Category: Client Questions Answered

What is long-form B2B content, and why does it work so well?

Posted on by The Radix Team

When you’re building a B2B content strategy, you need a mix of content lengths. Long-form and short-form content are both vital tools, and each has its own specific use.

If you want to present a snack-sized stat to your readers, for example, or to promote a new product or service, you’re likely to use social seeds or a short article, rather than a ten-page white paper. Likewise, tackling a subject like “Everything you need to know about writing a B2B case study” is going to require more than a 280-character tweet.

But there’s no doubt that across the B2B industry – and in content marketing generally – longer content is becoming increasingly popular. According to Orbit Media’s 2021 blogging survey, the word count of a typical post is up 57% since 2014 – from 808 words to 1,269.

So how exactly can we define “long-form content”? Why is it gaining in popularity as an effective marketing tool? And how can you ensure that even your longest pieces still have impact? I took a look at the research – and completed some semi-scientific studies of my own – to find out.

What is long-form B2B content?

For starters, it’s not just lengthy blog posts. Although blogs are still the most popular B2B content format, long-form content can many other formats, including eBooks and whitepapers, guides and tutorials, and webinars and virtual events.

Essentially, it’s any piece of content that educates your audience on a specific topic or answers a specific question – in an in-depth, informative way.

There’s also a lot of debate around how to define “long” word count, with definitions ranging from 700 – 1,200 words. In truth, there’s probably no set figure; it’s more about the role your content plays. But for the sake of this blog, and in deference to science, I’m defining long-form as anything 1,000 words or over. (Even if it is just to make the maths that bit easier in my own research…)

How can long-form content boost your B2B marketing?

According to the research, writing more long-form content could help you boost your online presence and even drive conversion rates. Here’s what the stats tell us:

Fact #1: Long-form content tends to rank higher on search

You’ve probably heard that long-form content ranks higher – but I wanted to know how true that is for B2B. So, I searched 16 common terms and phrases, like “writing a B2B ebook” and “original research for B2B content”, then recorded the word count of the top five results.
Here’s what I discovered:

  • Across all 80 results, 76% were over 1,000 words, and 31% were over 2,000
  • Of the 16 top results, 12 of the posts were over 1,000 words
  • On the longer end of the scale, 13% of the results were over 3,000 words – and just 4% were over 5,000
  • 35% of the 80 results were between 1,500 and 3,000 words

So, it holds true: long-form content does seem to rank higher. But why?

Some studies suggest that it’s easier to grow organic traffic, and employ SEO tactics, as there’s more scope to include keywords or backlinks (more on this in a moment). But there’s also a simpler explanation: it gives you the opportunity to provide something of real, tangible value for your readers, that they’ll enjoy and want to share.

Fact #2: You can provide your customers with greater value – and showcase your subject authority

This year’s CMI B2B benchmarking report found that 83% of B2B marketers who reported high levels of success in 2020 said this was because of the value their content provides.

And long-form content is the perfect vessel for providing that value. It gives you the opportunity to create more in-depth content on a high-value topic or challenge that really matters to your customer – and (as long as it is genuinely helpful) build up a positive association with your brand in the process.

Side bar: When I searched for common B2B phrases, 44% of the top results were ‘How to’ articles (and all bar one were well over 1,000 words). Only 19% were listicles. So format is likely quite important – the value you’re presenting needs to be really obvious. My colleague Katy has written a splendid blog on how to achieve it.

Fact #3: You could get more traffic, more shares, and more backlinks

According to Semrush’s 2020 Content Marketing Survey, super long-form articles with over 7,000 words drive nearly four times more traffic, and 43% more shares, than shorter articles. And while it’s unlikely you’re going to be writing such bulky pieces on the fly, there’s a clear correlation between long-form content and the amount of traffic it creates.

On the other end of the scale, 59% of published content with between 300-600 words isn’t shared at all. And posts between 300-900 words are likely to gain 21% less traffic – and 75% fewer backlinks – than articles of 900-1,200 words.

And when it comes to Google rankings, backlinks are crucial. The top result on Google has an average of 3.8x more backlinks than the following nine – and the same study found that long-form content generates more backlinks than shorter posts.

So, how can you write long-form content with impact?

