Content Marketing Archives - Page 2 of 11

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

4 places to look for inspired B2B content ideas

Posted on September 12, 2023November 28, 2024 by The Radix Team

It’s Friday, somewhere around 2 pm. You hear the Zoom ringtone. It’s your boss calling. “Quick, I need you to whip up some new content ideas – original ones that are going to get people excited about this new product. And have them on my desk by the end of play.”

You think: “New content ideas that are going to appeal to our audience’s interests, provide a solution to their challenges, keep them engaged, and I’ve got less than a day to come up with them?”

It’s a challenging brief – and on any other day, you’d go to an experienced B2B copywriter to help. But in this case, there’s no time.

Even worse, you already used your best ideas in a previous campaign, and the cogs in your brain have seized up after a long week. Inspiration has well and truly left the building.

So, what do you do? How do you find the spark again? Where is inspiration hiding? Here’s where to look.

1. AnswerThePublic will tell you what your audience is thinking

AnswerThePublic is a search listening tool for market and customer insights that pays attention to autocomplete data from search engines. It provides a direct line to what your customers (and admittedly, everyone else) are thinking.

Use it to track trends, and generate content ideas that reflect what people might want to know based on what they’re already searching.

2. Your team are the experts – make the most of their insights

If you want to produce more targeted content that will speak to your specific market, you need to look closer to home. As far as we know, Google processes at least 2 trillion searches a year. That’s around 3.8 million searches every hour. But these searches won’t all come from current or potential customers, or from folks with a robust understanding of the hot topics in your industry.

Your team are experts about your products and services, the industry, and current trends – and they might have ideas of their own to contribute. Your salespeople, in particular, are talking to customers all the time, determining their interests and challenges. So get in touch with your team and use their expertise to fuel your creativity.

3. See what generative AI has got to say

We’ve already investigated if generative AI can write like a B2B copywriter (spoiler alert: not quite yet), but how does it fare at generating content ideas?

With a well-thought-out prompt, AI solutions like ChatGPT can churn out a lot of ideas in seconds. But these chatbots are designed to borrow and collate ideas from other sources, which means they’re unable to produce unique ideas. (Plus, you don’t know how many other marketers are asking for the same thing and receiving very similar results to you.)

It’s not all bad news. The AI-generated content ideas might just be the thing to get your cogs turning again, and give you a starting point where you can add your own personal touches.

4. Don’t do anything at all – not a single thing

Really, I mean it. I’ve stolen the idea from Andrew Boulton, freelance copywriter, lecturer and brand language consultant. In Andrew’s list of 99 ways to have more fun as a copywriter (and possibly get a bit better at it), he says:

“Let yourself be idle – your brain will thank you, and reward you.”
“Treat your imagination like a puppy – feed it, walk it, let it snooze, clean up its poop, treasure it always.”
“Don’t type a thing until the words are bursting out of you.”

These ideas might feel counterproductive, but sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself and your brain is just to take a break. You never know what ideas might come to you when you’re not even trying.

Okay, let’s replay the scene…

It’s Friday, somewhere around 2 pm. You’re full of excitement for the weekend when you hear the Zoom ringtone. It’s your boss calling. “Quick, I need you to whip up some new content ideas – original ones that are going to get people excited about this new product. And have them on my desk by the end of play.”

You think: “New content ideas that are going to appeal to our audience’s interests, provide a solution to their challenges, and keep them interested? I know exactly where to start.”

And, hey, if there’s a twist of fate and the deadline gets pushed, leave it up to the experts.

How to commission B2B tech thought leadership – a guide

Posted on August 29, 2023October 7, 2025 by The Radix Team

Life can be tough for a B2B marketer – especially when you get a brief to write a thought leadership article for your CEO about something as vague and ill-defined as “the role of technology in sustainability”.

The first thing you do is probably call your friendly neighbourhood B2B content writer. It’s no secret that thought leadership content is mostly ghostwritten by a copywriter – hopefully, based on an interview with the subject matter expert (SME).

But when you’re provided with a scant brief like this one, how do you set your writer up for success so they can write with authority, deliver real insight, and win you awareness, credibility, and traffic?

Let me help you out.

Here is my guide to commissioning outstanding thought leadership writing that gets read, remembered, and shared. (It doesn’t matter what content type you’re commissioning; from a blog to a white paper, it’s the same approach.)

Step 1: Propose ideas people haven’t thought about yet

“Know your audience” is the golden rule of marketing. Because relevant content gets read. While this is true for most forms of B2B marketing – where you find out what questions your readers are asking and answer them with content that makes their job easier – thought leadership is a bit of an anomaly.

B2B technology thought leadership isn’t usually so closely linked to client questions; it’s more about proposing new ideas people have yet to think about.

That means the challenge when writing B2B thought leadership content is making sure what you say is relevant and interesting to your target reader, and speaks to a need they can see, even if they have yet to think of the question they need to ask.

Step 2: Look around you – the unique angle is probably already there

Nobody likes a copycat. By contrast, original content gets remembered, which is why true thought leadership offers new perspectives for people in your industry.

This may well include a strong opinion that sparks debate. (Thought leaders don’t please everyone.) But not every piece needs to be radical. You can simply present a well-known concept in a different way – just make sure it’s a truly unique take.

And you shouldn’t have to go far to find that fresh angle. It’s likely you’re already sitting on a wealth of knowledge across SMEs in your business. Some of these people might even be ready-made thought leaders. All they need is your help to convey their distinctive viewpoint.

Finding a unique angle will help your piece avoid the fate of so much content that’s wrongly passed off as B2B thought leadership, but makes little impact.

Step 3: Build a detailed brief

Before commissioning a thought leadership piece, you’ll need to ensure your copywriter has a clear view of your sector, brand, and audience. They should be familiar with your target readers’ challenges, clearly explain the unique idea, and understand why it’s important to the people in that industry.

This means you’ll need a watertight brief, an experienced writer in your sector, or – ideally – both.

