thinking about data and how it’s managed, governed, and used.

This shift in mindset includes a switch to what technologists call “product thinking”, where success is defined by the outcomes products deliver, rather than the outputs of projects. It might also require changes in how teams are structured and how they operate. And it will certainly involve fostering a new culture of cross-functional collaboration, as different business units contribute to combined data products.

It’s not something that happens overnight, and it can take years for large organisations to successfully embed the data mesh approach. But if you’re looking for a long-term, strategic approach to getting more bang for your marketing buck, data mesh could be a conversation worth having with your colleagues in IT and elsewhere in the business.

Stay up to date with what’s next in tech

If you’d like to keep up with how emerging tech trends can have a big impact on B2B marketing – and get practical advice on other ways to maximise the value of your content – sign up for our newsletter.

Thin Slicing: What B2B marketers can learn from the agile software development practice

Posted on November 27, 2023October 21, 2025 by Steve George

B2B marketers are great at coming up with creative campaigns and content ideas. But all too often, long approval cycles, restricted budgets, and the sheer scale and complexity of those ideas make them difficult to bring to life at speed.

Fortunately, marketers aren’t the only ones experiencing those challenges. Our colleagues over in the world of software development are up against them too, and they’ve devised some transformational new practices to help overcome them. And there’s one in particular that B2B marketers may be able to borrow.

Thin slicing is an Agile practice where large projects are sliced up into smaller deliverables and launched iteratively, rather than all at once. In our Turtl doc below, we explore how thin slicing can help B2B marketers both prove and improve the ROI of their campaigns and content.

Click to read Thin Slicing for Marketing

B2BQ&A 111: How can ABM content balance relevance and brand voice?

Posted on July 28, 2023March 17, 2025 by The Radix Team

Account-based marketing owes a lot of its power to the way its content can speak to this reader in particular, and address their unique needs. But how much tailoring is too much?

That’s the question we’ll be tackling in this episode of B2BQ&A, on behalf of Rhiannon Blackwell, Account-Based Marketing Leader at PwC.

Specifically, Rhiannon asked:

“How do you strike the right balance between your brand voice and messaging and hyper-relevance with a client, for example, by using their language?”

To answer Rhiannon’s great question, we’re thrilled to welcome two further well-known experts from the world of ABM. Our special interview guest is Andrea Clatworthy, Head of Marketing Transformation in Europe for Fujitsu, while our guest co-host Judy Wilks is International ABM and Executive Content Lead at Autodesk.

Along with Radix’s own David McGuire, we try to get to the bottom of how to show a customer or prospect you really understand them without being, well, creepy.

But wait; there’s more. You’ll also hear an essential copywriting pro tip from Sarah Mullaney, freelance copywriter and content writer, and owner of She’s a Writer.

You’ll find a full transcript of this episode at the end of this post.

Need to balance relevance for the client and your own brand voice? Here are the key takeaways from the podcast:

1. Use the client’s language

It’s important to mimic the language your clients use when they talk about their business. Make sure that everything you say to them, you put in the context of their brand – not your own. According to Andrea: “It could be as simple as just recognising whether a client calls their customers ‘customers’, or ‘consumers’, or even ‘clients’.”

2. Focus on your customer’s worries, not your brand

Relevance to the reader is all-important in ABM, but it can be especially tough to find that blend between what your brand wants to say – and how it wants to say it – and what the reader needs to read. As Andrea explains: “Whilst your brand is important to the customer, it’s not the primary thing that they are worrying about.”

3. Be careful how you use research

With a lot of B2B content, there’s a temptation to show more of your research than you should. But in ABM, the risks of getting it wrong are even greater, so be careful – if you tell your reader things they already know, you’re not going to get very far. And remember, there’s a fine line between “personalised” and “creepy”.

4. Understand how people consume content

Finding out how your audience consumes information can give you a good indicator of how to deliver your content. “It’s worth the effort to find out if a client is turned on by numbers and graphs,” says Andrea. “Or if they prefer video over written, or they like snackable content rather than long-form. Figuring that out can be really helpful.”

**5. Don’t tell the client you get them – show them**

This golden rule holds true for any writing, but if your ABM content can show an understanding of your reader’s business (without telling them their business) you can provoke a powerful response. As Andrea explains: “If you get it right, the reader or, if you like, the consumer of your writing, will have a positive emotional reaction. And they’ll be more likely to share content internally and be your advocate.”

Want some further reading? Here are the sources Andrea mentions:

For a great primer on ABM, Andrea recommends Bev Burgess and Dave Munn’s excellent book A Practitioner’s Guide to Account-Based Marketing.
If you want to gain an insight into how people like to consume information, a good starting point for Andrea is DiSC® profiling.

Here’s what you can expect in this episode…

4:01 – David poses Rhiannon Blackwell’s question to Andrea Clatworthy.

15:00 – Co-host Judy Wilks gives her thoughts on Andrea’s insights.

21:58 – Judy and David discuss the fine line between “personalised” and “creepy”.

24:23 – Sarah Mullaney from She’s a Writer shares a copywriting pro tip.

25:05 – David updates us on the search for the best B2B content of all time. Ever.

Got a question? We’ll find the answer.

To get your burning B2B content question answered, just send us a voice memo at [email protected]. And if there are any other thoughts you’d like to share, you can connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter: @radixcom.

How to listen:

You can download the episode here (right-click and select “Save As”).
Or you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts.
Alternatively, add our RSS to your preferred podcast player.

Credits

Thanks to Andrea Clatworthy for sharing so many ABM insights.
Heartfelt appreciation to Rhiannon Blackwell for her question.
Cheers to Sarah Mullaney for sharing a fantastic copywriting pro tip.
And enormous gratitude to Judy Wilks for being an excellent guest co-host.

Podcast editing and music by Bang and Smash.

Transcript: B2BQ&A 111 – How can ABM content balance relevance and brand voice?

Rhiannon Blackwell: How do you strike the right balance between your brand voice and messaging and hyper-relevance with a client? For example, by using their language.

Judy Wilks: Well, what a great question from Rhiannon, and something that’s very close to my heart. Let’s ask Andrea Clatworthy of Fujitsu, what she thinks.

David McGuire: Hello, listener, and welcome to B2BQ&A, the podcast where we go in search of an answer to your question about B2B content writing. This is episode 111.

Judy: Account Based Marketing, or ABM for short, relies on your content talking to a very specific audience about their very specific needs and concerns. But the big question is: how do you balance that with delivering your own messaging and brand voice at the same time?

In a few moments, ABM expert Andrea Clatworthy will answer that very question posed by our friend and colleague, Rhiannon Blackwell of PwC.

Plus, we’ll hear a copywriting pro tip from Sarah Mullaney and get an update on your search for the best B2B content of all time.

David: Before all that, let’s do some introductions.

My name is David McGuire. I’m Creative Director at Radix Communications, the B2B writing agency, and I’m delighted to say that we have another ABM leader as our co-host for this episode. It’s Judy Wilks, International ABM and Executive Content Lead at Autodesk.

Judy, thank you so much for joining us.

Judy: Thank you for having me. I’m very happy to be here.

David: That’s some job title. What does it actually involve?

Judy: That’s a very good question. So, in a nutshell, our team designs and creates content that does two things: content that fuels regional ABM programs and content that fuels global executive engagement within Autodesk.

David: So, from that point of view, as well as Andrea’s viewpoint, which we’ll get in a minute, you’re very well placed to help us answer Rhiannon’s question as well. So, that’s amazing. Thank you so much.

Before we get on to that, though, would you mind performing your first official duty as our co-host and telling the listener how they can get in touch with us?

Judy: Absolutely.

So, listener, if you have any comments or suggestions, you can find Radix on LinkedIn or Twitter: @radixcom. Or, if you want us to answer your question in a future episode, just record a quick voice note and send it in by email: [email protected].

David: That’s amazing. Thank you.

Judy: Now it’s time for our B2B Q&A for this episode. It comes from someone I know well from the ABM circuit; it’s PwC’s ABM leader for global marketing, Rhiannon Blackwell.

Rhiannon: How do you strike the right balance between your brand voice and messaging and hyper-relevance with a client – for example, by using their language,

David: Thanks, Rhiannon. It feels like we have a lot of ABM experts on the show today, which is great, because this really is an important question.

Relevance to the reader is all-important in ABM. When we’re writing ABM content, it can be especially tough to find that blend between what the brand wants to say and how it wants to say it, and what the reader needs to read.

So, how can you strike that balance? Well, I asked Fujitsu’s Head of Marketing Transformation in Europe and long-time ABM evangelist, Andrea Clatworthy. And I started by asking her Rhiannon’s question: just how do you balance client relevance and brand voice?

Andrea Clatworthy: This is such a great question. And it’s not an uncommon one.

It’s like a “depends” answer, which is never a good one, but I think it’s right to find the balance. And so thinking about it depends. For instance, if what you’re trying to do with your customer is perhaps reposition yourself, then you probably want to dial down your brand a little bit – without breaking the rules – and use more of the customer’s voice.

If perhaps it’s a new customer, or it’s new territory for you and you’re trying to break in, then perhaps you want to dial up your brand whilst recognising their voice. So it’s a really fine line.

And I find what we try and do when we’re creating the story and the narrative and the value proposition, we’re thinking all the time about what’s important to the customer. And whilst your brand is important to the customer, it’s not the primary thing that they’re worrying about. I would edge towards dialling it down just a little bit, but don’t break the guidelines.

I think it’s really important not to break your brand guidelines because they’re there for a reason. But you can stretch them. And you can take some liberties… perhaps.

Having said that, sometimes it’s appropriate to use some of the branding elements that your customer might have. So perhaps they’ve got an imagery style that you want to mimic rather than be 100% them.

Or it depends on what the communication is that you’re going to be providing. So, supposing it’s in the form of an infographic or something, as part of a conversation, and you want, you expect, and you’d love them to then use that asset, that you’ve created for them, with their stakeholders in their company, as part of their business case process if you like. Then you might want to make it slightly more their brand.

So, even though it looks like yours, and you’re suggesting this awesome thing, it’s easier for them to reuse that asset.

David: And that makes their life easier and turns them into kind of a representative of you. And I guess that goes for both brand elements, design-wise, but then also if they have a particular vocabulary, like a particular way of talking about a subject or an issue.

Andrea: Yes, there might be a project name that they use, or it could be as simple as just recognising whether they call their customers “customers”, or “clients”, or “consumers”? So, use the language that they use when they talk about their business.

David: Is there a chance, though, that a writer working on ABM Content could almost be too keen to show how much research they’ve done? And end up either telling the reader something they already know? Or just being a bit creepy?

Andrea: Yeah, that creepy thing is spot on, isn’t it? And actually, it’s relatively easy to get it wrong and I’ll give you an example of somebody pitching to me.

So, I’m a gamer. And somebody came in to see me, I reached out to them and said, you know, tell me stuff about your proposition. And they came to me, and they’ve ABMed and done everything personalised and tailored to me, which is great. And they focused on this gamer aspect. And I like a particular type of game, but they pitched to me using first-person fighter game, and they’re not the sorts of games that I like.

So they got the gaming bit, right, but they got the type of gaming bit wrong. So instantly, I’m kind of like: this is a bit creepy, and it’s wrong. So I gave them that feedback, you know, say thanks ever so much. It was so nearly right but made it completely wrong.

So using that research correctly is a trick there.

David: And I guess that must be easier – or maybe riskier – if you’re writing to accounts that you know well.

Andrea: If it’s an existing account, it’s much easier to get that balance right, because you know them and you’re in dialogue all the time, and you know completely what you’re doing. And the marketing part of that ongoing engagement will be reflective of the conversations that the account team or whoever is having.

So it’s much easier to get that right; it’s much harder when you don’t really know who you’re talking to. Then you probably edge a bit more on your brand, but reflect the language that you know that they use.

David: And when you’re doing your research in that case, and you’re thinking about the challenges they’re facing, and how your products and solutions can match that, how much are you thinking about the position that the company’s in? And how much are you thinking about the individual role? Like, are you thinking, “Oh, this is a company in the retail sector,” or are you thinking, “This is a CTO,” or whatever?

Andrea: It’s a bit of both to be quite honest. And then a bit contextual.

A company in the retail sector might be in growth mode, or they might be in massive reduction mode, as we’re seeing happening across the piece, they’re just reflecting where they are, because the language that you use might be slightly different.

If they’re in growth mode, and they’re being really prosperous, then they’re going to have a slightly different outlook on any future investments that they’re going to make, compared to if they need to reduce in one shape or form whether that’s people, or stores, or whatever. So it is both.

That persona piece is important too. So if it’s a CTO, then you know, there’s loads of work on personas and I think most people are probably reasonably comfortable with those.