Knowing why long-form content works is one thing. Knowing how to write it in an engaging, impactful way is another. Hopefully, these tips will help:

Tailor your content to your audience’s interest

Reading takes time. So you’re asking your (probably very busy) reader to do a lot – especially if your content is above the 2,000-word mark. Make sure you’re rewarding them for that time, and providing information that’s genuinely helpful and tailored to their interests or challenges.

There are plenty of sites to inspire you, and help you cut to the core of whatever conversation is happening in that industry. AnswerThePublic is a great place to start, and BuzzSumo’s content search engine can help you see what articles your customers are already engaging with.

Make sure your content is easy to navigate and read

When you’re writing long-form content, presenting your reader with a wall of words is only going to turn them off. So it’s critical that you make your copy as easy to navigate as possible:

  • Break down sections into smaller, skimmable chunks or bullet out the key points or stats you’re making (see what I did there?)
  • Include headers and subheaders that summarise what’s contained in each section
  • If it’s a really long piece, you can create a content page, so it’s easy for your reader to skip to the parts that most matter to them

In short, make it easy for the reader to see the value of your content upfront, and help them find the information they need quickly.

Use tried-and-tested approaches to make your reader comfortable

Bit boring, I know, but there’s a reason that 44% of the top results were “How To” guides. Sometimes, the tried-and-tested formats just work the best, and are familiar and approachable for you reader.

Update your work regularly

According to Orbit Media, bloggers who go back and update old content are more than twice as likely to report “strong results”.

So even after you’ve written and published your content, go back and update it when necessary.

And remember…

Just because long-form content works, it doesn’t mean that everything you write needs to be over 1,000w. Sometimes, less is more – and padding out work with waffle, just to hit a word count, won’t go unnoticed by your readers.

Got any questions? Just email us at [email protected].

Three reasons why it’s better to write fresh copy than “finesse” your existing content

Posted on by Katy Eddy

As copywriters, we’re often asked to “finesse” or “wordsmith” someone else’s copy. It’s often content that’s been written by one of the business’ subject matter experts (SMEs) or, less frequently, something that another writer or agency has worked on which didn’t quite hit the mark.

Copyediting existing work is a complicated business. It’s rarely as simple as swapping out a few words or tightening up the grammar – which means, most of the time, it’s better to ask your copywriter to start from scratch.

Here are a few reasons why:

1. It’s more efficient to brief a writer than to do it yourself

Often, marketers hope it’ll be quicker or more economical to ask an SME to write up a draft of their piece before passing it onto a copywriter or editor for a quick tune-up to make sure it’s up to scratch.

But that’s rarely the most efficient way to use your time. Finding half an hour in an SME’s busy diary to brief a copywriter is far easier than carving out several hours to write a blog – or days to write an ebook.

There’s another benefit to talking to a copywriter before a single word is written: a briefing call is the perfect opportunity to sound out your ideas with someone who’s trained to ask probing questions. A writer can help your SME dig into the topic, think about it in different ways, and find the best story to tell from a marketing perspective – ideal if your SME is on the technical side of the business.

That leads me onto my next point…

2. Subject matter expertise doesn’t always translate into writing expertise

Just because SMEs know a subject inside out, doesn’t mean they’ll be able to write about it in an engaging way that appeals to your target audience. And why should they? Even if your SME regularly writes technical documentation, writing good marketing copy takes a totally separate skillset.

Writers take your SME’s knowledge and ideas and consolidate them into a compelling story, finding the right hook and the structure that neatly guides readers to the end and the call to action.

Your copywriter will also have experience in conforming to voice and tone guidelines, using the right SEO keywords, and working in templates. They’ll have a good understanding of how to write in a way that appeals to your target personas, and strategies to encourage your audience to click that “get in touch” button.

When it’s written from scratch by a copywriter, your piece will have all the features that make content valuable – from the very beginning. It’s much harder to come along and squeeze keywords into someone else’s draft, for example.

3. It might need much more work than you expect

It’s difficult not to get attached to something you’ve written, especially if you’ve spent hours on it. Which means it can be a nasty surprise when your SME opens up the document after a copywriter has done some “wordsmithing” to find something that looks like a totally different piece.