This will put your writer in the best position to have a valuable conversation with your SME and ask the right questions to clarify their thoughts.

To improve the process further – and depending on how well-developed the angle is – you could ask your writer to sketch out an outline, write some questions, and find some third-party data to support your SME’s brave new vision.

Ask your copywriter to share these with you and your SME ahead of the next stage.

Step 4: Choose a writer that’s experienced in interviewing

Interviewing is the most crucial part of the process as it helps you get the best content. When I worked in B2B journalism, the strongest stories always came from speaking directly to SMEs.

But not all writers have the experience or skills to interview SMEs. At Radix, we’re fortunate to be trained in interviewing experts as a core part of our skillsets. Here are a few of the areas we feel are most important:

If there’s anything you’re not sure of, don’t be afraid to ask as this will help you translate the interviewee’s expertise into compelling content.
Ask for real-world examples to bring the idea to life as this will make it much easier and more pleasant for your audience.
Look for structures and narratives in what the person is telling you to help construct the piece, then summarise at the end of the interview.

One of our favourite things is watching the expert relax after we’ve asked some questions, because this means they were absolutely the right questions, and we know it’s going to be a good thought leadership piece.

Step 5: Double-check the angle (and make use of the tangents)

Asking questions is one thing. Articulating the answers and finding the best angle is another. To do this, your copywriter must be agile when interviewing and ruthless when writing.

This is where you will both be rewarded for creating an outline (in Step 3) as it gives your writer the chance to validate with you where they feel the best points are and which parts of the conversation should go in the main piece.

Of course, things can change during an interview, so your writer should let you know if the idea morphed and if the SME agreed to it. Also, your copywriter might think of ways to turn peripheral ideas that came up into other valuable content pieces.

This is what we do every day at Radix: gather and untangle the often-tangential thoughts of people who are too busy to do so. Then we organise, condense, and structure them into a captivating narrative, suggesting extra content where the opportunities present themselves.

Step 6: Create something outstanding

Thought leadership content can transform industries by challenging accepted beliefs, predicting new trends, or expressing surprising new visions. True thought leaders can provide valuable insights by commenting on industry developments or educating readers about complex topics.

But it will only stand out if the writing is superb.

So, my final piece of advice is to select your writer carefully. Look for an exceptional copywriter who understands B2B technology markets and all the other elements that make a piece of writing outstanding, such as accuracy, clarity, authority, empathy, and wizardry.

Extraordinary writing will make your SME’s piece stand out. (This point is even more important in B2B tech content due to the, sometimes… ahem, dry subjects.)

Putting thoughts into words

If you’re finding it hard to put your client’s thoughts into words and help them lead an industry, here’s some related Radix content on this subject. Or you can talk to our team about it.

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!

Cast your vote: What is the best B2B content ever?

Posted on July 14, 2023October 7, 2025 by The Radix Team

If you had to choose one piece of B2B content as your all-time favourite – the one that changed the game, generated a truckload of revenue, or has generally lived rent-free in your head since you saw it – what would you choose?

That’s the challenge we’ve set ourselves to mark our podcast‘s 10th birthday. No less a question than “What is the best piece of B2B content ever?”

Below, you’ll find 19 contenders: the best B2B blogs, podcasts, videos, long-form content, and wildcard entries. Each one has been hand-picked by a panel of expert judges, from a longlist of nominations by our listeners and the wider B2B content community. The winner of each category will go through to the grand final. (Voting has now closed, and we’ll reveal the results on our next podcast.)

Get ready to be inspired.

Category 1: Best B2B Blog Post

Where else could we start? The B2B blog post is such a content marketing workhorse, it was inevitable it’d need a whole category to itself.

B2B blogs have undergone a transformation in recent years – from cheap SEO filler to detailed, strategic content pieces punching well above their weight – and our shortlisted contenders showcase what’s possible.

We’re extremely grateful to Fujitsu’s Andrea Clatworthy and Robyn Collinge of WeTransfer, for helping our Head of Copy Matt and Senior Copywriter George find four favourites among an extremely strong list of nominees.

A) Andy Raskin: The Greatest Sales Deck I’ve Ever Seen

Nominated by Ian Truscott: “This is probably the post I’ve re-read the most. I think it’s a great structure, not just for B2B sales presentations but B2B writing.”

George agrees: “There’s just enough flavour in the intro to Andy’s blog to pull the reader in, but without overstaying its welcome. Then it goes straight into concise, helpful tips on how to stand out in a crowded market. More than guidance on delivering a great sales deck, I think it offers some of the better advice on B2B storytelling I’ve seen in a while, full stop.”

B) Assure Hedge: The Chicken McNugget’s Secret Ingredient is Not What You Think

Voted the best B2B content of 2021 by our podcast listeners, this unexpected story of fast food, farming, and finance was a hit with our panelists.

Andrea says: “Fab, this. Quite long but a great story which I enjoyed reading.”

Robyn agrees: “I bloody love a metaphor to help me understand complex things.”

C) Tom Roach: The Wrong and the Short of it

Nominated by David van Schaick: “It’s not specifically B2B and best ever would be a big claim but for a mental model of marketing it’s useful and durable.”

No need to worry, David; our panel agreed with you that this blog is well worth its place on the shortlist. Andrea says: “Very good indeed. It’s a bit long but I was engrossed so didn’t really notice. Excellent use of references.”

(By the way, if you’re wondering where you’ve heard of Tom Roach before, he’s that genius who used ChatGPT to rule out bland positioning ideas.)

D) Velocity Partners: A stakeholder through the heart.

Nominated as a “long time favorite” by Janine Pares. There was some debate among our judges about whether this even counts as a blog (it may have begun life as one by Doug Kessler, we think?) but ultimately, the quality and sheer brutal honesty won out. This had to make the shortlist.

Andrea says: “Terrific topic. Unsure about the format, to be honest, but it did enable clear emphasis points. It also included practical steps to take.”