But, then if you know who that CTO is, as a human being, then picking up on some of those things is equally important if you can get it right.

So I think that there are a few bits to this. There’s a bit about emotion. If you get it right, the reader, if you like the consumer of your writing, copy, assets – whatever it is – they have a positive emotional reaction, hopefully. And then they’re more likely to continue the conversation or, you know, share internally, and be your advocate. So, that’s a very clear signal.

David: I’m interested in the emotional response. What kind of response is that? Is that kind of a relief at feeling seen; that someone is recognising what they’re struggling with? Is it kind of delight and surprise, like, what sort of emotions are you seeing from the best content that you send?

Andrea: Yeah, those ones, and “relief” is a great word. Because actually, if you get the personalisation bit right, and what you’re suggesting you can help them with is right as well, then that’s the combo, because what you want people to do is to choose you above everybody else.

So, if you’ve delivered those messages correctly, you can kind of get a sense that these people get me and I can see how we could work together. And they’re going to solve a business problem one way, shape, or form, whatever that might be, with me when I choose to work with them.

So, it’s a bit of euphoria as well, I guess,

David: It’s not adding on something to make them feel emotional. It’s actually listening and thinking about what they really need, and then expressing that in a really kind of clear and impactful way.

Andrea: I think you’re spot on. That listening piece is really important, isn’t it? If you think about the old elephant adage: two big ears so do the listening first. If you get that right, then it can really help.

Now, how do you listen? That would be the next question.

We can read stuff, right? But quite often, if you’ve got an account team in with that account, they’re really getting to know those people, that person. So that they’re your primary source of that first-party insight if you like. It’s really important to include them in the process that you’re going through to create whatever it is you’re creating.

David: Okay, so we’ve thought about the branding, the voice, the vocabulary, and the kind of messaging that you’re aiming to deliver to make that connection. What else is important in ABM content that really works?

Andrea: Great question, again. I think it’s worth considering the format of the content that you’re going to be delivering.

Understanding how people consume information can give you a really good indicator of how to deliver that content. So, if somebody is very much numbers based, then think about making sure that there’s numbers and perhaps graphs.

If somebody likes to consume video over written, or perhaps they like snackable content rather than long form, and then working some of that out can be really helpful.

And clearly, you want to use omnichannel anyway. Don’t just rely on one thing.

There are some little things you can do. So you can use some DiSC profiling, for example, which will give you an indicator of the type of behaviours and brain workings, to use a non-technical term, that could determine how people like to consume information. So that’s quite a good starting point.

David: It’s really thinking about the individual and what they need, really in a kind of 360 way.

Andrea: Yeah, absolutely. And, we know, don’t we, as good marketeers, that different content and content formats work better at different stages of the customer journey. So, building that in as well to your comms plan is a good thing to do.

David: That’s amazing. Thank you.

So if the listener wants to find out more and really dive into the subject of creating really good ABM content, where do you suggest they go for more information?

Andrea: A really good starting point is a bit of reading. There’s a really great book by Bev Burgess called A Practitioner’s Guide to ABM. And it is a practitioner’s guide, so that’s a great place to start.

I’d also recommend reaching out to organisations like yourself, David.

David: [Laughs] Thank you very much; the cheque’s in the post

Thanks, Andrea, that’s great. It’s so helpful to know there’s no one right answer; you can dial your brand voice up and down – depending on the job your content needs to do.

Judy, what stood out for you there as an ABM leader?

Judy: Well, actually, “everything” is one answer. There was such a lot of great stuff in there and like a topic that I could talk about till the cows come home.

But there were two key things that Andrea said that I think are kind of foundational.

And number one is: never break the brand rules. That’s just a good starting point for any ABM. Not your brand rules, nor the client’s brand rules.

And then moving on, I pulled out this quote, and I wrote it down and I’m going to read it because I think it’s really essential to ABM.

Andrea said, “Whilst your brand is important to the customer, it’s not the primary thing that they are worrying about.” And that’s just absolutely crucial, you know. It’s a nice way of saying the customer doesn’t care about you or your brand. You have to make sure that everything you say to them, you put in the context of their business.

So what that means with getting that balance right between your brand and voice and theirs, is that if you, if your piece, either visually or stylistically shouts your brand, you’re actually not going to get your point across because your point in ABM is always: I understand your business. And if you’re shouting your brand, you’re not going to get that point across. So you need to think about that.

But, at the same time, it’s really powerful when you get it right that you can show the synergies between two brands.

David: So is it more complicated than the way the content sounds, the way the content looks, the vocabulary you choose, the register you write in, are maybe led by your brand, so that it’s recognisable, but the content, the stuff that you write about, the messaging, that kind of stuff is led by their priorities?

So maybe the content is about them, but the branding and the voice are about you? Or is it more nuanced than that?

Judy: I think that is your starting point. And then it depends.

I think you can look at it like a continuum. Absolutely, the content will always 100% be about them. That’s the starting point. But the continuum is then how much do you kind of shift the brand, the tone, the voice, the vocabulary, to reflect the customer, as well?

And that will depend on a couple of things. It will depend on: what is your level of awareness with that customer already, and what is the level of the relationship?

If, as Andrea said, you need to establish awareness with the customer, then you’re probably going to want to lean more towards your brand. But, if you’re at the partnership stage, then you might want to show how the two brands work together, so you really visually and stylistically get that partnership message across.

David: Yeah, and I guess, all of this with the proviso that when you talk about the vocabulary that you use, any specific terminology should be their terminology. So if they call their customers “clients”, or they call their customers “members”, for example, or if they have certain initiatives that they have their own language for, then you should absolutely adopt that rather than trying to impose your terminology on top of something that they would recognise.

Judy: Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I don’t really have anything to add to that. I 100% agree.

David: With a lot of B2B content generally, there’s always a temptation, when you’ve done your research, to show maybe more of that research than you should and end up telling the reader things that they already know, to kind of show off how much you know.

I guess that’s an even stronger temptation, in ABM, given how much you will know about your particular audience, right?

Judy: Yeah. And this is a podcast so you couldn’t see me smiling then. But yes, absolutely. That is a real danger because as you say, you do a lot of research into the company and their business and you know a lot about them. And it’s ABM, so you really want to show them we understand your business. But if you just tell them what they already know about their business, you’re not going to get very far.

So I apply the adage here that you don’t tell someone you’re funny, you make them laugh. It’s the same thing: you don’t tell them everything you know about their business, you show that you understand their business by the recommendations that you make in the content.

And, let’s face it, you’re never going to know their business as well as they do. But the value that you bring is that you are an outside perspective. So you show them you understand their business, by adding that outside perspective to what you know about them – and perhaps sending them something they hadn’t thought of before.

David: Yeah, it’s the same thing as when I’m training copywriters in general how to do this stuff. OK, you’ve got this knowledge about them. So what?

So it’s not, you know, “Ah, this company has workforces on three different continents” or whatever it is, it’s “Because you have a workforce on three continents, you will need to handle time zones in this way or handle collaboration – and here’s a way that we can help you with that.”

Like, we’ve done the thinking around the “so what?” about the information that we have – we’re not just parroting back the information.

I think that’s obviously all the more important in ABM, and I think in any B2B content, that’s useful.

Judy: Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, in any content, the more you talk about the customer, and the more you show an understanding of their business – without telling them their business – then it’s going to be more powerful. So yes, that is exactly it.

Which takes thinking. It’s one thing to have a load of data, it’s another thing to then analyse that data. So, suddenly the writer is not just a writer, you know, the writer is suddenly an ABM strategist as well.

And, I always say, “Writing is thinking.” It’s not just about putting words on a page, you’ve got to have those thoughts first before you can then articulate them nicely on a page.

David: Yeah. Do you have any advice on how much of your research it’s even okay to show before you start to kind of worry them that you’re getting a bit creepy?

Judy: Well, now we’re talking about talking to the individual, and as well as talking to the company. And, the topic of creepy personalisation, as I often call it, comes up a lot in ABM. And, I think one good standard is to think: how would I feel if it happened to me?

So, for example, on my Twitter profile, I probably say I’m a cat fancier. But if someone gave a business presentation, and it had cats all over it and used cat analogies, or gifs… is that going to make me like them more?

David: Of course it is! Be honest…

Judy: All right, well, even if you take cats out of the equation, you know, that’s creepy. And we come back to what is the one key word that sums up ABM? It’s relevance. Are cats relevant to that conversation? No, they’re not.

I think it’s much more powerful, if yes, you do your homework about that person, but you also try and understand their values. What are their motivations? What’s their personality type?

So, don’t just kind of look at what they do out of work, “Oh, David plays golf, let’s put some golf analogies in here.” That’s not relevant.

But, if you understand their motivations and the type of person they are, then you can tailor the content in the right way. So for example, if I think of myself as a bit of a change agent – and typically, I’ll have plastered that all over LinkedIn – it won’t be very difficult to find. If I’m that type of person, then you need to position whatever you’re proposing as some bold, exciting, disruptive move.

That’s much more powerful than putting some images of cats or golf into your content.

David: Before we finish this episode, there are a couple more things we need to do. First, it’s time for our copywriting pro tip.

Voiceover: Copywriting pro tip.

Sarah Mullaney: My name is Sarah Mullaney, from She’s a Writer, and my B2B copywriting tip is to have core materials about the values or proof points of the client within reach when you’re writing about them.

You can use these to focus less on what services or solutions the clients are offering and keep bringing the copy back to why the client is a leader in their field and why their customers continue to use them.

This will help you to get into the mind of the reader writing the most purposeful and benefit-driven B2B copy for them.

Judy: Thanks, Sarah. That sounds like a really useful tip for making sure that you can stay on track during the day.

So, David, I gather that you have something to ask the listener.

David: Yeah, I do… To mark the 10th anniversary of this podcast, we’re continuing our search for the best B2B content of all time.

Now, in particular, we’d like the listeners’ help finding the best blog posts, case studies, and web content. There’s so much to choose from out there, it’d be really helpful if anyone could tell us where to focus our search.

All you need to do is to jot down one or two of your favourites and email them to us at [email protected]. Or just fire them at us on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Anyway, Judy, thank you so much for co-hosting. It’s been so much fun to do this with you. I wish we had more time.

Judy: I know. Well, I’ve already said I could talk about this topic forever. So, thank you so much for giving me the opportunity.

And I guess while we’re at it, we should thank everybody else that’s been involved in this episode.

So, in no particular order, thank you, first of all, to Andrea Clatworthy, for answering the really great question. Thank you to Sarah Mullaney for the pro tip. And lastly, thank you to Rhiannon Blackwell for asking the question in the first place.

David: Rhiannon, I hope you feel that we have done you justice.

Remember listener, it could be your question we answer in a future episode.

Voiceover: If you have a question for B2BQ&A to answer, email a voice memo to [email protected]. Or find us on social media.

David: We’ll be back soon for another B2BQ&A.

Until then, make great content. And remember: a writer only begins the content; it’s the reader who finishes it. Well, either them or that stakeholder who won’t sign it off anyway.

David and Judy: Goodbye.

B2BQ&A 113: What’s the best B2B content EVER?

Posted on July 28, 2023November 29, 2024 by The Radix Team

If you’re looking for the very best examples of B2B marketing content, you’ve come to the right place. Because – after a whirlwind of nominations, shortlisting, group stages, and voting – we’ve whittled them down. Nineteen contenders. Five finalists.

And, ultimately, one winner.

In a departure from our usual format, this B2BQ&A tries to ask a question posed by our host: “Just what is the best B2B content of all time?”

Along the way, we find plenty of B2B inspiration, cast an eye over audiences’ changing content preferences, and hear from expert judges like Andrea Clatworthy, Robyn Collinge, Irene Triendl, Doug Kessler, Katie Colbourne, and Rishi Dastidar… as well as our co-host for this episode, Rockee.io founder (and recently revealed sausage enthusiast) Matt Laybourn.

After about 80 episodes, it’s also our final podcast hosted by Radix Creative Director David McGuire, who’s leaving us to embark on a new adventure. (There’s plenty more B2BQ&A to come, though, courtesy of our new-look hosting team. Wait and see!)

You’ll find a full transcript of this episode at the end of this post… just keep scrolling.

So what can we learn from the best 19 examples of B2B content?

You can find the full list of nominees right here. And, reviewing the vote, here’s what we discovered:

1. In the end, great content wins

Yes, AI-driven filler is making search engine results a bit unreliable lately. But when audiences do find content with true value, they’re all the more likely to appreciate it.

As Matt says: “As much as there’s a there’s a shift in the landscape with Google search results, people will find and gravitate towards really good content… like: I found this awesome thing, and I want to share it with you.”