From the writer’s side, it can be hard to estimate how much editing a piece needs until you’ve had a comprehensive look at it (or even until you’ve started working on it). On rare occasions, it might just need some trimming or the odd sentence rewriting to make it the best it can be. Sometimes, you make a significant edit near the beginning which means you have to make smaller changes throughout.

Or, it might need ripping apart and totally restructuring.

At that point, you’re basically looking at a full rewrite. Some people view a copyedit as a faster or cheaper alternative to a copywriter producing something from scratch – but it doesn’t always end up being the case. If the piece needs a rewrite, you might even need to hop on the phone to discuss gaps in the content, or the new structure. And the project may go through more rounds of amends as you work together to align your SME’s original vision with your marketing goals. So that time you saved by writing the draft in-house is lost anyway.

An experienced writer and a thorough brief usually yields better results

That doesn’t mean we won’t ever copyedit something for a client. Helping an SME work through their ideas and find the best way to communicate them is actually one of my favourite types of project. But that requires a lot of trust between your SME and your writer – and it’s best achieved without a looming deadline.

So how do you know if it’s worth asking for an edit? There are situations where it makes sense. Maybe you have a flagship content piece that needs a new intro and updated stats, but the product sections are all the same. Or maybe you’re repurposing a blog series into a downloadable ebook and you need to smooth the transitions between the sections.

If you’re unsure, it’s worth talking to your copywriter about what they’d recommend. Often, a comprehensive brief is a far more straightforward way to get copy quickly, if that’s what you need. Or, if your SME has already written something, your writer can use it as source material for a fresh piece.

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

Posted on 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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 brief your copywriter – in briefing documents and on calls

Posted on by The Radix Team

There’s no such thing as the perfect brief.

Of course, your intention is always to provide a well-written and detailed breakdown of the project. And, in an ideal world, the writer will already have a good knowledge of your company’s brand, with an almost telepathic understanding of what’s required.

But real life isn’t like that. Documents are hastily pulled together between meetings, emails are sent without attachments, and video calls will always be awkward.

To get the most out of the briefing process – and get the best work out of your copywriter – you’ll need to master the briefing document and the briefing call.

Briefing documents – six questions to ask yourself

  1. How much background should I give?

Be careful not to drown your writer in details before you get to the subject at hand. Choose the most relevant information, and make sure you’ve covered the most important areas. As a minimum, the writer will need to know:

  • Your product and the industry you work in
  • Your company brand and the tone of voice used in previous communications
  1. What exactly am I asking for, and how many words do I want?

Often, an experienced B2B copywriter will be able to suggest how long your copy should be or whether the information would be better presented in a different format. But this can depend on your relationship, and a level of familiarity with your content that can take time to develop. Until then, be as specific as you’re able.

  1. What do I want the outcome to be?

Tell your writer what targets and requirements the project needs to meet, such as the SEO keywords to include, what KPIs you’re tracking, and whether this is part of a more extensive marketing campaign. Knowing how the content will be used – for instance, if it’ll be sent out by a sales rep or sit behind a landing page – will help the writer decide on the best approach to the copy.

  1. Who are our readers?

If the writer knows who the audience is, they can write copy that keeps the reader engaged. What kind of business are they in, and what job role? What problems keep them up at night? And, most importantly, what do they already know? If the content is pitched at the wrong level, it risks alienating your target audience.

  1. Why are we producing this content now?

In B2B technology copywriting, there are recurring themes such as how much time or money your product will save. But what is happening now that makes this copy relevant to the industry you’re targeting? Knowing the bigger picture is especially important for longer and more in-depth copy.

  1. What’s the call to action?

The writer needs to know where to direct readers for more information after they have read the content. They also need to understand how the piece will be promoted. For example, is it part of a series of blogs?

If you’re thinking, “Isn’t this a bit much?” the honest answer is that it might be. But if any information is missing from the briefing document, you leave the writer to decide what’s essential for the project.

If you’d like to see the briefing document we use to help our clients tell their story, you can find it here.

To ensure nothing gets missed, there’s another part of the process: the briefing call.

Common briefing call challenges, and how to solve them

While the briefing document is all your own work, the briefing call puts the focus on the writer. It’s an opportunity for them to propose the best approach, ask questions, and confirm they’ve understood the brief.