Other blogs commended by our panel:

Beam: How to Write a B2B Blog Intro That Isn’t Boring AF
Hank Barnes/Gartner: The Tyranny of More

Category 2: Best B2B Podcast

This category was a bit of a surprise, but as soon as we asked for your favourite-ever content, the nominations for podcasts started flooding in. People seem fiercely loyal to their favourite shows (which, after all, is kind of the point).

By and large, the nominees seem to be podcasts about B2B marketing, rather than being produced for B2B marketing purposes, and as such the panel found them a little tricky to separate – with one or two exceptions. We therefore have a shortlist of four, rather than three.

Thanks to our wonderful judges in this catgeory: Velocity Partners’ Doug Kessler, Messaging and Content Consultant Irene Triendl, and Rockee.io founder Matt Laybourn.

E) Adobe: Audio White Papers for Marketing

OK, let’s get the headline out of the way: Adobe got this narrated by Malcolm freaking McDowell.

It was nominated by Jason Miller, who said: “Adobe’s groundbreaking podcast series is a tour de force in the blending of artistry and business acumen. By transforming traditional white papers into captivating auditory masterpieces, Adobe turns the daily commute into a theatrical learning experience. With McDowell’s enchanting voice, this ingenious fusion of entertainment and insightful data revolutionizes B2B content, providing an engaging and immersive educational journey.”

Irene concurs: “What a great idea to present a white paper as audio content; it really shows empathy with your audience, who are probably time-poor decision makers with who are traveling a lot. So if you want them to consume your content, make it easy for them to do that. But giving them audio content that is read by a well known actor? That is something I haven’t seen before.”

F) …Gasp!: Call to Action

Nominated by fractional CMO Graeme Fraser, this describes itself as “The go-to podcast for anyone trying to make sense of the world of Marketing, Business and beyond.”

Doug says: “Fun, sweary and promoted with a fun voice. Good guest list and they package it as a show, with segments like Quick-Fire Questions and First Ever Job. Easy to navigate with time stamps and each guest’s reading list as an extra.”

G) Help Scout with Jay Acunzo: Against the Grain

This collaboration resulted in a three-part docuseries, telling the stories of values-driven businesses. You can watch, or just listen; your choice.

Doug says: “Jay Acunzo has produced some fantastic podcasts – for clients and for his own business. His own series, Unthinkable, is excellent, but the Help Scout series is maybe more suitable for a B2B content shortlist.”

H) Peep Laja: How to Win

This weekly B2B strategy podcast features founders and business leaders talking about the lessons they’ve learned building successful companies in saturated markets.

Matt says: “It’s my go-to source to hear how successful growth marketers deploy different tactics to grow and improve their business. The format dives deep on the problem either their product had, or the marketing team had – and the solution they came up with. Peep is a charismatic presenter, getting the very best from his guests. Each podcast acts as a small case study in how the best in the business achieved what they have. I always learn something.”

Other podcasts commended by our panel:

Cactus: Agencyphonics
Louis Grenier: Everyone Hates Marketers
Jon Evans: Uncensored CMO
Matthew Sweezey: The Electronic Propaganda Society

Category 3: Best Long-form B2B Content

As a company completely dedicated to B2B content writing, this category is understandably close to our hearts.

Holding your reader’s attention over an extended piece doesn’t just take great copywriting. It’s also an exercise in planning, outlining, structure, and – frequently – collaboration with designers. But when you get it right, there’s an unmatched opportunity to deliver real, lasting value to your audience. However, as these three examples show, the end result can look very different.

(Spoiler alert: there’s not a single ebook or white paper among the finalists. Go figure…)

Particular thanks to Serendiputus founder Maureen Blandford, and brand-‘n’-content rockstar Jason Miller, for ploughing through so many words to help our Senior Copywriter Katy shortlist the best long-form nominees.

I) ahrefs: The Beginner’s Guide to SEO

Nominated by Matt Laybourn, who says: “An incredibly well-structured guide, taking you through SEO essentials. The experience is flawless, with brilliant UX and social proof, which oozes subject matter authority. I trust this company explicitly – from just one article.”

Katy agrees: “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.”

J) maxon motor: Product catalogue

Could anything say “old-school B2B” more clearly than a 546-page electric motor catalogue?

But wait; this weighty document comes with a strategic twist. Before you get near any product specs, there’s an in-depth guide for design engineers, packed with the schematics, graphs, and equations you need to remember if you only specify a motor once in a while. It’s not just a sales document, it’s a reference book – and it’s helped to reposition maxon’s whole brand. Which is why David nominated it for our B2B content hall of fame.

(What is it with companies in this category eschewing capital letters, though?)

Katy says: “David’ll be happy. It’d be very easy for a catalogue (especially one of this obscene size) to be the driest, salesiest document in existence, but it’s not. By positioning it as a ‘selection guide’ and adding heaps of supporting content, the catalogue pulling double duty as a product list and an in-depth exploration of maxon’s expertise. The diagrams are excellent, even though I don’t understand any of them, and they add a bunch of value for the engineers that wrestle with this tome.”

K) Velocity Partners: The search for meaning in B2B marketing

Nominated by MomoHomes’ Jeff Williams, this second entry from the pen (well, keyboard) of Doug Kessler will resonate with any of us who didn’t grow up dreaming of being a B2B marketer. Which, if we’re honest, is all of us.

And, what’s more, it’s a goshdarn Slideshare, so get that clicking finger ready.

Katy says: “An absolute classic. I’ve definitely had this dilemma at various points in my career, and Doug does a great job of reassuring us that it’s a completely normal dilemma to have. His reasons are personal, but they’re also relatable, and tied to good advice for how to make sure your career matters to you. (I believe this was also a pretty novel format when it launched.)”

Other long-form B2B content our panel commended:

Cognizant: After the Virus

Category 4: Best B2B Video Ad

Can an advert be content? It’s a moot point. When you ask people to cite examples of creativity and emotion in B2B content, videos are often the first things they’ll cite. There’s something about the way a snappy video can illustrate or reframe a workplace reality that just… sticks.