2. All content needs to earn the audience’s time

Judging the podcast category, Irene says: “There is actually something quite arrogant in assuming people are going to want to listen to you and your guests talk on and on for an hour, or however long the podcast is. So if you do that, I think you owe it to your audience to have something interesting to say and to be really well prepared. And that you’re offering them something that they can’t get elsewhere faster or better. And this is ultimately true for all content, really. People’s time is precious, and you can’t take it for granted that they are going to give it to you.”

Gulp. We’re doing our best, Irene. Honest.

3. Authenticity wins loyalty

The high number of podcasts among the nominees is testament to the rise of community marketing, and the power of getting people to identify with your content.

Matt puts this down to authenticity, saying: “People want to hear a natural conversation, not someone kind of regurgitating, I don’t know, frameworks or the best practice. It’s got to be an authentic thing.”

4. A little wit can even the odds

No spoilers, but among famous players like Adobe Marketing Cloud, GE, and Volvo Trucks, smaller names can really hold their own – all they need is a fresh, witty way to express themselves. Whether it’s a financial blog about Chicken McNuggets, a rhyming explainer video, or – yes – a dating app for cows, content is a realm where a bright idea can carry the day.

Speaking about Iron Mountain’s entry, Rishi says: “Wit and whimsy are rarely used tools in this world. On this evidence, one wonders why.”

Want to skip to the exciting bits? Here’s where you can find them…

4:22 – Best B2B Blog Post

8:52 – Best B2B Podcast

13:20 – Best B2B Long-Form Content

17:20 – Best B2B Video Ads

20:25 – Best Wildcard Content

24:21 – Grand Final: The Best B2B Content of All Time

**Next time, if could be your question we’re answering**

If you have a question about B2B content writing, we absolutely want to hear it. Send us a voice memo at [email protected].

And if there are any other thoughts you’d like to share (or if you’d just like to say hello to the podcast’s new hosts), you can connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter: @radixcom.

How to listen:

You can download the episode here (right-click and select “Save As”).
Or you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts.
Alternatively, add our RSS to your preferred podcast player.

Credits and thanks

Thanks, Matt Laybourn, for judging and co-hosting so expertly.
Indeed, we’re incredibly grateful to all our judges: Andrea Clatworthy, Robyn Collinge, Doug Kessler, Irene Triendl, Maureen Blandford, Jason Miller, Joel Harrison, Katie Colbourne, and Rishi Dastidar.
Thanks also to everyone who nominated, and everyone who voted. Without you, none of this happens.
Podcast editing and music by Bang and Smash.

Finally, David has a massive list of goodbye-and-thanks: everyone he’s interviewed or co-hosted with, everyone who’s listened, and everyone who’s sent us a copywriting pro-tip. Thanks to Gareth at Bang and Smash for sound editing heroics, and Hannah Beech for super podcast branding. And especially thanks to Emily King and Fiona Campbell-Howes for birthing this podcast and passing it on. Thank you.

OK. You know we promised you that transcript…?

Transcript: B2BQ&A 113 – What is the best B2B content of all time?

David McGuire: What is the best example of B2B content, ever?

Matt Laybourn: That’s a great question. Let’s ask the very best 10 B2B judges that we can find – and the voting public – to find out.

David: Hello, Listener, and welcome to B2BQ&A, the podcast where we go in search of an answer to your question about B2B content writing.

This is episode 113. And as this year marks the 10th anniversary of our podcast, we’re taking the very unusual step of trying to answer a question from me: “Just what is the best bit of B2B content, ever?”

To help me I’m joined by one of the judges from our expert panel. From rockee.io and the Sausage Factory podcast. It’s Matt Laybourn. Matt, hi! Welcome.

Matt: Thank you so much. It’s a pleasure to be here.

David: The Sausage Factory, I’ve got to ask you about that. That’s a new podcast, right? Love the name. Are you just talking about sausages a lot?

Matt: (Laughs) Yeah, so the reason behind it being called the Sausage Factory is because our perception – at least me and my co-host Mark Willis – our perception is we’re in a cycle of endlessly making content at the moment and not worrying about the quality of it. You know, the rise of AI and all of that type of stuff. So things have become a bit of a sausage factory. But the interesting side addition that I didn’t expect for this, is we now have this weird Venn Diagram of B2B marketers and sausage enthusiasts. And it’s kind of this little interesting crossover

David: That Venn diagram is a circle?

Matt: Yeah, you’d think so, but there’s been some discerning comments about certain types of sausages, which, again, is not something we expected to talk about on the pod.

David: Well, you’re very well qualified then if it’s a podcast about content that stands out from the run-of-the-mill because that’s what we’re trying to get to the bottom of today.

Before we go any further, I should probably introduce myself, shouldn’t I? My name’s David McGuire. I’m Creative Director at Radix Communications, which is the B2B tech writing agency. And the reason I get to take the self-indulgent step of posing my own question for this B2BQ&A is that after eight years, this is my last time in the host’s chair of this podcast.

Don’t worry, I’m handing over to a fabulous rotating roster of hosts: George, Katy, Steve, and if you’re very lucky, Kieran. And we have many more brilliant episodes in the pipeline for you. So don’t worry, there is more B2BQ&A to come, just not with me.

So if you do have any comments or suggestions, or you’d just like to welcome the new hosts, you can find Radix on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Announcer: @radixcom.

David: And if you want the show to answer your question on a future episode, record a quick voice note and send it by email.

Announcer: [email protected].

David: Right. That’s enough prevarication. Let’s get on with the serious business of finding the best B2B content of all time.

First, I should start by saying thank you to everybody who put forward their favorite examples of B2B content. We took all of your nominations, and we put them in front of a brilliant panel of 10 B2B marketing experts, as well as senior Radix writers, who helped us to create five category shortlists: best blog, podcast, long-form content, video ad, and a wildcard category for entries that kind of defied description.

We had a public vote, and the winner of each category went forward to the Grand Final, the voting for which closed just a few minutes ago. And in a few moments, we’ll reveal who won. Matt, are you ready?

Matt: I am very ready. I’m very excited. Let’s do this.

David: You sure?

Matt: Yeah. Come on let’s go.

David: Okay, let’s go.

Voiceover: Best B2B Blog Post.

David: Blogs are such a staple of B2B content marketing, it’s no surprise we’ve got lots of strong contenders here. So thanks to Andrea Clatworthy at Fujitsu and Robyn Collinge of WeTransfer who helped our Head of Copy, Matt, and Senior Copywriter George compile the shortlist.

Now, they very particularly enjoyed Beam’s How to Write a B2B Blog Intro that isn’t Boring AF and Hank Barnes of Gartner’s The Tyranny of More, but ultimately the four they selected were as follows:

Andy Raskin’s The Greatest Sales Deck I’ve Ever Seen,
Assure Hedge’s The Chicken McNuggets’ secret ingredient is not what you think…,
Tom Roach on The Wrong and the Short of It,
and Velocity Partners’ A Stakeholder Through the Heart.

So Matt, having been writing blogs for a while it feels to me like they’ve changed in nature a lot over the last few years in B2B; that they’ve become more of a mainstay of the content strategy where once they might have been SEO filler, I guess. Is that something that you kind of recognise? Why do you think it might be?

Matt: Yes, it’s an interesting mix at the moment, because you know, things like programmatic AI are starting to kind of make the pendulum swing the other way a little bit again, because we’re getting this kind of overpopulation of essentially facts-based articles. They don’t have editorial quality to them, they’re just telling the reader what they probably were looking for, for that search term.

And it’s funny enough was talking about this earlier, but some of that is fine. Some of that is fine, someone wants a very simple answer to a simple question. But then you start to lose the quality of, you know, where does the editorial come in, where does the tone of voice the brand, the real kind of in-depth, exciting solution-based content to those terms really start to come in.

So, blogs are going through a bit of a whirlwind. And I think it’s harder for brands at the moment, just because of the way Google is trying to figure out how to deal with essentially an influx of content. The barrier to entry to make content could not be lower at the moment, so how do we discern the difference between good, bad and ugly, I guess, at the moment. And Google doesn’t quite know that yet, because I’ve seen so many marketers going, “I just see bad content on search result pages at the moment.”

The battle to be relevant and to be interesting is getting harder and harder. So I don’t know – I’m kind of thinking the pendulum swinging around a little bit and doesn’t quite know where to land at the moment.

David: I think, until Google can sort that out, it might be social and other places, that really will help to reward the best blog content, I suppose. The more there is of this kind of wide base of low-quality content, the more that the real imagination has to stand out.

And I think that’s something that we’ve seen in the winner – with all of these blog posts – but in particular, in the winner, which is Assure Hedge – I think they’re now Alt 21 – which is The Chicken McNuggets secret ingredient is not what you think… which was voted the best B2B content of 2021 by our listeners, and it’s won again here.

Andrea Clatworthy said, “Fab this! Quite long, but a great story, which I enjoyed reading.” And Robyn Collinge agreed. She said, “I bloody love a metaphor to help me understand complex things.” And it’s super to see a blog post that’s built around the kind of storytelling that AI will never be able to do. And people actually recognising the value of that

Matt: A hundred percent. And I think that’s the interesting thing. As much as there’s a bit of a shift in the landscape with Google search results and things like that, people will find and gravitate towards really good content. So social groups, Slack groups, internal sharing groups, and things like that as well, they’ll be like, “I found this awesome thing, and I want to share it with you.”

So the best will still rise above it. We’ve just got a bit of a slight traffic issue in the short term. But normal service will be resumed I’m sure, don’t worry.

David: So congratulations to you, Assure Hedge, the best B2B blog of all time.

Announcer: Best B2B Podcast.

David: Loads of nominations we got here, which is a bit of a surprise given that when you talk about B2B content, podcasts might not be the first thing you think of. But I guess it is all about getting that community who’ll identify with your content, stick up for it, and end up nominating it for things.

Matt, you’re a podcaster yourself and you judged this category, along with Doug Kessler of Velocity Partners and Irene Triendl of Say What? So, what did you think?

Matt: It was a really interesting category. The thing that I was listening out for… so I kind of did my own research recently to get my own pod up and running and go, “What are the things I really like in a podcast?” And one word always comes up, and it’s authenticity.

So a lot of people listen to podcasts on the go on the move – trains, buses, whatever it may be – and they want to hear something that is kind of a natural conversation, not someone kind of regurgitating, I don’t know, frameworks or the best practice. It’s got to be an authentic thing between two or three people. And that’s what I think the very best in this category do for us.

David: Irene also sent us some audio and she found this category pretty tough to judge, I think.

Irene: I have to say, this has been a lot harder than I thought; it’s a tough category. I think for me, the key thing is, there is actually something quite arrogant in assuming that people are going to want to listen to you and your guests talk on and on for an hour, or however long the podcast is. So if you do that, I think you do owe it to your audience to have something interesting to say and to be really well prepared. And that you’re offering them something that they can’t get elsewhere, or can’t get elsewhere faster or better. And this is ultimately true for all content, really. People’s time is precious, and you can’t take it for granted that they are going to give it to you.

David: Out of a long list, there were quite a few that caught the judges’ eye. I think that between you, you commended Agencyphonics by Cactus, Everyone Hates Marketers by Louis Grenier, Uncensored CMO by Jon Evans. And I know Doug Kessler was particularly a fan of the Electronic Propaganda Society by Mathew Sweezey.

But ultimately, it came down to:

Adobe’s Audio White Papers for Marketing, voiced by Malcolm *actual* McDowell,
Gasp’s Call to Action,
Help Scout with Jay Acunzo’s Against the Grain (which is kind of a video program as well, but that’s fine),
and Peep Laja’s How to Win.

And by an absolute landslide, Call to Action took it.

So congratulations to Gasp. That was nominated by Fractional CMO, Graham Fraser, and Doug said…

Doug Kessler: Fun and sweary and it’s got a fun voice to it. Good guests list. They package it up well as a show with segments and everything – I like that.

David: Matt, this one stood out for you as well, didn’t it?

Matt: Yeah, it really did. I’m a massive Rolling Stones fan. So the fact that he had “I can’t get no call to action” as a theme tune… Well, that’s not the sole reason, obviously but okay, I’m interested from the very first 30 seconds, you’ve got me. But no, again, it was everything I love about a podcast where it’s just authentic good conversation.

So I listened to a really amazing one the other week with Chris Paouros. And it was just it really got to me. Really powerful conversation, learning more about the person behind the marketer as well. So I loved how that transcended just kind of the normal marketing conversation. So a really deserved winner.

David: Yeah, I’m glad you called that one out because, Chris Paouros, among other things, runs Proud Lilywhites. And as Spurs fan myself, and someone who you know LGBT Spurs fans are among my very favorite people in the world. You know, always deeply grateful for what Chris does. So to actually hear her interviewed was super.