Sounds simple, right? But like all things, obstacles will stand in your way. Here are three of the most common challenges, and a few tips for keeping things on track.

  1. Too many attendees

Nobody wants to be in meetings if they don’t have to. (Well, okay… maybe some people do.) The writer should be able to provide you with a list of questions upfront, so you only need to invite people who have to be there. If the writer has raised technical questions about the product, it can be helpful to have a subject matter expert present to answer them.

(Our team of copywriters allows us to double up on briefing calls when required – giving you input from another writer and us the opportunity to complete informed quality reviews. It also means we can be more reliable if a writer is sick or on holiday.)

  1. The focus of the call drifts

Every content project has a broader context and depends on other marketing projects in varying stages of completion – so it can be easy for the scope to drift. A good writer can steer the conversation and keep things focused.

You can help by keeping an eye out for overly deep technical discussions, side-tracks into internal politics, and other diversions that might take the meeting off the critical path.

  1. Technical issues

Briefing calls are important, and it’s worth taking the time to ensure everyone’s voice can be heard. If a technical issue can’t be solved in a few minutes, it’s often better to reschedule the call.

Put yourself in the writer’s shoes

There’s a delicate balance to maintain when briefing a writer for the first time. The documents you provide should be as full of relevant information as possible without being overwhelming.

Briefing calls are an essential step in the process, but you also need to keep an eye on attendees and agendas to ensure you (and your writer) get the most out of them.

Of course, the communication doesn’t stop there. (At Radix, our team of Account Managers will make sure it’s always seamless.) But with a great briefing document and a solid call, you’ll give your writer the best possible start – and likely get even better content as a result.

Content SOS: what to do when B2B writing goes wrong

Posted on by Steve George

We’ve all been there. You (or one of your clients) have a great idea for a piece of content, it seems simple enough to create, and you drop it in with the most readily-available resource to bring it to life.

Then it happens. Flop. It’s all gone Pete-flippin’-Tong.

Perhaps it’s gone to the wrong writer – someone without the requisite knowledge of the market or subject area to do the best job first time.

Or maybe you’ve just had a stab at writing it yourself and – much like the shelving unit you were sure you could build on your own – it now hangs loosely from the wall, crying out for some expert attention.

That’s usually the point a marketer will turn to an external professional. And as a result, I find myself rescuing clients’ broken projects more often than any of us would probably care to admit.

So if you’re experiencing a content SOS, read on. Here are a few tips I’ve picked up along the way, to help you get things back on track.

#1) Settle in for a long task

One of the most common misconceptions I come across is that rescuing a piece of content is a lot easier than writing it from scratch. Not only is this incorrect, it’s the kind of thinking that can seriously hinder your content rescue operation.

A quick fix is rarely the best one, and solving this issue properly is going to take time. While yes, sometimes large swathes of the existing content may be reusable, it’s important to recognise the unique challenges posed by a project gone wrong.

There’s a higher level of stakeholder expectation than usual, because this has already gone through a failed attempt – even if that failure wasn’t yours personally.

Meeting that expectation takes time, focus, and dedication to turning this tangled mess into the best piece of content it can be. Chances are, it was rushing that got you here in the first place. Doing it again isn’t going to help you get out.

#2) Conduct a full content autopsy

Before you can fix the problems with your content, you need to understand what those problems are.

The you there is very important. Even if your angry stakeholder or bemused boss has a very clear idea of what they think is wrong with the piece, it’s important that you conduct your own analysis of the problems that conspired to cause its demise.

Often, big problems (think ‘this reads horribly’ or ‘you’ve entirely missed the point’) are caused by a series of much smaller, underlying issues with the piece. It’s on you to sniff those things out.

Inversely, one big misconception could be throwing up lots of false problems with the content. In that case, you need to be able to look past what the person giving the feedback has decided is the big problem, and determine where the piece really went off track.

It’s worth spending some time really breaking down where things went awry, so you can resolve all the problems with the piece at once – rather than treating the most prominent symptoms and hoping that cures the disease.

(And if you’re not sure of the best ways to pinpoint what you don’t like about a piece, check out David’s blog post that details 5 tests your B2B copy needs to pass.)