Often, they’ll make us snigger at our own jobs – and who doesn’t need that in their workplace?

Huge thanks to Joel Harrison of B2B Marketing, and Basware’s Katie Colbourne, for helping our Head of Development, Kieran, to pick four standout contenders.

L) Adobe Marketing Cloud: Click, Baby, Click

In truth, any number of Adobe videos could have made this shortlist, but ultimately this was the one nominated by Radix’s own Head of Copy, Matt Godfrey, and for good reason.

Matt says: “After 15 years writing about B2B tech, this is still the piece I wish I’d written. A simple value prop, with a serious message for a business leadership audience, but played for laughs with cinematic flair.”

The judges agreed. Kieran adds: “Why do you need analytics? Adobe’s video ad uses an entertainingly exaggerated scenario to make a pretty compelling case. It’s a single, strong idea, executed beautifully, as the action zooms from offices spaces to oceans and forests, before settling into a family’s living room for its final, rug-pull twist. All in sixty seconds flat. It’s just very neat work.”

M) GE: Datalandia – Devamping

(Apologies if you have to sign in for this one; it’s hard to find. Very much worth the effort, though.)

Nominated by Bluefruit Software’s Emily King, this entry may or may not have provoked snort-laughter in the office when we managed to track it down.

Kieran says: “GE wanted to communicate the myriad of use cases made possible by its ‘Industrial Internet’. So, it worked with Mekanism to create a series of fictional stories, set in a fictional town, whose residents use their interconnected machines to see off mega storms, vampires, and other classic blockbuster antagonists. The resulting video ads are slick and playful, but more than anything, they’re a testament to storytelling’s ability to make even the most protean technologies marketable.”

Katie adds: “Quite simple in its format but clever in the way it used the model. I also liked that it told a story and had a clear close.”

N) Iron Mountain: Iron Mountain protects your backup tapes
All our judges loved this short video, nominated by Rishi Dastidar, Senior Writer at venturethree.

Rishi says: “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.”

Katie agrees: “This engaged me quite a bit as it used real-life examples of things we all do and are guilty of – so had that emotive / connection element. It was also fast paced, and it was funny from the off.”

Kieran adds: “Iron Mountain took the old faithful, ‘here’s a problem you haven’t thought about; here’s the solution you need’ formula, and dressed it up delightfully – with papercraft visuals, whimsical hyperbole, a mildly remonstrative tone. The result is a clear, snappy, persuasive video ad. (Though if I were to give them my backup tapes, and they didn’t protect them with a dragon… well, let’s hope their lawyers are all over the Trade Descriptions Act.)”

O) Volvo Trucks: The Epic Split

You know the one: Jean-Claude Van Damme. Two massive trucks, reversing. Sunrise. Oh, and lots and lots of Enya. It’s the B2B video with 117 million views.

Doug Kessler, who nominated this, wrote a whole blog about it, saying “If anyone EVER says it’s okay for B2B to aim low, show them this ad (then hit them on the head with, maybe a rolled up newspaper or stapler or something).”

Want to watch it again? Of course you do.

Other B2B video content commended by our panel:

Lenovo: Metal Review

Category 5: Wildcards and Special B2B Content

Some of your nominations didn’t fit neatly into any category – so we created a new one. Some of them are groundbreaking and unusual, others just refuse to be pigeonholed. But all of them show what’s possible when you look beyond established B2B content formats and conventions, and think about what your audience will find useful, interesting, engaging, or just plain fun.

Thanks, Rishi, for helping our Senior Copywriter Steve take a walk on the wild side.

P) Drawbotics: Your Favorite TV Shows Brought To Life With Amazing 3D Floor Plans

Ever wondered what it’d be like to work at Dunder Mifflin, Pearson Hardman, or the Department of Parks and Recreation of the city of Pawnee?

Our Katy’s nomination for the B2B Content Hall of Fame can show you exactly. Because Drawbotics has demonstrated its 3D modelling capabilities by recreating the office environments from your favourite TV shows.

Rishi says: “This is marvellous. What a brilliant way to show off the qualities of the product, while being engaging and entertaining. It’s remembered that key thing at the heart of B2B marketing – we’re all humans too. It all combines into something engaging, funny, and wonderful.”

Q) Gartner: Magic Quadrant

Never one to willingly think inside the box, Harendra Kapur nominated the entire idea of the Gartner Magic Quadrant. It has, he rightly points out, spawned a multimillion-dollar business (and more than a few imitators), pretty much on its own.

Steve agrees: “Gartner’s Magic Quadrants are incredibly simple and clear to understand, which is a huge achievement given the breadth and depth of research that goes into creating them. To provide a clear view of the competitive landscape across some of the most dynamic technology markets in a single chart is a huge achievement. No matter your pedigree in tech (or in market research), you see a Magic Quadrant and you just get it. There’s good reason why they’ve become such a widely cited staple across the B2B tech industry, and beyond.”

R) Hectare Agritech: Tudder

Basically, it’s Tinder for cows. And our podcast listeners saw fit to vote it the best B2B content of 2019. Yes, really.

Rishi says it’s actually well worth its place on our shortlist: “I love the wit here. It’s a very simple idea, but it’s been executed really well and that cross-pollination really does cut through and raises a smile.”

S) Turtl: Kill the PDF (document, protest, and notebook)

Always like to see fun #guerillamarketing especially in the B2B world. Here are @turtl outside the front of #inciteB2B event ‘campaigning’ for the death of the pdf. Not sure pdfs are dead just yet but who knows… @MarketingB2B #turtl #killthepdf pic.twitter.com/RJ70HA7Hhz

— moreish marketing (@moreishmkting) July 9, 2019

When Turtl decided to pick a fight with one of marketing’s most used content formats, they really went all out. Not just a dedicated website, video, and online story book. Oh no. They mounted a whole online hate campaign, and started picketing marketing events.

Possibly the cutest part was publishing a hardback book called “The Complete Guide to PDF Analytics” which is… well, you can guess the punchline.