So brilliant, well done to Gasp and the Call to Action podcast, you are officially the best B2B podcast of all time.

Announcer: Best Long-Form B2B Content.

David: So classically, when you think of B2B content, it’s long-form stuff that often you’ll think about. But this category had, in the end, no white papers and no ebooks on the shortlist. (Thanks to Maureen Blandford, founder of Serendipitus, and Jason Miller of Tyk, for helping Katy Eddy compile this shortlist for us.) Having said that, obviously, we had good examples, but I think there were fewer than they were expecting. Do you think there might be a reason why we might, relatively speaking, see fewer examples in the long-form category?

Matt: I think it’s just so much harder to maintain people’s attention, is the really simple answer. We’re in an environment now where you have seconds to get someone’s attention. So much emphasis is on messaging and short-form at the moment. So for something long-form, that someone could sit there for more than 15 minutes, if I’m honest, to stand out, all of a sudden this is a very challenging category. And the best really have to have something quite incredible to keep people hooked.

David: I think you’re right. And often the thing is that because they’re about something very specific as well, they might not ever reach a very wide audience. I think Andrea Clatworthy made the point that sometimes the best content is so super targeted, it’s not even necessarily in the public domain. You know, a lot of these things will be gated. So it’s probably quite understandable that we had relatively few to choose from.

But we did have some good nominees, and the judges particularly liked After the Virus by Cognizant, but ultimately the three that they picked and agreed on, were:

Ahrefs’ The Beginner’s Guide to SEO,
Maxon Motor, their product catalogue,
and Velocity Partners’ The search for meaning in B2B marketing.

Now the vote in this category was really close; there were two votes between first and third place.

The winner was Ahrefs and Matt, this was actually your nomination wasn’t it?

Matt: Have I tipped the balance with my vote here? Yeah, it’s rationale behind it is going back to this point: it’s got to be something pretty incredible to keep you hooked. And this is a piece of content I go back to time and time again as my source of authority and credibility because it’s just an incredibly in-depth, clever, well-written, well-structured guide on how to set up fundamentals in SEO. And it sounds like a boring subject, but so many people must have to go back to this and go, “Okay now I’m gonna jump to this chapter. I’m gonna go to that chapter.” And I’m kind of a weird sucker for content UX as well. And the way they just have everything displayed perfect on the page, they have social proof, excellent categorisation blending in with videos infographics, imagery, and really good, high-quality, authoritative, written content. It’s an absolute treat.

David: And Katy, our Senior Copywriter here agreed with you, she said, “This huge guide could have been overwhelming, but mercifully, it’s not. The writing’s really accessible but without skimping on detail. It’s easy to navigate. And it’s visually clean with cute icons and useful diagrams. For Ahrefs, this format is easy to revisit and update when best practice inevitably changes. And it’s simple for readers to revisit the relevant bits whenever they want a refresher.” Just as you’ve done. So I think you’re both well agreed on that.

So congratulations to Ahrefs, your Beginner’s Guide to SEO is officially the best long-form B2B content of all time.

Announcer: Best B2B Video Ads.

David: Okay. I mean, this is always the eye-catching one because when you think of like, when B2B gets creative, when it gets humorous, when it sparks emotion – it’s often short videos that we’re talking about.

So we’re really grateful to Joel Harrison, Editor-in-Chief of B2B Marketing, and Basware’s Katie Colbourne for helping our Head of Development, Kieran compile the shortlist. The judges enjoyed Lenovo’s Metal Review video, but with some conflict over whether that was really B2B, the shortlist came down to:

Adobe Marketing Cloud’s Click, Baby Click,
GE’s Datalandia – Devamping,
Iron Mountain with Iron Mountain Protects Your Backup Tapes,
and The Epic Split by Volvo Trucks.

This was the closest category; we actually had a tie in the public vote. So we went back to the judges and found that only one had placed in all three of their top three favorites. And that is Iron Mountain. It was originally nominated by Rishi Dastidar who said, “How do you make *checks notes* storing backup magnetic tapes interesting? Why not try some rhymes and a charming animation style? Wit and whimsy are rarely used tools in this world. On this evidence one wonders why.”

And among the judges, Katie Colbourne agreed she said, “This engaged me quite a bit as it used real-life examples of things we all do and are guilty of. So it had that emotive and connection element. It was also fast-paced, and it was funny from the off.”

What did you think of it, Matt?

Matt: Yeah, I completely agree with those comments. Super engaging. I was kind of wondering what this is at the beginning because you’re like, “Is this gonna be another boring B2B video, please don’t be boring.” And then you’re like, “Okay, this is funny. This is interesting. This is engaging.” But it focused on the problem. It was like, here’s a very clear problem and they’ve gone about it in a really creative way and given it different environments, and then taken it in towards a solution, and it’s absolutely perfect for short-form content, did everything you wanted it to do.

David: It shows that with a bit of thought and a bit of creativity, you can really cut through because there are some big hitters in this category, right? The Epic Split, which is many people’s immediate thing that they think about as great B2B content came third in this category, you know. And so you compete with big hitters like Volvo Trucks or you know Adobe Marketing Cloud who always – and GE – who always do these funny emotional videos, just shows with a bit of thought and a good script, you can really compete on that playing field and stand out.

So, well done Iron Mountain, yours is the best B2B video ad of all time.

Announcer: Best Wildcard Content.

David: Now, some of the nominees didn’t fit neatly into any category. So we created this extra one. Thanks to Rishi Dastidar, who’s Senior Writer at venturethree – and also a darn fine poet – for helping our senior copywriter Steve get to the bottom of this shortlist.

So ultimately, they chose:

Drawbotics’ Your Favorite TV Shows Brought to Life With Amazing 3D Floor Plans,
Gartner Magic Quadrant – yes, all of it,
Hectare Agritech and Tudder,
and Turtl’s Kill the PDF campaign.

Matt, Rockee helps marketers to get feedback and understand what people really enjoy about their content. So, with access to that information, do you see new formats, new approaches? If we run this in five or 10 years’ time again, might there be completely different kinds of B2B content? What do you think the future might hold?

Matt: Yeah, it’s really interesting, because we started to get feedback we just simply weren’t expecting, where people are asking for slightly different formats of where things work. So for example, you posted for the digital webinar, or something like that. It’s quite interesting, because people go, “This is too long, I want to see shorter versions of it.” So immediately, you’re getting data there to go, “Look, I can take this into maybe four or five snippets, I can put it into social short form. I can even take it to YouTube short form – I can make something really interesting and engaging when I have a long-form piece of content.”

So there’s a huge evolution happening. And that’s what the audience is asking for. It’s related to something they consume in a snappier format or that goes to the precise problem that they’re trying to solve. So that’s something we’re seeing straight away from Rockee at the moment is there’s a kind of a move away from longer form. So that’s something that’s certainly emerging.

And the other one is around creators as well, that that goes back to that authenticity piece, less around AI at the moment, but people who can, you know, rise up as a profile for their brand. An example is Todd Clouser, who used to be at Refine Labs and is now at lavender.ai. He does an incredible job of just making short comic videos that are related to the problem and the solution of the brand he works for.

So yeah, interesting trends emerging. I think it might gravitate towards those creative formats in the next couple of years, for sure.

David: So more profile for kind of, you know, individual personalities, and potentially more atomisation of bigger content pieces.

Matt: Yeah, a hundred percent. We’re moving to snack form type of stuff and we’re on a diet from long form. And yeah, that’s certainly what the audience is asking for. But it’s very competitive; using feedback is a great way of getting an insight as to which are the most juicy bits that you can focus on.

David: So we took the vote for our wildcard content, and Hectare Agritech and Tudder, which, if you don’t know, is their dating app for cows. Again, it was voted the Best Content of 2019. It ran away with this category once again. And Rishi Dastidar sent some audio to explain why he thought it was well-deserved.

Rishi Dastidar: It’s a very simple idea. The idea of a dating app for animals: cattle and sheep. I love the wit here. It’s a very simple idea, but it’s been executed really well. And that cross-pollination just really does cut through and raises a smile.

David: So well done, Hectare Agritech. Tudder is the best, I guess, B2B dating app of all time?

Announcer: The Grand Final.

David: So this brings us to the moment of truth. We have our five finalists:

Assure Hedge: the Chicken McNuggets blog,
Gasp with their Call to Action podcast,
Ahrefs with their SEO guide,
Iron Mountain with their hilarious video,
and Tudder, the dating app for cows.

Matt, are you ready to find out what is officially the best B2B content of all time?

Matt: Come on, I can’t wait any longer The suspense is killing me. Let’s do it.

David: Okay.

In third place… we have Hectare Agritech with Tudder.

In second place… it’s Assure Hedge with The Chicken McNuggets secret ingredient is not what you think.

In first place… it’s Gasp with the Call to Action podcast.

I think a few years ago you would never have thought that the best B2B content of all time would be a podcast, would you?

Matt: Definitely not. I don’t think people thought podcasts would ever pick up and no one would listen to a B2B podcast. But love this, I love this winner, thoroughly deserved. It’s real content, real people doing real things.

David: What is it you love about it?

Matt: I’m gonna say authenticity again. It’s real people, you know, having a good conversation, finding out about their experience, how they got to where they are, their expertise, their knowledge, beautifully framed, entertaining. Entertaining is probably another key word; I’d happily listen to it anywhere I go. So, yeah, incredible winner.

David: I mean, obviously, there’s an element to it of: “It’s a public vote, you know.” And with any competition like this, where it’s open, of course, it’s a subjective choice. And, of course, there’s an element of who will get people to vote for you.

But, for me, that’s kind of why podcasts are so good. It’s about getting that community that identify with you. And so the fact that they’ve won, shows the strength of their community, and it shows it’s working, right?

Matt: Yeah. 100%. And that’s what they’re kind of designed for. There are little subsections of all of our various parts of B2B marketing in different markets, and you want to meet up with fellow people who have the same opinions and kind of the same, you know, ambitions and thoughts and things like that. It’s great to see those communities come together, you know, loyal fan base and like good authoritative content. It’s a beautiful mix.

David: Yeah, I think the reason that we have the judges involved in this process, to do the shortlisting, is ultimately, the winner is always going to be subjective; everyone’s going to have a different view. But all of our five finalists – indeed, all of the 19 shortlisted examples – are worthy winners, and hopefully, fairly inspiring examples of good B2B content. And that, ultimately, is what this question was about. It was about you know, finding examples, finding ideas, finding some inspiration. So hopefully, we’ve managed that.

Well done, Gasp. Well done, Giles Edwards. Well done, Call to Action.

So, there you have it, the best B2B content of all time. Thank you to everybody who nominated. Thank you to everybody who voted. Thank you to all our judges. And, of course, thank you, Matt, for joining us to analyse it and go through these with us. I hope it’s been interesting.

Matt: It’s been incredible. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me on.

David: And Matt, if people want to hear more from you, or hear the Sausage Factory – experience the sausage – where would they find that?

Matt: So you can find us on any good publishing channel. We’re on Spotify, we’re on Apple podcasts. Or you can visit rockee.io. And we’re very much trying to dissect what does great content look like in modern B2B, over all of those formats. So yeah, come and have a look.

David: Through the medium of tasty sausage snacks, presumably?

Matt: Through sausage-based analogies and jokes. Yes.

David: B2BQ&A will be back soon, albeit without me. I’d like to thank everyone who’s co-hosted over the years, everyone who’s let me badger them with impertinent questions, everyone who’s sent us questions of their own or copywriting pro tips.

I’d especially like to thank Emily King and Fiona Campbell-Howes for starting this fabulous podcast. And most of all, I’d like to thank you listener for joining me this past 80 or so episodes. Until next time, make great content.

David and Matt: Goodbye!

From call to brief to copy – what’s the Radix copywriting process?

Posted on April 12, 2023October 7, 2025 by The Radix Team

Content marketing is by no means a niche service, but to our knowledge, Radix is something of a unique business.

Unlike other agencies in the B2B marketing sector, we dedicate ourselves fully to B2B technology copywriting. We’re driven to do the best job we can, so we focus on doing one job, really well.

While it sounds simple on paper, we’re often asked by prospective clients what it really looks like to work with us – and how their project will fit into our daily workflows.

Let me take you on a journey through a typical blog post project at Radix, and hopefully answer the titular question: “Just what is your copywriting process?”

Setting the scene: a new blog brief

It’s time for a little make-believe. Today, one of our regular clients needs a blog post about the latest digital transformation trends in their industry.

In classic Choose Your Own Adventure style, our client has two paths by which they can proceed:

Describe the required content to their Radix account manager so we can book time out with a writer best suited to the job and, if required, book in a briefing call.
Use the standardised Radix briefing template to send a full, written brief to their account manager. (Again, we can book in a briefing call if further insight is needed.)