#3) Rebuild your story

Once you’ve identified what the major (and minor) problems are with the piece, you’ll need to start planning out a revised story or structure for it. This process can vary in difficulty depending on how much you’ve had to edit and cut away.

If you’re truly able to say that the issues are isolated to specific sections of the copy, then great – you’ve probably not got much work to do. However, in my experience, the kind of problems that cause total content failure tend to be pretty insidious.

With all of the bad cut away, you’re likely to end up with a bit of a mess of points that, while objectively correct and of value, don’t stand up on their own without a coherent narrative.

You’ve got to rebuild that narrative. You must find the thread that links the copy you’ve identified as salvageable – filling in the gaps as needed once you’ve done so.

#4) Fill in the blanks (and don’t be afraid to do some serious rewriting)

Personally, once I’ve cut out the irrelevant copy and information from a piece like this, I like to approach it as I would a completely fresh project.

The copy left over acts as a brief, giving me the key points I need to hit – and when paired with feedback on what’s missing, forms a full picture of what this piece actually needs to say, do, and look like.

The key here is looking at the previous content as source material rather than copy you need to keep. All too often I’ve seen writers try to crowbar passages from a failed piece into the revised version. Usually, that’s a mistake; while there’s nothing wrong with those passages per se, keeping them forces the writer to approach their new copy in a specific and limited way.

Much like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, a pre-existing passage clearly defines what can and cannot connect to it. Trying to drop pre-loved copy into a reworked piece puts a burden on your new creation, dictating and shaping what you can write around it.

Inevitably, this pulls the copy in a direction. And problematically – because the existing passages have been lifted from a piece that didn’t work – that direction tends to be the exact one you’re trying to get away from.

(If you’d like to learn a bit more about the differences between copyediting and rewriting, my colleague George explored the subject in detail a couple of years ago.)

There is no quick fix

The one thing I’m really trying to pass on through these tips is that fixing a problem piece of content takes three key things: time, care, and attention. It’s as much as – if not more of – a job than writing something from scratch.

Understanding that, and making your peace with it, really is half the battle.

The problem is, when you face a challenge like this, you’re usually up against the clock. Very few marketers factor an allocation for ‘total first draft failure’ into their project timelines, so it’s easy to feel the squeeze when it comes to turning a rewritten or restructured piece around.

Once you understand the value of investing a decent chunk of time into a thorough rework instead of just slapping on a few plasters and hoping for the best, it’s worth selling that idea to others around you so you’ve got the time to do this right.

If you aren’t given the luxury of that time, though, you do have options. You could always hand it off to some experts that have a lot of experience helping businesses and agencies out of situations like this – and are masters of creating great content within tight turnaround times.

Now if only I knew where you could find that…

9 ways to measure B2B content performance (better than bounce rate)

Posted on by Steve George

As B2B copywriters, we all believe in the value of the content we produce. But when our clients need to prove the effectiveness of what we’ve created, all the belief in the world isn’t going to be of much help. They need to measure content performance.

That’s where analytics comes in. Analytics can prove how effective our content is, tell us what’s working and what’s not, and help refine what we do to get better results.

But analytics isn’t a magic wand that you can wave to instantly understand every aspect of content performance. What you learn will ultimately be decided by what you decide to measure. Choose poorly, and you can end up seriously misinterpreting what you customers want from your content – and your business.

To help us understand how best to measure the success and impact of our B2B content, we recently invited 3WhiteHats analytics consultant Jake Kimpton onto the Good Copy Bad Copy podcast.

In fact, Jake spent a good deal longer with us than we could include in the programme – so here’s a roundup of all the tips he shared on using analytics to work out what content works, and what doesn’t.

Bye-bye, bounce rate

According to Jake, there are two big mistakes that a huge number of marketers make when it comes to measuring content success: looking at bounce rates, and obsessing about the average time spent on a page

“Bounce rates in particular are a bit of a trap for marketers”

Firstly, he explains, bounce rates are based on averages, so they don’t give you a clear idea of individual engagement with a given page, which is what we as content creators really want to understand.