Voting has now closed!

We’ve tallied up all the votes on a big abacus, and we’ll reveal the results soon.

If you want to be kept updated about the result, listen out for our podcast or sign up for our newsletter.

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.

B2BQ&A 110: How can you find the right SEO keywords for niche B2B content?

Posted on March 8, 2023November 28, 2024 by The Radix Team

Researching keywords is relatively easy in a popular B2C market – where data is plentiful and vocabulary is simple. But how do you find search intent in the rarefied world of B2B tech? That’s what Emily King from Bluefruit Software wants to know:

“It’s one thing to know what you call your product or service, but it’s another to know what your potential audience is actually using in their searches. So how do you find this out?”

Such an important question needs a very special guest… so we went straight to the top: Andy Crestodina from Orbit Media. Andy literally wrote the book on SEO and content marketing, and we’re thrilled to have him on the podcast.

And we don’t just have Andy’s sage advice for you. In this month’s episode, we’re joined by guest co-host Ruth Connor, Content Marketing Specialist at B2B Marketing and Propolis. You’ll also hear a copywriting pro tip from UX writer Fiorella Rizzà, and there’s news of an exciting challenge to mark the 10th anniversary of this podcast.

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

Want to find the right keywords for B2B tech? Here are Andy’s five tips:

1. Embrace the B2B niche

Writing for smaller companies that focus on niche B2B tech has opportunities in search that some of the bigger companies might miss.

Andy explains: “If you don’t have super-high domain authority, that’s a benefit because it pushes you towards key phrases that are less popular – but much more targeted. The niche is where the fun is: you can find phrases that a small number of people are searching for, but they’re thrilled when they find you. The click-through and conversion rates are high. It’s an enormous opportunity.

2. Prioritise the bottom of the funnel

Andy recommends targeting the key phrases that indicate strong commercial or transaction intent – the person who has their wallet out, but just needs a bit of help.

“Start by optimising your homepage,” he advises. “That’s the page for which you have the best chance of ranking. Next, optimise your service pages. Those pages have strong intent; the visitor is looking for help – they need a service or a product.”

3. Empathy is the ultimate search marketing skill

Andy suggests the ultimate source of keywords is your own audience.

“If you get asked the same question two or three times you should be answering that question in your content,” he says. “We listen out for the topics that our audience really, really cares about. We put plans in place to publish on those topics. And then, as we’re publishing, we look for keyword opportunities.”

4. Target key phrases for which the best answer is very long and detailed

The number of searches for which the click-through rate is zero keeps growing because Google’s Featured Snippets are so informative.

According to Andy: “We should all be looking for opportunities to write content that is keyword focused, but also where the answer to the question is deep and long with details.”

5. Don’t just rank high; be interesting

The days of fooling search engines with low-quality filler content are long gone. “You’re not doing SEO if you’re not sincerely trying to make one of the top 10 pages on the internet,” Andy proposes. “You have no right to rank if you made another medium-quality piece.”

“But also, as you do this, don’t forget to inject your own voice; say something that’s provocative or counterintuitive. Put people into your articles and include contributor quotes from people with interesting ideas.”

Here’s what you can expect in this episode…

1:59 – Ruth Connor explains why the BBC is a role model for content atomisation

5:11 – David McGuire poses Emily King’s question to Andy Crestodina

13:54 – Ruth and David discuss personas and the importance of talking to customers

23:49 – UX writer Fiorelli Rizzà shares a copywriting pro tip

24:15 – David McGuire announces a new challenge to mark our 10^th anniversary

Got a question? We’ll find the answer.

To get your burning B2B content questions answered, just 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 LinkedIn, or 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

Thank you, Andy Crestodina, for sharing so much SEO wisdom.
Cheers also to Fiorella Rizzà for this month’s copywriting pro tip.
And of course thanks to to Ruth Connor – our excellent guest co-host.

Podcast editing and music by Bang and Smash.

Transcript: B2BQ&A 110 – How can you find the right SEO keywords for niche B2B content?

Emily King: It’s one thing to know what you call your product or service, but it’s another to know what your potential audience is actually using in their searches. So how do you find this out?

Ruth Connor: That’s a brilliant question. Let’s ask Andy Crestodina from Orbit Media.

David McGuire: Hello listener, and welcome back to B2BQ&A, the podcast where we go in search of an answer to your question about B2B content writing. We’re back for a new season, and this is Episode 110.

Ruth: Wow, Episode 110. That feels pretty special.

David: 10 years.

Ruth: That’s incredible. That’s incredible. Well, in a few moments, we’re gonna hear from Andy Crestodina, the CMO and co-founder of Orbit Media studios, and all-round B2B SEO colossus. He’ll take a stab at answering this episode’s question: “Just how can you find the right keywords when you’re working in a super geeky B2B niche?” Or nitch as Americans would say.

David: They do, they do.

Ruth: Plus we’ll hear a copywriting pro tip from Content Designer and UX writer Fiorella Rizzà and we’ll reveal details of a new search to find the best B2B content of all time.

David: Before all that though: Who are we? Well, my name is David McGuire. I’m Creative Director at Radix Communications, a B2B writing agency. And our guest co-host for this episode, I’m delighted to say, is a consultant, B2B tech marketing director, and the resident content marketing expert and trainer for B2B Marketing and Propolis. It’s Ruth Connor! Ruth, welcome.

Ruth: Thank you very much, David, I’m really delighted to be here.

David: As a content marketing expert yourself, where do you find inspiration for content marketing?

Ruth: That’s a great question. And this is something I used to talk a lot about with my team. And we’d always look to actually the BBC and shows like Strictly Come Dancing, Line of Duty, and, more recently, Happy Valley. And that’s because I think the team at the Beeb do a great job of something I’m really passionate about when it comes to content marketing – which is recycling, reusing, and repurposing.