In most scenarios, we’ll recommend the briefing call as this gives the allocated writer an opportunity to clarify exactly what is required, such as:

Who is the content for?
Where will it live?
What’s its purpose?

In cases where we are engaging with a new client, or it’s a more substantial project, the process can be a little more complex.

Account Director Sarah explains: “If it’s a complicated topic, or a new client, the project will first go to a content lead to evaluate. If needed, we may also arrange a briefing call before booking in time with the writer. Then, all that’s left before writing an outline or a first draft is to send the client a quote for approval and confirm the timeframe for delivery.”

Does your content need an outline?

So far, we’ve:

Received word of an exciting new brief
Identified the best writer for the job
(Probably) had a briefing call to clarify the story
Agreed on a quote and timeframe for delivery

Nice. Everything’s looking good.

Now it’s time for our writer to either whip up an outline or jump right into the first draft. With blogs, our writers will often have everything they need from the briefing (and maybe a little desk research) to begin the first draft.

With bigger writing projects – such as case studies or white papers – we tend to write an outline first. That way, changes in project direction or messaging can be easily identified and actioned ahead of any substantial copywriting – potentially saving time, money, and frustration.

Once you’re happy with the outline, the writing itself can begin.

*Intermission*

Delivering your copy

Upon completing the first draft, our writer will proofread your copy before passing it on to a content lead or appropriate peer to review. This is where our in-house quality control process begins (and, in the best-case scenario, ends).

If the reviewer spots anything that needs changing, the writer will be brought back in to make the necessary amends before notifying your account manager that your copy is ready to deliver.

Only when we’re completely happy do you get to read the first draft. If you or your stakeholders identify further changes, or the scope of the project changes, the account manager will reserve time with the original writer to revisit the content. We may also arrange a follow-up call to clarify what needs to happen next.

To ensure the piece is completed as efficiently as possible, we will always track our changes and, if required, explain the thought process behind any adjustments we’ve made – especially if the amends required a little compromise. In cases of scope change, this will likely require an additional call or written correspondence with the writer to set expectations.

Managing client-writer expectations

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: damned good copy).

We work really hard to make your copy as good as it can be. But if we’ve missed the mark, that’s on us; we’ll always swallow our pride and put things right. If we disagree with a change you’ve suggested, we may try to compromise with a different approach (and explain it in the comments). But as fellow writer Nick said in his write-up on lessons learned at the Copywriting Conference:

“If the feedback is along the lines of, ‘I envisioned something different’ then this should ring alarm bells for future projects, to make sure expectations on both sides are clearly set out from the start.”

Communication matters, so never hesitate to flag any concerns or queries with us regardless of progress through a given project. The most important thing is that you get the right content to achieve the results you want.

Working with Radix

Of course, this is just one example of how a project can go. To discuss our process in greater detail, or see if we’re the right copywriting agency for you, please contact us here or give us a call on +44(0)1326 373592.

How to atomise a big B2B content piece into smaller assets

Posted on March 30, 2023October 7, 2025 by The Radix Team

When you create a showstopping content asset, it can be tricky to know where to go next. You’ve spent all this time producing a piece that captures the key messages, ideas, and research for your campaign, but still have months left to fill in your editorial calendar.

Well, if your content is really as valuable as you think it is, you’re likely sitting on a goldmine of additional opportunities.

Here’s why you should be mining for those opportunities, how to spot them among your content library, and advice on how to get started.

The value in atomising your content

While a well-thought-out, thoroughly-researched white paper can generate plenty of leads by itself, not all of your audience will have the time to read 2000+ words. But, they might have time to read one of the interesting ideas your white paper contains.

Breaking down your content piece – or “atomising” it – can help you ensure those ideas aren’t locked into a large asset. It gives you an opportunity to create smaller, more accessible pieces of content that will likely reach a larger portion of your audience.

It also creates a chance to share your ideas across more content channels. An ebook or white paper will likely be gated and restricted to your website, but smaller articles, infographics, and social posts can be shared on a wide range of platforms.

And perhaps one of the most valuable reasons to atomise your content is the opportunity to create additional momentum for your campaign. You’ve already put in the major legwork in conducting the research, interviewing thought leaders, and capturing the key ideas to create your white paper. Now, you have a chance to build out your content calendar for the following months without repeating those steps.

How to know if your content is right for atomisation

Atomising content is something our clients ask us to do a lot, but it’s not right for every content piece. Some are more valuable – and easier to atomise – than others.

Here’s what I look out for when considering whether a piece can be broken down:

Does the content piece cover a broad range of topics in your industry?

If your content covers dozens of different ideas throughout your industry, all tied together with a broad theme, there’ll likely be plenty of opportunities to create additional content.

For example, with a white paper named: “Ten key challenges B2B marketers face today”, there’s a good chance those ten challenges will be distinct from each other, and you’ll be able to split them into their own content pieces. Taking this approach also gives you an opportunity to go deeper into those topics, bringing in additional perspectives, research, and ideas that weren’t included in the main content piece.

On the other hand, if your white paper is on a niche topic – such as a distinct challenge or a single product – there may be fewer atomisation opportunities and you might find yourself stretching the ideas too thin.

Does the content piece contain a lot of original research?

White papers and ebooks based on original research offer some of the easiest and most valuable atomisation opportunities.

With assets like these, there are often dozens of valuable data points that can easily get lost within the large content piece, but can form the foundation for new, more digestible assets.

This could mean writing an article that highlights some of the key insights generated from your research or creating an infographic that presents your data in a more visually accessible way. In many cases, the data in your hero asset can kickstart additional reaction pieces that bring in thought leaders within your company to respond to the research.

Does the content piece bring in a lot of perspectives from your industry or organisation?

When a large asset brings together multiple perspectives from your industry – or across your organisation – there are often ample opportunities to split these perspectives into smaller content pieces.

These can be as simple as pulling quotes from individual thought leaders to use on social media or throughout email campaigns. Or, in some cases, ideas from these thought leaders can be extended into larger blog posts that expand on their perspectives.

How do I start atomising my content?

Think you’ve got the perfect content piece to atomise? Now it’s time to get started.

Your atomisation strategy will need to focus on maintaining the momentum of your original content piece and building out materials that add genuine value to your campaign.

Every content piece will be a different challenge, but here’s some advice you can carry across every project.

Think about creating a variety of content types

Content atomisation shouldn’t just be about splitting white papers into blog posts. Think about the audience you’re targeting, the platforms you want to reach them on, and the ideas you want to share.

For example, from the starting point of one newsletter written by our founder Fiona Campbell-Howes, we created:

Three blog posts
Three podcast episodes
One presentation
One board game
One infographic
One interactive quiz

It’s often easiest if you look at the idea and think about the best possible way to present it to your audience, rather than trying to mould it into a specific content format.

In some cases, you don’t even need to reuse content from the original asset. We’ve found success previously by taking the core idea of the main content piece and using it as the foundation for webinars and podcasts that bring additional perspectives on the topic – and ultimately generate more buzz around the ideas you’re sharing.

See if your content aligns with a current hot topic

If there’s a hot topic everyone in your industry is talking about, atomising your content can be a great way to get your voice into the conversation.

Consider if any ideas in your asset can be adapted to create relevant, associated pieces that respond to the current news topic and add an additional perspective.

For example, if you’re an analytics provider, ideas from your white paper on using data-driven insights to predict supply chain challenges would be a great fit for responding to news about supply chain challenges in specific markets.

But, it’s important to keep in mind that you’ll need to produce this content quickly, otherwise you might miss the time window for its maximum effectiveness.

Work with a writer to plan your atomisation strategy

Knowing what to atomise and when can be tricky, but it’s easier when you work with the writer who will be producing the main content piece. They’ll be able to give you a good idea of whether the piece you’re considering atomising has enough valuable content to split out, and whether the additional assets you’re creating will be helpful for the reader.

Also, they’ll give you a good idea about whether there’s enough leftover material to write meaningful content from the research and interviews they’ve already conducted – or if they’d benefit from extra input to stop your content repeating itself.

Atomisation: a valuable habit to stretch your content budget

Ultimately, any copywriter worth their salt can help you spot opportunities to atomise your content as they’re writing the initial hero piece.

These opportunities are often much easier to identify during the creation process, and can give you a head start on building out your content calendar for the following months – all while maximising the impact of the research and calls you’ve already paid for. The trick is to find a copywriting partner who understands your objectives, and whom you trust to have your best interests at heart.

And that kind of relationship starts with a conversation.

ChatGPT and B2B copywriters: mortal enemies or better together?

Posted on February 8, 2023May 22, 2025 by Matt Godfrey

Plenty of people think ChatGPT will turn the copywriting world upside down. But is that really the case in the rarefied world of B2B tech marketing, or a hype-driven misconception?

When ChatGPT hit the headlines, regular people began using it for all kinds of things, from cheating on college essays to writing poetry. It wasn’t designed to do these things (more on that later), but then the internet wasn’t designed for watching videos of cats on skateboards, and here we are.

Very quickly, the hype machine roared into action, leading to rumours that generative AI tools – and especially ChatGPT – would soon be writing everything. All the writing. In the whole world. Forever.

For a business that sells, um… writing, that could be slightly worrying. So we conducted an experiment to compare the AI against our human writers and get to know its strengths and weaknesses.

An (entirely unscientific) experiment: human copywriters v ChatGPT

My colleagues created various pieces of writing that responded to the brief: “Write 200 words on why copywriting is important in B2B technology marketing.” Then they challenged me to review the results and decide if each piece was:

Written by a human from scratch
Written by a human based on an AI-generated outline
Written by ChatGPT and then briefly edited by a human
Written by ChatGPT with no human involvement

So, I set out to brave the dangers of the uncanny valley and see if I could spot the bot…

Version 1: Human writer with AI help?

Copywriting is a critical tool for getting your message across and helping you stand out in a sea of jargon. It can turn even the most complicated tech products into something easy to understand. And without it, much of B2B tech marketing would be a bunch of tech experts talking in code nobody else understands.

It’s not just about getting through to your customers – copywriting is also crucial for building trust and credibility. When it comes to B2B tech, businesses are making some serious investments and need to feel confident they’re making the right choice. High-quality copywriting can help you earn your customers’ trust by presenting the right information in a clear, concise, and compelling way.

And let’s not forget about differentiation. In the crowded B2B tech space, it can be challenging to differentiate your business from others. That’s where persuasive copywriting techniques come in: highlighting your unique features and benefits, detailing the value you can deliver – and setting your business apart from the rest.

My initial comments:

This has echoes of another version I reviewed, but with added personality. Specifically, my personality, with the classic, Matt Godfrey-certified “clear, concise, and compelling”. You love to see it. The paragraph openers “It’s not just about…” and “And let’s not forget about…” make me think this is a writer working from somebody else’s outline. In a hurry.

My guess: AI outline, human writer

Actual author: AI copy, human editor

Version 2: AI-generated copy?

In the world of B2B technology marketing, the importance of good quality copywriting cannot be understated. At its core, copywriting is the art of persuading your audience to take a specific action through the use of words. In the technology industry, where products and services can be complex and difficult to understand, this is especially important.

Having well-written copy can help your company stand out from the competition by clearly communicating the benefits and features of your products or services. It can also help build trust with potential customers, as it shows that you are willing to take the time to carefully craft your messaging.

In addition to persuading and building trust, good copywriting can also help with SEO. Well-written, keyword-rich copy can improve your search engine rankings, making it easier for potential customers to find your company online.

Overall, good quality copywriting is essential for any B2B technology company looking to effectively market their products and services. It helps to clearly communicate the value of your offerings, build trust with potential customers, and improve your online visibility. Investing in strong copywriting can pay off in a big way for your business.

My initial comments:

It’s easy to see how an AI would come up with this, as it’s very formulaic and uses some basic rhetorical techniques without a hint of irony, making it read like a high school book report. (“In The Return of the Native, the importance of the heath as a character cannot be overstated…”) It’s readable, but bland and repetitive, and with no sense of who its audience is.

The repeated phrases are a bit of a giveaway, too (“build trust”, “potential customers”, “products and services”). And it uses “their” instead of “its” when referring to an organisation, which every Radix writer knows is VERY WRONG and punishable by the removal of cake privileges.

Eagle-eyed readers will also have noticed that it confuses “cannot be understated” with “cannot be overstated”, which destroys the logic of the opening sentence.

My guess: AI. No human would ever use the phrase “keyword-rich”.

Actual author: AI

Version 3: Human writer?

Marketing to B2B decision makers? Without good copywriting, you might as well not bother.

Picture your ideal customer. Why should they buy your product or service? Great. Now try to explain that again, without words.

The truth is, every piece of marketing stands or falls by the message it delivers. You can build the world’s best B2B campaign – you can bullseye the targeting, the positioning, the execution, and the design – but ultimately, you need to tell your audience something.