Secondly, they assume that a bounce is a bad thing. People look at bounces as deflections, drawing the conclusion that when someone leaves a page, they did so because they didn’t like what they saw. But that’s based on the obviously nonsensical notion that we all stay on websites until we find a piece of content that dissatisfies us – completely ignoring the idea that we might simply leave because we found what we came for.

Jake gave us a great example of this during our interview. “Imagine I’m browsing your website, and I come across a blog I like. I read it myself, I invite a colleague over to my desk to take a look, and I’m totally engaged with it. Then, when I’m done, I close the tab, satisfied with my experience.

“That’s a bounce. It’s an almost perfect content engagement scenario, but it’s read as a bounce.”

And he’s totally right. We perceive bounces as a negative, when really, they may represent the best possible outcomes that our content can drive.

So what should we measure instead? Engagement

The short answer is that we should be measuring the big thing that really matters to us – reader engagement. But you already knew that; it’s why you started looking at average stays on pages in the first place.

The big thing we need to change is how we measure engagement. Jake told us how the team at 3WhiteHats use reasonably simple scripts to measure things like mouse movement and navigation throughout the page to build up a much more reliable picture of who’s really engaged with content. (He assures us it’s easier than it sounds.)

“Ultimately, only you can decide what success looks like for your content” says Jake. “You know what kind of actions you’d like the people reading your content to take afterwards – so often, those are the best things to measure.”

Tracking things as simple as “contact us” links on each page can give you a clear idea of which content is inspiring the right action from your audience. And when paired with detailed information about page navigation habits, you can understand where you’re going wrong if those events are happening less frequently than you’d like.

Eight more ways to measure content performance

During our conversation, Jake provided a lot of practical tips that marketers can use to improve the way they measure content success using Google Analytics. Here are his top eight tips:

  1. Add extra tools to your blogs such as social sharing functions, comment sections and reaction polls that make engagement tangible.
  2. Enable scroll depth monitoring in Google Tag Manager to see how far readers are scrolling through your content before moving on in their journeys.
  3. Use HotJar or a similar tool to heatmap your content pages and see where activity is really happening… and where it’s tailing off.
  4. Make sure you’re adding a suitable number of calls to action in your content so you can clearly see how many people have followed which links for more information.
  5. Track where your newsletter signups have come from so you can determine exactly which piece of content persuaded someone to subscribe to hear more from you.
  6. Keep an eye on your referral traffic to identify when people are actively sharing your content and are genuinely excited about it.
  7. Look at your new vs return user rate for each page so you can gain a better understanding of whether bounces represent dissatisfaction with your content, or if people are simply saving it for later.
  8. Add a data layer for each page that tells Google Analytics what they are so it can better understand when the page is serving its purpose for readers.

Define what ‘good’ looks like – then measure

There’s a common thread between the insights that Jake shared with us: to successfully measure how well our content is performing, we must first define what good performance looks like.

If the ideal outcome of reading a piece of content is that a customer’s problem is solved, a bounce may actually be a sign of great performance. Whatever the action or outcome that you want to drive with your content, there’s a way to measure it. Start with that – not the metrics that are easiest to find.

Interested in learning more? You’ll hear more analytics insights from Jake on episode 67 of Good Copy Bad Copy. And if you want to discuss your own content needs, get in touch with us.

ChatGPT and B2B copywriters: mortal enemies or better together?

Posted on 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.

The B2B Content Audio Blog #13: how to run a B2B messaging workshop

Posted on by John Kerrison

Successful B2B marketing requires everyone pulling in the same direction: sales, marketing, product specialists… everyone.

Which is why you can’t properly market your brand unless there’s alignment around your key messaging.

We’re increasingly asked to run messaging workshops to help our clients nail down a core set of wording they can use across all their external communications, sales collateral, and training. And this audio blog explains how these messaging workshops work, and why they’re so valuable to the business as a whole.

Hit “play” now to learn:

  • Who you should invite to your workshop
  • What to do before, during and afterwards
  • The key components of a successful messaging framework

“Looks like we got ourselves a reader…”

If you’d prefer to read Fiona’s original blog post for yourself, here’s What happens in a B2B messaging workshop?

This is the end of this podcast season, so if you’d like to keep hearing from us, you’ll want Good Copy, Bad Copy: the B2B Copywriting Podcast. (The next episode drops next week, revealing the best B2B content of 2018.)