So, taking that big piece of hero content and turning it into loads of different spin-off pieces of content. And I think they do a great job in some of those shows. I think you know you’ve kind of cracked the content marketing nutshell when you find people producing their own content because they’re so passionate about those shows. And I think the last few weeks on social media and Happy Valley just shows the strength of the sentiment for those shows.

David: Wow. So if you’re in search of B2B marketing inspiration for your content, look to Happy Valley, look to Strictly and the way that they atomise things. That’s an amazing thought to start us off on this episode.

Before we get on to answering this episode’s question, though, Ruth, would you mind performing your first official duty as co-host, and telling the listener how they can get in touch with us?

Ruth: I’d love to David. Listener, if you have any comments or suggestions you can find Radix on LinkedIn (radix-communications-ltd) 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 is perfect. Thank you so much.

Ruth: Now it’s time for the B2BQ&A for this episode. And our question comes from a very familiar voice.

Emily: Hi, B2BQ&A. This is Emily King from Bluefruit Software. I just had a question about how to effectively find out which keywords your target audience is using in their searches.

So, it’s one thing to know what you call your product or service, but it’s another to know what your potential audience is actually calling it and what they’re using in their searches. So, how do you find this out?

David: How lovely to hear from you again, Emily. Listener, in case you didn’t know, Emily actually started this podcast almost exactly 10 years ago. And for that, we’re endlessly grateful.

But anyway, let’s get on with Emily’s question, which speaks to a bigger point. How can you make SEO work for you when you’re dealing with niche B2B audiences and subjects? And do you reach a point where talking to your customers is better than doing digital research?

To answer we have an SEO and content marketing expert whom I’ve wanted to have on the podcast for basically as long as I can remember. Orbit Media CMO, Andy Crestodina publishes such helpful well-researched advice on digital content, I just knew he’d have something interesting to say here.

So I asked him Emily’s question: How can you find the right SEO keywords, when you work in a geeky B2B niche?

Andy Crestodina: If you’re in a B2B niche, especially a small one, you actually have big opportunities in search that some of the bigger companies might miss. So, it’s exciting to do SEO in a micro-niche for B2B. Niche companies tend to be smaller, which means in a way they have a bigger challenge because they don’t have super-high domain authority and difficulty ranking.

That actually is a benefit, it just pushes you towards the less competitive, longer tail, less popular – but also much more targeted – key phrases.

So it’s not a problem that you’re a smaller online player when you’re in a niche, when you’re targeting the more specific phrases, you can’t target the big general phrases. But those phrases are not as valuable as it might seem anyway, because you know less about the visitor; the visitor does not have strong intent.

People who search for single words or the business category, very hard to convert them, because they’re less likely to have a specific need to look for a specific answer to need a specific service.

So the niche is really where all the fun is, in B2B keyword research. You can find phrases that a small number of people are searching for, but they’re thrilled when they find you. The click-through rates are high, the conversion rates are high. So, it’s an enormous opportunity.

And it’s something that the big companies will often miss. So there’s plenty of blue ocean in those longer three-, four-, or five-word key phrases that others fail to catch or to target, and that you can really target and win what might just be a trickle of traffic, but they’re very passionate, very engaged visitors.

David: How hard is it to find out among that ocean of key phrases, which are the ones that your audience, in particular, are really interested in?

Andy: Every key phrase equals intent. So when you think about the true story in the life of the person who just typed that on their keyboard – and it’s happening right now, as we speak all over the world – the more specific the key phrase, the more you know about their information needs.

So if you think about keywords as being intent, you can target key phrases and therefore intent, that is at different stages in the person’s process, as they consider options. Some key phrases are simply information intent queries, they’re looking for an answer, they want to solve their problem themselves. They’re not at all interested in buying or becoming a lead event for anything.

Other key phrases indicate strong commercial or transaction intent. They’ve got their wallet out there ready to go, they know they need help, they’ve given up on every other option they need, they need help, they’re raising their hand, they need a service. So I would always prioritise beginning your keyword research and content, content marketing and conversion, copywriting and SEO, with the bottom of the funnel.

Start by targeting the key phrases that indicate the person really needs help. And those are generally going to be not content marketing; typically, they’re like service pages. Start by optimizing your homepage, as that’s the page for which you have the best chance of ranking.

Next, optimize your service pages. Those pages have strong intent, the visitor is looking for help they know they need, they need a service or a product. The problem with using software and tools to do your keyword research for you is that they don’t really know or care what your audience is looking for. They don’t know you; they don’t know them.

Sometimes, what you might think of as a blockbuster key phrase, like “Hey, we rank really high for this, you know, ‘What is the sales tax in this geography?’” Like, great, that person just wanted a quick answer. They’re never going to convert, they’re never going to convert!

David: And is there a role for maybe interviewing or talking to real customers, or maybe even talking to your salespeople to get a view of the questions that real people ask, and how they kind of map to intent?

Andy: The ultimate source of keywords is your audience. And there’s lots of ways to get that. One of them is, of course, talking to people. And if you get asked the same question two or three times you should be answering that question in your content.

But when I do that – and when we all do that (and we all should) – search is not your primary concern. Because once you write this article, you can literally send it to exactly the person who asked you the question.

Who needs Google? – you’re already talking to this person.

So, what we should do is listen for the topics that our audience really, really cares about. Put plans in place to publish on those topics. And then as we’re publishing look for keyword opportunities.

Some will have keyword opportunities; some will not have keyword opportunities. If you write the thing that your audience really loves and wants and you give it to them, but there wasn’t a keyword related to it, you can publish it an adjacent topic that does add the keyword that links to this great piece you made. But yes, I think empathy is the ultimate marketing skill.

There’s other sources of empathy, such as if you have a site search tool, and people are searching for a phrase – that’s a source of empathy. And then sometimes, of course, the keyword research tools, and Google itself will tell you what people are looking for related to your topic or your industry works like a charm.

David: Are there other opportunities or trends with search at the moment that are particularly relevant to B2B tech?

Andy: Well, there’s a risk and a threat in search right now that we should all be aware of, which is, as I alluded to a minute ago, none of us should be targeting phrases for which there’s just a short, simple answer.