Usually, that means copy.

Of the dozen most-used content types in B2B marketing, at least eight are copywriting-based. And not just blog posts, case studies, and thought leadership articles, either; every infographic needs a narrative. Videos need scripts.

That’s a lot of words. And behind each one, there’s thought. Structure. Empathy. Storytelling. Finding the angle – and explaining it the right way – to capture your audience’s attention. Honing your message so it lands. Sticks. Resonates.

Your marketing can deliver your message to the perfect person, at the perfect moment, in the most appropriate way. But when they unwrap that box, all you have to convince them is copy.

And that is why copywriting’s important.

Of course, you could always try expressionist dance…

My initial comments:

I’m not sure AI would opt for quite so many single-word sentences without being explicitly trained to hit this tone of voice. It is exactly 200 words, though (kudos), and it’s engaging, even while suffering from an excess of personality.

The main thing that stands out here is it chooses a single message and hammers it home; the writer knows they only have 200 words to work with, and they want to create maximum impact with them. It also clearly draws on a deep understanding of the topic and the audience, and uses a voice that confidently takes calculated risks to elicit an emotional response from the reader.

One final observation: the writer has linked out to a credible source to substantiate their claims, which is not something an AI would think to do.

My guess: Human

Actual author: Human

A useful tool, but not a replacement for high-quality copywriting

As it turned out, spotting the bot was pretty easy, and the copy it produced was passable but flawed. One of the key reasons for this is that the researchers at OpenAI didn’t initially develop ChatGPT to write, they developed it to chat – to answer questions in a conversational way.

The AI is fine at providing readable definitions and summarising key points on a given topic (though its responses may sometimes lack logical rigour and factual accuracy). But it doesn’t have the empathy and audience understanding to write marketing copy that makes readers think, feel, and act in certain ways.

There’s also an absence of critical thought. The AI takes its training data at face value, and can’t judge the relative importance of different points, or assess the authority and relevance of its sources. It can’t connect apparently unrelated concepts, or draw on insights based on lived experience or shared in conversations between peers.

And, like all AI models, biases in the training data and small variations in the input phrasing will affect ChatGPT’s outputs, so it can’t be left to operate without extensive human oversight.

However, as future iterations emerge, there will almost certainly be commercial applications of the technology in writing some basic B2B content and communications, while professional copywriters oversee its work and handle more complex, high-value projects themselves. Like many other industries that have embraced AI, a “better together” approach, with humans and AI working side by side, is the most likely outcome.

For now, ChatGPT is all set to give the world more versatile and capable chatbots for customer service and sales. It’s likely to find a home helping busy professionals write day-to-day communications. And it certainly has a place in software engineering, helping developers to quickly write and debug code.

But, for high-quality B2B copywriting that has an impact on readers and delivers the results marketers need, an expert human writer is still essential.

Still want more? No problem.

If you’d like to get regular copywriting tips and B2B marketing insights (from real human writers), sign up for our newsletter.

7 ways to make your B2B writing more inclusive

Posted on December 14, 2022October 7, 2025 by The Radix Team

The B2B tech industry isn’t run by robots (yet), but by actual, real people who exist outside of their offices and away from their laptops.

It can be easy to forget, but these people have interests, friends, and gender identities, as well as being executives and decision-makers at our favourite companies.

So if you’re a B2B marketer, inclusive language can play a huge part in ensuring your reader feels recognised and engaged.

To find out more, we spoke to Ettie Bailey-King, an inclusive and accessible communication consultant. Here’s what we learnt.

Why is inclusive language so important?

For starters, customer expectations have changed dramatically. The B2C market is rapidly adopting inclusive language, and it’s transforming the marketing industry.

If customers are used to respectful and inclusive communication in one industry, they won’t stand for less anywhere else – so B2B needs to keep up.

“We’re constantly surrounded by content – at work, at home, on social media,” says Ettie. “And thoughtful content makes us feel safe and welcomed. For example, an advert that says ‘everyone’, instead of the binary gender options of man or woman. Or an email that avoids gendered salutations like ‘Ms’ and ‘Mr’, and just says ‘Hi Ettie’. For many of us, those changes won’t feel like a big deal. But if you’re questioning your gender identity, for example, then those small changes can be the difference between a painful experience, and a safe and welcoming one.”

Even if you don’t think you’re talking to people who are trans, non-binary, or gender-nonconforming, that’s no reason to avoid using inclusive pronouns and language. According to Stonewall, around 1% of the UK population might be transgender, including non-binary people. Already, that’s roughly 600,000 people – but we’re a long way from knowing what the real figures look like.

“The comparison that activists always use is left-handedness,” says Ettie. “When left-handedness was stigmatised, numbers were around 2%. And when children were actually allowed to freely use the hand of their choice – if you look at the graphs, you’ll see an explosion in left-handedness.”

These days, around 12% of the UK write with their left hand.

There are so many reasons why inclusive writing is important – and they go beyond B2B marketing objectives.

“Inclusive writing is sometimes presented as a fun, happy add-on to make our businesses seem warmer. But it’s got a serious purpose. The world just isn’t safe for some people – for example, many transgender and gender non-conforming people are discriminated against, or at risk of terrible violence,” says Ettie. “It’s important to keep that in mind. So if we’re struggling to motivate ourselves to do the learning, we should remember that using LGBTQIA+ inclusive language has a real impact. For example, using someone’s correct pronouns can reduce their risk of suicide.”

As Ettie says, pronouns are incredibly important. To use them correctly, you’ll need to understand and be familiar with different types.

Let’s talk about chosen preferred pronouns

Pronouns are a big part of inclusive language and, for the record, they’re just that – pronouns. They’re not “chosen” or “preferred”, much like someone’s name isn’t “chosen”.

You might need to know your client’s pronouns (or your client’s client’s pronouns if you’re writing a case study about them). For example, “Matt’s Head of Copy at Radix Communications. He’s been in the role for 11 years.”

Or if you’re engaged in conversation and need to refer to somebody else: “Have you met Matt? He’s great.” Whenever you’re using pronouns, it’s important to do it correctly, even if they’re unfamiliar to you.

After “she/her”, “he/him”, and “they/them”, the most common member-defined pronouns on LinkedIn are:

“she/they”
“he/they”
“they/she”
“they/he”
“any pronouns”

There’s a reason LinkedIn has counted “she/they” and “they/she” separately. For pronouns like these, you can’t assume someone has a preference, or what that preference is.

“Everyone’s different,” says Ettie. “When someone gives mixed pronouns, it might be because they strongly prefer the first one, they’re equally happy with each, or they’d rather you don’t use the second one and it’s just there as a backup (for example, for people who struggle to use singular ‘they’). If you can’t check with someone, I’d use the first pronoun. But if you can, take a few seconds to check which one they prefer.”

Neopronouns like “xe/xem/xyr” (pronounced zee/zem/zeer) or “ze/hir/hirs” (pronounced zee/heer/heers) are examples of popular gender-neutral pronouns, and are often used by non-binary or transgender people. You can practice using them and other gender-neutral pronouns using this tool, made 100% by gender-diverse and same-sex-attracted youth. This table published by the Office of Intercultural Engagement at UNC Greensboro might also be helpful.

But while understanding different pronouns and how to use them is crucial, it’s not the only thing we can do to make our B2B writing more inclusive.

7 ways to make your writing more inclusive

Ettie gave us advice on some of the current best practices for inclusive writing, and other things you can do to make sure all your readers feel recognised.

1. Shift your team’s mindset

A lot of us have been trained to write in a gender binary way – think “ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls” – and need to go on a learning journey to transform our writing.

If you’re part of a marketing team, this shift in mindset needs to be a collective experience. Start with sharing resources like podcasts, make or join a book club, and help others get exposed to stories and people outside the gender binary.

2. Always ask if you can

If you’re not sure of someone’s pronouns (and you have the opportunity to), ask. And if you can’t, then default to gender-inclusive language until you’re sure of someone’s pronouns – which could be after you’re expected to submit a first draft.

“In B2B, it’s less likely you’re going to be speaking and learning directly from people,” says Ettie. “But describing people accurately is so important. If you don’t know what pronoun someone uses, or how they describe themselves, always check. And if you can’t – they’re unavailable and no one knows the answer – then use gender-neutral terms like ‘they’. Or, you could just use their name instead, like ‘Ashley is Sales Director and Ashley will take over the new team.’”

Ettie’s default in her own writing is to use “they”, and it’s something people have been doing since the 1300s. You can then clarify and correct pronouns in the feedback process.

3. Why default to “they” when you can use “you”?

Defaulting to “they” is definitely an inclusive option when writing about people. But if you’re writing content that’s directed to someone, you can go one step further.

Using second-person address is not only inclusive – “you” knows no gender – but also a great tool for engagement. When you speak directly to your reader, they feel involved and engaged. In short, it’s good copywriting.

Second-person address helps to keep things simple, which is also more accessible. “If there’s one rule, it’s to not overthink it,” says Ettie. “Sometimes, by trying to be inclusive we end up with long and elaborate phrases, which can weigh our copy down. For example, if you’re trying to write a concise slogan, do you need to say ‘people who menstruate’ or ‘people with a vulva’? Maybe you can just say ‘you’.”

4. Treat pronouns like names

If you’re confused or in doubt about unfamiliar pronouns, Lal Zimman, a sociocultural linguist, says to treat them like they’re names. Here’s a rundown of what Lal says:

You can’t tell what a person’s name is just from looking at them, so if you want to know it you have to ask. And asking someone’s name is a totally normal question. In fact, it’s more likely to be considered rude if you don’t ask for someone’s name when first meeting them.

Names are treated as facts, and people don’t generally argue about them. It’s important to remember names, even if they’re unusual, or hard to pronounce or spell. And it’s important to get someone’s name right, even if you don’t like it or them.

People don’t insist that there are a limited number of names, and they know there are names they’ve never heard of. And sometimes people change their names, too – for example, when getting married – and that’s totally accepted.

5. And if you mess up…

Politely apologise, correct yourself, and move on. And don’t forget to be kind to yourself.

“We do need to gender people correctly, because it really matters,” says Ettie. “But while we’re learning, we should give ourselves permission to find it difficult and confusing. It really can be! Don’t panic or overthink it. Be firm but patient with yourself – you’ll be amazed how quickly you can learn.”

6. Be a role model

If you’re inclusive with pronouns in your everyday life, in your work and in your style guide, then it’ll translate into the way you write.

You can normalise talking about pronouns by including them in your email signature, your on-screen nickname, on social media profiles and business cards, or by advertising them on your person (think badges and stickers).

And you can go one step further by incorporating pronouns into your marketing. For example, include guest speakers’ pronouns on event invitations and web content.

By being open with pronouns, you’re helping to avoid potentially uncomfortable and awkward conversations. For example, if you’re meeting with someone virtually who has recently changed their pronouns, they can just change their on-screen nickname.

The same goes for people you’re emailing. There’s no need to use “Mr” and “Mrs”, or “Sir/Madam” as your default address. You can just say “hi”, “hello”, “good morning”, or use their name if you know it.

7. Be flexible

You’re not learning a set of rules once and forever. You’re learning something that may be true for now, and might not be true in a year, and that’s okay. Society is changing, and with it people’s pronouns and best practices.

“So you might meet Ashley now, with pronouns ‘they/them’. In a few years, Ashley might be ‘he/him’. That’s okay,” says Ettie. “Don’t panic if people change their pronouns or names. Be grateful that they share them with you.”

Flexibility is a big part of shifting your mindset and changing your patterns. It’s about always putting people before any set of rules or guidelines – including this one. Because for every rule you can come up with, there will always be people who don’t align with it (and that’s okay too).

Here’s where to learn more

Creating inclusive content can make all the difference to your reader feeling accepted, included, and recognised – which is good news for your people, your marketing, and the world in general.

If you’d like to learn more about inclusive communication, check out Ettie Bailey-King’s website Fighting Talk or sign up to her newsletter for quick, practical tips on how you can make your content more inclusive and accessible.

B2BQ&A 105: How do you evaluate B2B content quality?

Posted on March 3, 2022May 21, 2025 by Claire Goodfellow

This month’s question comes from Caroline Robinson who, among many other roles, is the senior editor of the British Cartographic Society’s popular magazine, Maplines.

She wants to know: “What QA/QC processes do other people have for editing content?”

It’s a fantastic question. At Radix, we use a version of this 16-point copywriting quality checklist when editing each other’s work, but we were also super curious to find out what processes others use to ensure the quality of their B2B content.

So we spoke to Laurence Taphouse, Director of Digital Marketing and Content Strategy at Deltek‘s EMEA & APAC Demand Centre, to find out how she ensures consistent quality across so many writers, subjects, and territories.