How to listen

You can download the episode here, or stream it in the player at the top of the page.

Alternatively, you could subscribe to us on iTunes, or use this RSS feed here. You can also find us on Spotify.

Get in touch

Want to hear a second season of this audio blog? Let us know. Email [email protected], tweet at us, or leave an iTunes review.

Credits

Audio editing: Bang and Smash

Theme tune: “Chinny Reckon” by the Nye Bevans

Booking a successful B2B web copy project: a clients’ FAQ

Posted on by John Kerrison

Often, the first really meaningful interaction your customers have with you is through your website. They may have come across you on social media or heard of you through word of mouth, but your website is where they’ll dig in, find the information they need, and start to make a decision on whether they want to get in touch.

That’s why your website copy is so important.

And here at Radix, we’ve seen that reflected in recent years, with four years’ continuous growth in website copy as a proportion of our work.

Where once B2B marketers might have tried to carry out the writing in-house, they’re increasingly turning to professional copywriters like us when it’s time to renew the site. (Whether that’s because their old site wasn’t giving them the results they wanted, or they simply remember what a nightmare the job was last time out, we can’t say.)

For most, running a web copy project will be a fairly rare occurrence – so clients tend to ask us the same (completely understandable) questions:

“What do you need from me to write our web copy?”

There are quite a few bits of information which will make it easier for us to give you an accurate quote and – ultimately – to write your copy the way you want it. And we can get that knowledge from you in a number of different ways.

In the past, we’ve held immersive workshops in clients’ offices, or a series of calls with heads of departments to ensure we glean exactly what it is they need their website to do, what information each individual page needs to contain, and how the overall feel of the site needs to come across.

But generally, we’ll be looking for:

1. A proposed sitemap, if you have one

A sitemap makes it much easier for us to identify what your needs are and provide an accurate quote. (If you have a wireframe or preliminary design too, so much the better, as we can get a feel for how much copy you’ll need on each page).

2. A sense of your audience, and their buying process

It’s also great if we know exactly who your web visitors are, and where they tend to arrive from. For example, a curious visitor with little knowledge about the finer details of your industry is going to need different information than a seasoned industry expert. Also, how much do they already know about you? Will they be turning up fresh from Google (and how much is search ranking a priority), or are they following up to confirm you’re credible, after a different initial point of contact?

3. How your brand should sound

The tone and voice of the various areas of your website – and your overall brand – are very important.

Your voice needs to be consistent, as a representation of the personality of your brand. But we tailor the tone to your audience’s needs as they interact with the site. Even for the same visitor, the tone you use for a cheery greeting might be completely inappropriate for an error message.

(Though as our colleague Katy pointed out, even Microsoft can get that one wrong.)

So as we go along, it helps us to understand the context of each page – why somebody would read it, and how they’re likely to feel about that.

4. What each page needs to say

Perhaps the most obvious part – but, potentially, the most time-consuming. Because we need to know all the information you want on every page of your site – and which parts of that information are most important to your audience.

Of course, if you have an existing page of content to point us at, that’s somewhat easier. But even then, it’s helpful to have some guidance: what’s working for you, what’s not, and what’s new. You’re refreshing the site for a reason, after all.

5. Some idea of your SEO requirements

If you’d like the site to perform well on Google, it’ll be useful to have some kind of keyword strategy and/or research, so we can make sure each page aligns with what your audience are looking for, using the same language as they will. We’ll talk more about this in a bit.

“What if I don’t know about the voice and tone I want to adopt?”

Lots of brands already have extensive brand usage guidelines when they come to us – and some of them are even useful. But if you don’t, there’s no need to worry: as experienced copywriters, tone and voice are our marmite and toast.

Broadly, there are two approaches we can take. We can chat about your brand, your existing copy and what you do and don’t like, then approximate something for you. Or we can conduct a proper voice and tone workshop, and give you a short, usable document with some rules, suggestions, hints and examples.

(The former is OK if we’re the only ones writing for you; if you have writers in-house too, the guide is a good idea, because it can help you to stay consistent.)

“What’s the best stage to bring a copywriter into my web project?”