The number of searches for which the click-through rate is zero keeps growing because Google gets more informative on its own platform. So we should all be looking for opportunities to write content that is yes, keyword focused, but also, the answer to the question the visitor is asking is deep and long with details, because Google’s search results are so informative. Click-through rates to websites are on the decline.

So, target key phrases which give up the I. Remember years ago, we used to publish glossaries? Remember this SEO strategy? We’re like, “Oh, I’ll make a big glossary and answer, you know, tell everyone with the top…” No, that doesn’t work at all anymore. No traffic at all.

So, target key phrases for which the best answer is very long and detailed and 2000 words and you can’t get it in a Featured Snippet.

David: Any final tips for the audience of B2B tech marketers when they’re thinking about keyword research or optimising their content? While we have a world expert with us, the audience would be upset with me if I didn’t ask.

Andy: The ultimate in the best advice is: when you’re publishing a piece of content related to a search, that you literally make a sincere attempt to create the best page on the internet for that topic.

You’re not doing SEO if you’re not sincerely trying to make one of the top 10 pages on the internet. You have no right to rank if you made another medium-quality piece.

But also, as you do this, don’t forget to inject your own voice; say something that’s provocative or counterintuitive. Inject it into this keyword-focused piece that’s going to touch on all the related topics and semantic SEO and subheads and detail, but put yourself in there and throw in some strong points of view.

Search is, of course, library science. It’s an information retrieval technology. But your reader has a brain with an amygdala and can feel emotion.

So if you want to be memorable, and not just a lovely Wikipedia for your industry, then don’t forget that some of the best results from digital come from differentiated voices, strong points of view, Op-Ed. You know, the counterintuitive prediction or perspective of voice. Put people into your articles and include contributor quotes from people with interesting ideas.

Don’t just rank high, be interesting – and have fun.

David: Andy, thank you so much. If the audience want to hear more from you, more of your points of view and your wisdom, where can they best find you?

Andy: I write an article every two weeks at orbitmedia.com. So orbitmedia.com/blog is where you find the main source of my stuff. I put it all together into a book called Content Chemistry.

And also LinkedIn would be my best social media platform. You can connect with me on LinkedIn. The blue button that says Follow? You can skip that and go down to Connect. You know how that works. But yeah, anyone’s welcome to reach out anytime. I’m happy to help however I can.

David: Thanks, Andy. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard so much clear, valuable advice in just a few minutes.

Ruth, you’re an experienced marketing leader, as well as a content marketing expert in your own right. You must have enjoyed that, right?

Ruth: I thought it was great. I thought it was super helpful. And I think what really kind of my takeaway is: when you’re working in a niche tech sector, some of the more generic pieces of advice you get around keyword research just aren’t that helpful, because they don’t cut the mustard for the space you work in.

But Andy got straight to the point of giving us some really helpful pointers as to how we could get started.

One of the things I do think we should also mention, though, is first off Andy talks about both the fun and opportunity for those B2B marketers working in niche tech sectors. And truthfully everybody needs fun and opportunity in their role. So I thought that was a great starting point from Andy.

David: Yeah, absolutely. And as a marketer yourself, do you find it difficult to know, kind of search terms, and use the research as a starting point for good content? Where do you go to?

Ruth: That’s a great question, and I always start with the customer.

Because I really believe that nothing interesting happens in the office. And what I mean by that is marketing teams need to get out there and speak to their customers, speak to their client-facing colleagues, to maybe sit in on meetings, go to trade shows with them, ask the Client Advisory Board, ask the user group, wherever you can get in front of customers, and get a real sense of how they talk about the challenges or pain points or issues that they face in to really understand the language that they use.

I’m picking up on something that Andy mentioned, I also feel that those conversations and those bits of insights really give you the topics that your audience is passionate about and care about. And I think there’s a lot to be said, for producing really helpful content. And I think if you start by listening to what the customer has got to say, tap into the knowledge and insight of your client-facing teams, really unearth these topics that you can tell the audience care about, I really believe when you come to publication, just like Andy said, you can add in the keywords, you can make it a bit more SEO friendly during the publication stage, but it’s all got to start with some customer insight for me.

David: Yeah, and I love that about going to trade shows! I was here like, the listener can’t see, but I was here with my hands in the air like preach, you know, like, just as a younger marketer and a younger copywriter, working on trade shows, even if I wasn’t doing the selling just supporting was so helpful, because I got to hear the conversations that were happening.

And I suppose from that point of view, it’s not either/or, it’s both/and when you work in such a niche market. It’s using those conversations and what you can glean can help you understand where the search intent is in the keyword report and understand what the keyword report means.

And then the other way around, the keyword report can help you understand the language that people are using to address the problems and the questions and the issues that you’ve heard them talk about, whether it’s on a trade show, or writing case studies is another one that I love, because you get to talk to a customer about their thing, and about their challenge and about their world. Like every case study makes me a better writer.

Ruth: Definitely. And you know, David, I think what you’ve just said picks up on something Andy mentioned as well about every key phrase equals intent, and how you’ve got different key phrases at different stages of the customer journey.

So, for example, if somebody’s right at the start of their customer journey, as content marketers, we tend to focus on producing what we call TOFU content. But this is the kind of content that needs to talk about pain points, challenges, questions – those are the kinds of things we need to be thinking of when we’re thinking about our key phrases and our keywords.

If you’re producing middle-of-the-funnel content, rather, I think that’s when we need to see things that relate more to the solutions that somebody might be searching for.

And then when you get to the bottom of the funnel, that’s where it could be more product focus keywords.

So I think Andy made a really good point about thinking around this premise of every phrase equals intent. And those phrases change depending on where somebody is in their journey.

David: I was interested in what Andy had to say about zero search queries and how that changes the nature of the content that people are producing. Is that something that you see?

Ruth: Actually, I hadn’t really thought about this until I heard this in Andy’s advice. And that got me really thinking about that. And that’s something that I’m definitely going to go away and consider a bit more.