We also called on the members and experts of B2B Marketing’s Propolis Hive for Brand and Content Strategy and got a detailed response from Scott Stockwell, Propolis Hive Ambassador for Strategy and Evolution. You can hear Scott’s process in full, later in the episode.

This week, our co-host is the luminous Katy Eddy, a Senior Copywriter here at Radix and editor extraordinaire. She recently gave an editing masterclass at a local university, and shares some of her approach.

And we have two excellent copywriting tips this month. Giles Edwards tells us how to keep our content succinct, and we hear the first of a series of tips on creating inclusive copy from language consultant Ettie Bailey-King.

You’ll find a full transcript of our podcast at the end of this post.

Laurence’s top tips for consistent quality

First, Laurence tells us how she achieves consistently high quality across Deltek’s varied content.

A consistent editor

“You need to have a consistent editor; I think it’s crucial,” Laurence explains. “For us, it’s our product marketing team. So when we do editing, it will be me; you always add a constant.”

Include someone with industry acumen

“You need a person who’s got all the industry acumen,” she adds. “Someone who understands their role in the industry, who can make sure the messaging is resonating the way it should be.”

Check – and check again

“Once all that is done, a second pair of eyes can check this is all good,” she concludes. “And then we go back to me for proofreading, making sure there’s no grammatical mistakes or anything like that. Once that is done, we all agree that the content is good to go. And we always follow the same process.”

Scott’s advice from a tech giant

Next, Scott gives us a sneak peak into the content quality process at a bona fide tech giant. And, like Laurence, he reveals that quality control starts much, much earlier than the final edit.

“Assets go through agency production, and then face a rigorous ‘go live’ test before they’re launched,” he tells us. “The ‘go live’ alone has 12 elements that are checked before an asset is signed off, including the brand guidelines, legal requirements, and SEO optimisation, among others.

“Much of this happens within a standard set of tools and apps that all the content team share along with supporting workflows. The squad of marketers working on the campaign… will all have an input into the content being made for the campaign and how it will be deployed. So that quick quality check is a final glimpse at a far more detailed journey that each asset has taken to get there.”

Radix’s Quality Assurance Checklist

At Radix, our content quality checklist consists of 16 questions. We check for accuracy, clarity, authority, empathy, and wizardry to make sure our content is as complete – and as appropriate for its intended audience – as possible.

If you’d like to adapt it for your own purposes, or even steal it wholesale, feel free:

(Click the image to open a printable PDF)

In this episode, you’ll find…

1:10 – We welcome this week’s co-host, Katy Eddy

1:55 – Our first copywriting tip from Giles Edwards on how to keep content succinct

2:10 – We put Caroline Robinson’s question to Laurence Taphouse

15:20 – David shares Scott Stockwell’s thoughts about how to keep quality in your content

17:35 – David and Katy discuss her three-stage content editing process

25:47 – We hear copywriting tips from Ettie Bailey-King about how to keep content inclusive

We want to hear from you…

Have you got a question for B2BQ&A? Or a copywriting tip you’d like to share?

You could be featured on our next podcast. Send us a voice memo at [email protected]. And if there are any other thoughts you’d like to share, you can find us on Twitter @radixcom.

How to listen:

You can download the episode here (right-click and select “Save As” to download).
Or you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts.
Alternatively, add our RSS to your preferred podcast player.

Credits

Firstly, thank you to Katy Eddy for your excellent insight and co-hosting skills.
Thanks to Caroline Robinson for your question. It was really interesting to explore.
And thank you to Laurence Taphouse for the insights into Deltek’s quality process.
Thanks to Scott Stockwell for your brilliant contribution, too.
And last but absolutely not least, thanks to Giles Edwards and Ettie Bailey-King for your brilliant copywriting tips.

Podcast editing and music by Bang and Smash.

Transcript: B2BQ&A 105: How do you evaluate B2B content quality?

Caroline Robinson: I would like to know what QA/QC processes other people have for editing content.

Katy Eddy: That’s a great question. Let’s ask Laurence Taphouse from Deltek.

David McGuire: Hello listener, you are extremely welcome to B2BQ&A, the podcast where we go in search of an answer to your question about B2B content writing. This is episode 105.

Katy: In a moment, we’ll ask Laurence Taphouse, Deltek’s Director of Digital Marketing and Content Strategy for EMEA and APAC, how she manages content quality, and get copywriting tips from Giles Edwards and Ettie Bailey-King. Plus, we’ll have news of a helpful new resource you can use to check your own B2B content quality. That’s a lot of stuff.

David: That is, it’s a lot, isn’t it? It’s a packed episode, I know. Before all of that, though, some introductions. My name is David McGuire. I’m Creative Director at Radix Communications, the B2B copywriting agency. And this month, our guest co-host is a familiar voice. It’s Radix Senior Copywriter, Katy Eddy. Katy, welcome back.

Katy: Thank you very much. It is good to be back.

David: It’s good to have you here. Before we go ahead and answer this month’s question, would you mind telling the listener how they can get in touch with us?

Katy: Yeah, of course. Listener, if you have any comments or suggestions you can find Radix on LinkedIn or Twitter @radixcom. Or if you want us to answer your question on a future episode, record a quick voice note and send it by email to [email protected].

David: That’s marvellous. Thank you very much.

Giles Edwards: Hello, this is Giles from …Gasp! My tip is: trim the fat. If you can take a word out and nothing is lost, you should.

Katy: Thanks, Giles, for that tip. Now it’s time to hear this month’s question. Who do we have?

Caroline: Hello, Radix Podcast. I’m Caroline Robinson, Marketing and Business Development Manager for Compusult Europe. I am also Senior Editor of Maplines, the membership magazine for the British Cartographic Society. I write and edit in different styles for my work. I would like to know what QA/QC processes other people have editing content. Love the podcast by the way.

David: Thanks, Caroline. That’s a great question. Content quality control is something we’re asked about a lot. And in a minute, Katy will explain how we approach editing here at Radix. First, I put your question to Laurence Taphouse, who’s Director of Digital Marketing and Content Strategy for EMEA and APAC at the global software company, Deltek. Laurence leads on content and digital strategy and works with stakeholders and writers around the globe. So I asked her what processes do you have to ensure that your content meets a high standard.

Laurence Taphouse: The process really starts with our marketing plan, when we decide to put in place a marketing plan to drive demand for some of our products. My role is to really do a content gap analysis. From this content gap analysis, I then decide with different stakeholders what type of content are needed. The type of content that are needed can be different formats to fit some of the digital tactics that we are using to drive demand. And based on that we do a content plan. So the content plan is very much around: “what do I want this content to achieve? Who do I want to read it? What do I want readers to think, feel, or do afterwards?” So if there’s any, you know, call to action? And then once I got all those answers lined up, is “what should this piece look like, really? When is the best time to publish it? What’s the best source of material? What’s the call to action? And then maybe where will the content be published?

Once I’ve got that it’s all started with a creative brief and a content brief and either we use, you know, writers in house or if we use third party writers, the content brief is the key for whomever is going to write the content, understand, you know, the audience to which the content will be targeted to. So normally in the brief you’ll have a synopsis, some key messages, the deadline on when we want the content to be created, the target audience, some of the source materials. Sometimes when we create these brief we also do a call with the writer to make sure that we go through all the detail and source material. So we give the opportunity to the writers to ask questions, and make sure that everyone is on the same page. So once we’ve done that, we are being really clear on the deadlines, any iteration will be done as well for that type of content. Because content is quite subjective. Some people might like it, some people might not like it, depending on the tone, and within the brief, you know, that’s where the standards come into play, to make sure that, you know, you don’t end up having 10 or 15 iterations, just based on the personal opinion, though, which is more… it needs to be around when, you know, you review the content around, “okay, this is for that, the format is that, the best practice is that, and the standard of the company is tone of voice should be that way, the way we address ourselves to the audience should be that way.” So once you’ve got all of that, then you can create this not rigid, but a little bit rigid deadline, where you say, “okay, and say three iteration would be the maximum that will be good for you”.

Then you need to have a consistent editor, I think is crucial. For us it’s our product marketing team. So when you do the editing it will be me. And then I will use some of my peers as well so I have, you know, other pairs of eyes as well on the content because it’s always great. But you always have a constant, you know, consistent editor, person with … generally a person who’s got all the industry acumen. So they understand their industry, they understand their work so that they make sure that the messaging is resonating, the way it should be resonating.

Once that is done, the second pair of eyes is there to double-check this is all good. And then we go back to me for proofreading, making sure that there’s no, you know, grammatical mistakes or anything like that.

Once that is done, that’s when we, you know, we decide that we’re all in agreement that this is all good. And we follow, you know, always the same process, the briefing, once the briefing is done, the deadline once the deadline is done… We don’t let writers just write right away, we usually ask for an outline. So the writer being an internal writer, or third party writer, we make sure that whatever is in his mind of how he’s going to structure the content. So it could be a blog, or could be a white paper, what is it he’s going to write in each of the different parts – we agreed on this outline. So we know that when he start writing, it should be pretty much what we asked him or her to do, you know, he’s not far off, he’s not going on a tangent, where we’re like, “oh, actually, we didn’t want you to really focus on that part”.

And then once we do all this editing that I was telling you about, and this proofreading and this peer review, where we have multiple pair of eyes, that’s when we go into market. And what we also like to do is to take time and reflect once things are in motion in markets. So how this is engaging? Is it engaging the right way? Could we tweak some of the promotional copy that we are creating?

So it’s not just once it’s launched is gone. There is a constant optimisation of the content. We have standards as well, when it comes to publishing online. It is important that we think about search engine optimisation. So it should not be, you know, the main focus when you write, you don’t want to just use keywords, you know, in the wrong way. It is important when you promote, for example, a blog, you know, to think about your title, to be engaging in your subtitle, you need to detail the backend, your backlinks, you know, if you are talking and referring to other research or content on the web to link that through your blog. So there’s a big best practice that we follow for different type of format content.

David: That sounds really comprehensive. That’s great. Thank you. Obviously, kind of, you work across lots of different geographies, lots of different kinds of locations and kinds of writers and that kind of thing. How easy is it to apply a consistent set of standards across different formats, subjects, locations?

Laurence: Yeah, that’s a really good question. So we normally got standards from our digital team, our corporate team, so you will have standard that you follow. So that process that I just explained to you is a process that everyone will do across the globe. However, there’s something there is very important when you talk to different markets when different languages. This is something that in our email and admin centre is crucial is one. When you write content in English, and you know that this content is going to be translated, you need to make sure that you don’t play with words. Often we like to play with word and we feel like they’re more engaging, if we make a touch of humour or make the title a bit punchier in English. That’s great, but it’s not always translates really well when you wanted to, you know, target another market. Also, you know, the content that we are creating is very thought leadership, is not so much product heavy. So it is quite easily transferable, I would say for other markets, but you always need to have a think of who is the target audience, if the target audience is the same, but the market is less mature, you need to make sure they you know, you got that point across. So, it depends on the type of content, I think content that is very high level, for a specific persona, should be able to work and follow the right standard and the right process that I just explained across the globe, really. If there is something that is more specific, you know, I’m thinking sometimes when we do a piece of content around survey research, or based on dates and key points, it needs to be, you know, obviously updated and to resonate with the other markets. But obviously, the standard of the best practice to make sure that the content looks good, should be able to easily be applied across the globe. Because the importance of knowing what’s good look like, is crucial. Because if not, you will never really make the decision to go into market. Because some people might have another opinion of what good looks like. And you’ve got a different line of businesses, which are hot, because you’ve got the content and marketers who think marketing content, and what marketing good content look like. And you’ve got maybe someone who is more an expert in the product, or maybe an expert in, you know, an engineer in the product, where he feels that they need to talk about something more technical, is actually what good content will be.

David: So when you’re trying to apply those standards, and agree what good looks like, between the marketing team and stakeholders in product or sales or, or wherever, how does that work? How do you reach agreement on what the standards are and what good is?

Laurence: So we do something called RACI. So when we do every piece of content that we do, and that we create, if we need to involve multiple stakeholders, they need to understand their role within the creation of that content. So RACI will be you know, the, are you responsible, are you accountable? Are you going to be just a consultant? Or is it just informative that we’re going to provide you this content? Based on the RACI, we’ll set the standard and the process on the brief. So that’s always on the brief. So the first step, and when we agree on that brief, then people understand what good looks like and what we are aiming for and what the objective is. If you miss that brief, and the brief is not clear, that’s when it gets really hard for everyone to be on the same page on what good look like for specific content or specific campaign.

David: Laurence, that’s brilliant, that’s absolutely everything that we needed from my point of view. Is there anything when you were kind of thinking about the questions and what you prepared, is there anything that I haven’t asked you about, that you feel is important in this?