Most of our clients come to us with a plan for their site, normally devised between them and their web developer, and ask us to populate the pages. That makes it easy for us to give you an accurate quote and delivery schedule.

However, we’re open to other ways of working too. So, if you’d like our input on how many pages we think you should have and what should go on each one then we’re more than happy to put our experience to good use.

Likewise, some people like to create the copy first, and the design later. That’s fine by us.

“Do you write pages that are short/long/scrolling/really long/parallax/mobile/really, really long?”

The short answer is yes. Whatever kind of web page you want (so long as it contains words).

There’s been something of a cultural shift in web design over the last few years which has seen a rise in more mobile-friendly, scrolling websites. These tend to have smaller chunks of copy in panels scattered across the length of the page, whereas a traditional website will have tabs at the top of the page and longer sections of copy.

So alongside the traditional “250-words, title, copy and some bullet points” kind of web page, our price list also includes options to buy your web copy by the chunk. So we can build a quote for whatever kind of page you – and your web designer – can dream up.

“Do you do web design?”

Nope. We’re strictly words-only.

BUT we do often work in tandem with freelance designers and web developers, agencies, and in-house experts. We’re happy to collaborate in this way if you think it would add to the process, and may even be able to recommend someone if that would help.

“What’s your approach to SEO?”

Ah. We could (and possibly should) write a whole blog post about this. But in short…

We’re not search engine specialists, but we act on guidance SEO experts provide – like keyword recommendations and research. If one of your site’s objectives is to attract search engine traffic, it’s a good idea to work with an SEO consultant (as well as – not instead of – your copywriter, of course).

Most of the copy on your website is aimed at people. Some of the rest is primarily there to please search engine robots. And some parts (like your page title) is a mixture of the two.

Usually, we’ll work on the people-facing parts of your copy (on-page body text, meta description), incorporating keyword recommendations as appropriate, and leave the search engine-facing bits to the experts. Where the copy is dual-purpose (titles, headers, alt text), we tend to collaborate – generally, we’ll suggest something, then recommend you have your SEO team tweak it as appropriate.

We find it’s a good balance, because refinements to Google’s algorithm improved its ability to prioritise quality content, satisfying at the intent behind each search – there are fewer tricks and shortcuts. We use the keyword research to deduce your web visitor’s intent, then – without focusing too much on the technicalities – simply write the best page we can.

It seems to work well – and we’re regularly recommended for website projects by SEO agencies, so they must be happy too.

“Who else have you written web copy for?”

We’ve had the pleasure of writing web copy for dozens of B2B, technology and industrial brands – including some of the world’s largest organisations.

Sometimes, that work is confidential (we’re happy to namedrop, but only in private) – but to give you a flavour, a few sites we are allowed to tell you about include:

Aon Employee Benefits

VoxGen – conversational software and services

Tectrade – cloud services and consultancy

TomTom – fleet tracking technology

The Daniel Group – customer feedback for industry

Penzance Dry Dock – industrial and marine operations

“How much will my new web copy cost?”

Once, copywriters could quote a flat, per-page price for web copy. But that was when pages were all fairly standard. These days, a page could be anything from a 30-word text panel and a couple of buttons to a 1000-word Homerian epic in parallax form.

That’s why our Senior Account Managers will work hard to define the exact scope of the copy you want, and build you an accurate quote in advance.

But that’s not to say we can’t give you a good, ballpark idea before your sitemap is finalised. All the components we use to build our quotes – various sizes of panels and pages – are included in our price list, so it’s easy enough to get a thumbnail picture if you know the rough dimensions of the site.

If you’d like a copy of the price list, do get in touch.

“How much time will I need?”               

If history is any guide, significantly more than you’ve allowed so far. There’s something about web projects (the temptation to make last-minute additions to the site, maybe) which means they never seem to run to schedule.

But whatever’s delaying things, it won’t be the copy. We’ll give you a firm schedule alongside your quote, and we’ll stick to it.

Obviously, that schedule will depend on the scale of the site, and the amount of input we need from you and your stakeholders. But given a little advance notice, we’ve been known to take smaller sites from fact-find conversation to signed-off copy within a matter of days.

Got any more questions? Our Account Management team are here to talk you through the process. Please drop us a line…