David: Yeah, although AI might change it all, again. If, soon enough, ChatGPT gets pulled into Bing, if Google sorts out Bard, you know, you might have these chatbots answering the questions, instead of a list of search results, perhaps.

Ruth: Yeah, that’s true. Actually hadn’t really thought about it from that context. So that’s really insightful.

David: Anything else that stood out for you?

Ruth: Yeah, one of the things Andy mentioned was about the idea of starting with the bottom-of-the-funnel content first, so bottom-of-the-funnel keyword research, content marketing to support the bottom-of-the-funnel stage.

And I would always, always advocate this as a starting point because, ultimately, a very small number of your target audience are active in the market at any one point in time. And I think you need to be if you’re starting out on your content marketing strategy, or you’re revisiting your content marketing strategy, you will always want to prioritise the most commercial-focused activities first, in my opinion.

I think it wins you friends with the sales team. I think it buys you goodwill from your superiors and your stakeholders to then move back up through the funnel to the different stages. So 100% agree with Andy’s point around starting with the bottom-of-the-funnel content first and then working out through the other layers. So you get, you know, to the top of the funnel.

So yeah, 100% agree with that point.

David: Absolutely. You know, I think when content marketing first became an approach, it was so new and so different, everyone almost kind of the product marketing almost became a dirty word. You know, because that wasn’t what content marketing was about.

But, sometimes, the most helpful thing you can write is about your product for someone who’s at that stage of their buying journey. And absolutely, it needs to be included.

Ruth: What do you think about the persona perspective, in this context, in the sense of Andy talks a lot about mapping it to different stages of the customer journey?

But I also wonder if there’s a case for mapping it to different personas in your buying unit. So you know, for example, you might have a C-suite persona, but then you also might have an end-user persona.

And I guess the same would be true, as the customer journey point too, you probably need to think about the personas that you’re writing for, and think about their journeys that they might go on. So your keywords might be different for the C-suite part of your DMU versus the kind of hands-on end-user DMU.

Or are personas old hat, in your experience now? Have people moved on from them?

David: I don’t know, I must admit, I kind of like an avatar more than a persona, for me.

Ruth: Tell me a bit more about that.

David: I’m fortunate in my career to have had enough lives and to have known enough people and enough clients and whatever, that for most sort of what you might call a persona for most job roles, challenges that people are facing, I can normally think of someone that sort of works in that job.

So I can normally write to a person that I have in mind, rather than a persona. And it’s just a bit more, a bit more real.

And it comes back to the point that you were making right at the beginning around getting out to trade shows and meeting people, you know. Doing case studies, interviews, whatever you can do to meet the customer because you might well meet people that map to those personas and makes that more three-dimensional for you. So you can get from a persona to an avatar. You’re like, “Oh, I’m not, I’m not writing for, you know, the CTO and the automotive sector. I’m writing for Janet.”

Ruth: And I think when you give them a name, and you give them an identity that makes it even more real, and I guess if you can base it on somebody that you’ve actually met in a real-world situation, all the better.

David: Before we finish up this episode, we do have a couple more things to share. First, we have this copywriting pro tip.

Announcer: Copywriting pro tip.

Fiorella Rizzà: Hi, I’m Fiorella Rizzà. I’m a Senior Content Designer. And my writing tip is if you need to read it twice, it’s not good enough.

Ruth: Thanks, Fiorella. It sounds so simple, but it’s so, so effective.

Before we go though, David, I gather you’re looking for some of the best pieces of B2B content ever.

David: Yeah, that’s right. As I mentioned earlier, this is the 10th anniversary of the podcast. So, we thought we’d do something a bit unusual to celebrate. And we’ve set ourselves a challenge to find the best B2B content of all time. I mean, it could be a blog post, a video, ebook, white paper, who knows. But the first stage is: we need to compile a long list of contenders.

So, listener, have a think about content that stuck with you, and please send us a nomination, anything you like on social media, or vote at radix-communications.com.

Speaking of which, Ruth… Do you have a particular favourite you’d like to put forward for the list?

Ruth: I do. You actually, so my favourite piece of content is Vital Stats by Earnest. This got shared with me many moons ago on a content marketing training course at the IDM. And they use this Vital Stats video as an example of a good piece of video content. But as the name suggests, it was also jam-packed with loads of really helpful information around how you could make the case for content marketing in your business. And I went back to the business I was in and I used all the stats in the Vital Stats video to make the case for introducing content marketing in my business at the time.

And frankly, I haven’t looked back.

So, when I went to work in earnest, I actually got to work on I think it was Vital Stats 3, and it was a proper fangirl moment for me, because I loved the first two iterations and now it was my job to help champion Vital Stats 3.

So Vital Stats 1 by Earnest is one of my favourite pieces of content of all time.

David: Amazing. I’m not sure I know it, I think I’ll go and look it up straight away. And we’ll absolutely link to it in the show notes so that the listener can have a have a look, get inspired and send us suggestions of their own as well. Thank you for that.

Ruth, if the listener wants to get in touch with you and chat about content marketing. How can they do that?

Ruth: Oh, you can find me on LinkedIn, drop me a message. I love to have a chat with anybody. Always happy to talk about content marketing and help out wherever I can.

David: Thanks for co-hosting. Also, Ruth, you’re an absolute natural. I do hope you’ve enjoyed it.

Ruth: I’ve had a lot of fun, thank you David for asking me. And I think whilst we’re at it, we should also thank Andy Crestodina for his wisdom and super helpful tips.

And Fiorella Rizzà for that copywriting pro tip because that’s what I think we’ll all remember.

And of course, we must thank Emily King for the question that kicked this whole episode off.

David: Yeah, not to mention kicking off this very podcast. Emily, wherever you are listening. I hope you feel that we’ve done justice to your question.

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

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

David: I’ll see you next time for another B2BQ&A. Until then make great content and remember, Google can bring you back 100,000 answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one. I’ve never been shushed by Google though. At least not yet.