Laurence: I think often people think that content is, you know, you need to be very creative, you need to be someone who likes to read. And it’s true, when you are content, you need to really like the wording and all of that. But I think when you write marketing content, you need to have also this view of not only writing what you like to write about, but always thinking about the customer, and what they’re going to want to write. So following the process, it looks like really heavy, but once you do it for longer and longer and longer. Yes, it seems completely obvious is like, you know, it’s like if you were going into market without having a marketing plan in place or without having a budget in place. If you don’t have this process in place, then, you know, everything would fall apart. So I would just suggest to everyone who wants to do content, to also have a good eye on you know, digital tactics and format. Content is the oil of the machine of demand. So you need to think about where this content going to go before you start writing. I think it’s crucial.

David: Thanks, Laurence for giving us such a detailed answer to Caroline’s question. We really appreciate your time. Katy, before we hear your approach to editing, I’d like to share a bit of further information on this. I asked the members and experts of B2B Marketing’s Propolis Hive for Brand and Content Strategy, how they approach content QC. And I got quite a detailed response from Scott Stockwell. And I thought it showed some real similarities with Laurence’s answer. Scott says the following:

This feels like one of those, it’s taken me five years to do this in five minutes. If you’re just considering content, that’s something that’s coming off a content production line, then quality assurance could be seen as the quality controller equivalent. A quick look from a trained eye at the finished products, able to spot what passes muster, and what needs to be rejected. As editor-in-chief for EMEA, that’s part of my role: to examine finished assets. But like the tip of the iceberg that doesn’t show all the work that went into designing and fabricating that product, and sourcing the ingredients before any components even set out on their path to becoming a product. Where I work, we have a three by three model, three briefs, three sessions, three outcomes. We have an input brief that researches the market, the customers, the personas within the customers, the local conditions, et cetera. That moves into a content strategy that looks at the high-level customer journey and the touches along the way. The concept brief comes next, and looks at the creative landscape and options for testing at the campaign level. A SWOT analysis examines the creative testing results and implications. And a greenlight meeting looks at what it will take for all the assets in the journey to deliver on the vision for the campaign. A content plan takes the defined campaign deliverables, and looks at all the components needed to create them, which are detailed in an asset brief for each asset. The assets go through agency production, and then face a rigorous ‘go live’ test before they’re launched. The ‘go live’ alone has 12 elements that are checked before an asset is signed off, including the brand guidelines, legal requirements, and SEO optimization among others. Much of this happens within a standard set of tools and apps that all of the content team share along with supporting workflows. The squad of marketers working on the campaign, across discipline and involved throughout and will all have a good view of and input into the content being made for the campaign and how it will be deployed. So that quick quality check is a final glimpse of a far more detailed journey that each asset has taken to get there.

So Katy, now you have insight into content quality control at two tech giants. And to me, it’s striking just how much work goes into getting things right before that final review. Did anything else stand out for you?

Katy: I think firstly, it makes me glad that we’re just the copywriters. The amount of work that goes in, you know, to prep a brief before it reaches us, and everything that happens to it after we’re done with it. That sounds exhausting. It’s really interesting to have that, that little bit of insight into where our little bit of writing and editing that we do slots into a much bigger thing. And it’s yeah, it is a big responsibility to take on, like a little bit of editing journey.

David: Yeah, ‘cause I mean, our review process, I mean, we have a checklist. But that really is, it’s more at the end of that final check – right? – of all the kind of elements that are already in the brief to make sure that everything lines up.

Katy: Yeah, everything we do is as much in line with the brief as we can possibly get it. And the other thing that I thought was really interesting that Laurence picked up on was talking about how you adjust things for different locations and different markets. I’ve been doing a lot of that recently. And it’s a difficult challenge because unless you’re going and you’re talking to every individual person in that market, you don’t necessarily get a full picture of how they like to talk about things and things that you shouldn’t mention for their markets and things like that.

So recently, I did a big project for five regions. And we set up a massive spreadsheet that had all our main talking points in it for UK. And we handed it to the teams in each of the regions and we’re like, what do you need to change? What don’t you want from us because it can be really tiny accuracy, things like stuff that’s hosted in Microsoft Azure here might be in a different cloud provider in Sweden, something like that. But then there’s loads of really tiny things. Kinda like we don’t like… humour. Like, don’t give us puns, don’t come near us with a pun, which you know, you’re pretty safe with me. I’m not a great fan of puns. But yeah, just those little things that I’m so used to editing for stuff for the UK and for the US. And that’s really where my expertise is. So bringing in other people’s knowledge for that is really useful.

David: Yeah. Now, you were talking about that editing process at a local university, recently. You were talking to the students about – you have a particular kind of structure and an approach that you follow when you’re editing someone else’s content. Can you give us a quick summary?

Katy: Yeah, it was a 45-minute talk. So I’ll try and condense it as much as possible

David: We haven’t got quite that long.

Katy: Yeah, the way I approach it, and I’m not sure if this is best practice at Radix but it’s the way I’ve found that most effective. For me, I take three passes at something. And it’s very much based on our quality checklist that you mentioned earlier. So the first pass I do is as a reader, and I don’t think about anything from a writing or editing standpoint. It’s just the really basic, does this make sense? Am I interested the whole way through? Do I want to do whatever I’m being told to do at the end of the piece? And at this point, I don’t do anything to the copy, I won’t start picking things apart. Because there’s no point editing something in paragraph two, if you get to paragraph five, and there’s a massive structural issue, that’s going to negate all of that anyway. So that’s one I’ll just drop the occasional comment on if there’s something I need to come back to.

And my second pass, I tend to look at it as a kind of content editing pass, which is where I start looking at the structure. Is the argument logical? Does it follow through? Does it go off on a weird tangent halfway through? Are there logical leaps where, you know, we haven’t quite explained our thinking. That’s where you start, maybe having to pull bits apart and restructure and move paragraphs around, that kind of thing.

And then, once you’ve done all of that, you come back around for the last pass, which is where you look for the typos, the grammar, the really like nuts and bolts things of copywriting craft, that when you’re writing a massive piece can kind of get away from you a little bit sometimes. And, you know, if you’ve done major edits at the structural point, you might have introduced typos, which aren’t the original writer’s fault at all. So that’ll be my last major pass. And I always give it a quick proof before I send it back to whoever is working on it, that kind of thing. And it’s not always me doing these changes. Sometimes if they’re very small, specific changes to make, I’ll do them myself. But if I’m reviewing somebody else’s work, and there are multiple avenues to go down for how you change something, I’ll bounce it back to them with comments and suggestions that hopefully give them some guide and some rationale, because the really important thing for me is that you always have to have a solid rationale for why you’ve changed something. You never want to give it back to somebody and they look at it, and they have no idea what you’ve done to it and why. Yeah, so for me being very clear and very descriptive of why you’ve made changes, or what changes you want them to make is really important, too.

David: Yeah, I mean, one of the big traps I guess you can fall into as an editor is “I wouldn’t have written it that way”. Rather than does it meet these criteria, yes or no. I think it’s interesting that when we look at our checklist, we, you know… If you like work our way up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs for copywriting, but you know, we start with the detail and work out to the picture, but you start with the big picture, and work backwards. So the total impression back from that to the structure, and then back from that to like, the detailed kind of words and commas and yeah, that kind of thing.

Katy: There’s no point editing the tiny bits if it doesn’t do what it’s meant to do. So if it’s, I mean, I’ve never seen this happen. But if you just look at it, and it’s completely wrong, and it has to go back and be rewritten from scratch, there’s no point spending, you know, 30 minutes fiddling around with semicolons. But yeah, it’s interesting you said that about not making changes just because you would have written it differently. It’s another point I had in my presentation I called editing without ego. Which is –

David: – it’s hard for writers.

Katy: It is hard and especially when you’re a content lead or a senior and you know something really well. You can get really protective over a topic or a client. But that doesn’t mean you’re always right or you always have the best answer or the only answer, so you’ve got to know when to loosen the reins a little bit on those things.

David: Sure. Listener, Katy mentioned the checklist that we use here at Radix to quality check the content we write for clients. I think we refer to it a few times, actually. And I’m delighted to let you know that we’ve actually just published a new updated version of that checklist that you can steal, and adapt and borrow for your own purposes and use it for your own content reviews. If you’d like a copy, just head over to radix-communications.com, and download it. And we’ll also put a link in the show notes.

Ettie Bailey-King: I’m Ettie Bailey-King. I’m an inclusive language consultant. And here are my tips on creating inclusive copy. Number one, ask people. Always ask people how they want to be referred to. For example, don’t think that you can guess somebody’s pronouns based on their appearance. There’s no way of knowing someone’s gender identity just from looking at them. So always check. Secondly, be aware that somebody might be out in the sense of out as having a particular sexual orientation or gender identity in one space, but not in another space. So always check, otherwise, you risk outing someone who might be let’s say out on a social media platform where you happen to follow them, but not out with their work colleagues.

Katy: Thanks, Ettie Bailey-King for that. We actually have a whole bunch of inclusive writing advice from Ettie, and we’ll be including that across our next few episodes. We’d also like to thank Giles Edwards for the tip we heard earlier, Caroline Robinson for this episode’s question. And both Laurence and Scott for answering it so thoughtfully.

David: Caroline, I hope you found the answer that you are looking for. And remember, we’ve published our revised content quality checklist so be sure to grab that, too. And thanks to you, Katy, you’ve been a wonderful co-host as ever.

Katy: Well, thank you for having me back, David. I think this was the one where I felt the most useful. So hopefully, I’ve given people some useful things to think about.

David: Absolutely. Listener remember, it could be your question we answer in a future episode. If you have a question for B2BQ&A to answer, email, a voice memo to [email protected]. Or find us on social media. Thank you, Katy. And thank you, listener. I’ll see you next time for another B2BQ&A. Until then, make good content. And remember, Hemingway may have said write drunk, edit sober, but he didn’t have HR to deal with.

David and Katy: Goodbye!

AI models learn from the prompts users give them as well as the gigantic datasets they’re trained on.

What’s a data mesh? And why should marketers care?

New marketing opportunities – and responsibilities – in the data mesh

Meaningful change takes time

Stay up to date with what’s next in tech

Need to balance relevance for the client and your own brand voice? Here are the key takeaways from the podcast:

1. Use the client’s language

2. Focus on your customer’s worries, not your brand

3. Be careful how you use research

4. Understand how people consume content

5. Don’t tell the client you get them – show them

Want some further reading? Here are the sources Andrea mentions:

Here’s what you can expect in this episode…

Got a question? We’ll find the answer.

How to listen:

Credits

Transcript: B2BQ&A 111 – How can ABM content balance relevance and brand voice?

So what can we learn from the best 19 examples of B2B content?

1. In the end, great content wins

2. All content needs to earn the audience’s time

3. Authenticity wins loyalty

4. A little wit can even the odds

Want to skip to the exciting bits? Here’s where you can find them…

Next time, if could be your question we’re answering

How to listen:

Credits and thanks

Transcript: B2BQ&A 113 – What is the best B2B content of all time?

Setting the scene: a new blog brief

Does your content need an outline?

Delivering your copy

Managing client-writer expectations

Working with Radix

The value in atomising your content

How to know if your content is right for atomisation

Does the content piece cover a broad range of topics in your industry?

Does the content piece contain a lot of original research?

Does the content piece bring in a lot of perspectives from your industry or organisation?

How do I start atomising my content?

Think about creating a variety of content types

See if your content aligns with a current hot topic

Work with a writer to plan your atomisation strategy

Atomisation: a valuable habit to stretch your content budget

An (entirely unscientific) experiment: human copywriters v ChatGPT

Version 1: Human writer with AI help?

My initial comments:

Version 2: AI-generated copy?

My initial comments:

Version 3: Human writer?

My initial comments:

A useful tool, but not a replacement for high-quality copywriting

Still want more? No problem.

Why is inclusive language so important?

Let’s talk about chosen preferred pronouns

7 ways to make your writing more inclusive

1. Shift your team’s mindset

2. Always ask if you can

3. Why default to “they” when you can use “you”?

4. Treat pronouns like names

5. And if you mess up…

6. Be a role model

7. Be flexible

Here’s where to learn more

Laurence’s top tips for consistent quality

A consistent editor

Include someone with industry acumen

Check – and check again

Scott’s advice from a tech giant

Radix’s Quality Assurance Checklist

In this episode, you’ll find…

We want to hear from you…

How to listen:

Credits

Transcript: B2BQ&A 105: How do you evaluate B2B content quality?

LinkedIn

Our newsletter

If you’re interested in...

**5. Don’t tell the client you get them – show them**

**Next time, if could be your question we’re answering**