Category: Content Marketing

Eight ways to get other departments more engaged in marketing content | B2B Content Tuesday

Posted on by The Radix Team

Uncooperative departments and a lack of stakeholder alignment are among the biggest obstacles B2B content marketers face. Our Barriers to Great B2B Content study showed 86% have a problem with departmental co-operation – and that if your business isn’t working together, there’s every chance the content you publish will suffer as a result.

So it’s no surprise that the first topic we were asked to cover in our B2B Content Tuesday Q&A webinars was how to create a strong content culture and get your whole organisation engaged.

In this blog post, we’ve outlined eight engagement ideas for you to steal, adapt or ignore. We’ve either seen them work for B2B tech clients, or they’ve been suggested by experts like Maureen Blandford and Doug Kessler. We’ve also summarised some of the questions and answers from the discussion.

If you’d like to watch the session in full, you’ll find a video at the bottom of this post.

Eight ways to get B2B departments more engaged in marketing content

  1. When you talk to your subject matter experts, keep it focused. Many find marketing a bit vague (or even untrustworthy), and asking for a “chat” will add to that. Instead, give the expert a list of questions in advance, so they get the comfort of preparation and their time and involvement is clearly defined in advance.
  2. Make it part of a clear content plan. Establishing a well thought-out content initiative can help subject matter experts feel like they’re taking part in something concrete, and will help them stay on board.
  3. Treat stakeholders like customers. In our study, experienced tech marketer Maureen Blandford said she does her research, and when she approaches stakeholders, only talks about their business needs, values or interests – and how she can help.
  4. Ask subject matter experts questions you already know they’ll like. Experts like to share their knowledge – it might only be the marketing context that’s making them uncomfortable. So help them feel like they’re on their home turf, and you’ll likely get better answers.
  5. Find bright spots in each department. Not everyone distrusts marketing – so start by looking for quick wins. Find the people who like engaging with you, and you’ve hit gold. Plus, when their colleagues see how easy working with marketing can be, and all the good things that result, you’ll get more interest from them too.
  6. Be really, really (really) clear on what good content looks like. If you don’t have a clear standard in your organisation, everyone will nitpick everything. At Radix, we standardise content reviews using a B2B content checklist, which you can steal and adapt if you’d like to.
  7. Back up your content opinions with data. If you can show evidence about what content works, you’re more likely to keep the conversation in areas where other departments can really help.
  8. Use their time well. As much as possible, focus on making people do the bit that you can only get from them – the nugget of wisdom or viewpoint that only they have. Good research (and dare we say good copywriters) can fill in the rest.

Q&A: Establishing a B2B content culture

Q: How do I get colleagues involved while everyone is working remotely?

David: “Sensitively. It might be that people are feeling isolated, and would quite like a chat about something, but don’t assume that nobody is busy right now.

“If you’ve had to cancel a marketing event where subject matter experts were going to speak or run an exhibition stand, you’re handing them back a day’s worth of time. So that can be a really good point to ask to borrow half an hour, where you can find out exactly what they want to say and get them to brief a copywriter or in-house writing team.

“But unless you’re specifically giving them hours back by cancelling something, don’t assume they have loads of time.”

Q: People I need for content aren’t responding to email – how can I get through to them?

David: “There are just TONNES of emails around at the moment, and our inboxes are all full of companies emailing us about how they are there for us at this ‘difficult time’.

“So pick up the phone, or jump on a Zoom call. Being able to see people’s faces is really helpful when you’re trying to figure out what they’re dealing with.”

Q: At Radix, how do you define good content beyond achieving the client’s business goal?

David: “That’s the number one – the ultimate ‘did it work, yes or no?’ But unfortunately, we writers don’t always get to find out if our content achieved its goals. Clients are so busy that they often don’t circle back to us with the results.

“When we’re reviewing internally, we use a clear, 16-point quality assurance checklist. Before any content goes to the client, it is assessed by another writer, and we’ve tried to standardise that process as best we can – so we know we’ve covered aspects like readability, technical accuracy, and voice.”

(You can find the checklist here – feel free to steal it for yourself.)

Q: How do you reconcile different ideas of good content – data, emotional impact, and perceptions of what different audiences expect?

David: “Emotion is always important – but you do still need to be clear, and use data to your advantage.

“When someone says: ‘our technology is very complicated, our audience is very intelligent – why are you writing in a way that’s so simple?’ bring them back to the facts. Show them the number reading on a mobile device – with the extra cognitive load that entails – or the proportion of your audience reading in a second language. When you’re talking about what good content looks like, you need to have evidence.

“For example, case studies that specifically name the client and have a quote are statistically more successful than those that don’t. So if you’re talking to a salesperson who doesn’t want to put you in touch with a customer, your data can give them clear evidence that by getting that interview you can help them to sell more.

“When it comes down to defining good content, move away from your opinion vs their opinion – especially if there are good, data-driven reasons to do it your way.

“Remember, the stakeholder will usually last have had their content reviewed in school or university. So to them, the writing that got good marks involved passive voice, reeeeaaaally long words and generally showing off a bit. People internalise that as ‘good writing’, and when they go to work, they think their writing has to put a tie on. So your first job is to reset that – which is where data helps.”

Q: As a content writer talking to subject matter experts, how do you guide that conversation to make use of your storytelling expertise without getting bogged down in technical detail?

David: “One of the things that helps us, is that we work in specific, technical niches. So if someone wants to talk to us about a technology or subject, we’ll generally have a writer who understands the area. We’ll never be technical experts, but it gives us just enough to ask the right questions.

“But in that interview, the most important thing is to know and explicitly represent your audience. If the subject matter expert is talking about things your audience wouldn’t be interested in, it gives you licence to gently guide them away from that.

“That makes it essential to do your homework. Especially if they’re a technical expert writing to another technical expert.”

Thanks again to everyone who attended the webinar, and took part in the Q&A. Here’s the full discussion:

If you’d like more, we’re building a playlist of all our B2B Content Tuesdays webinar recordings on YouTube.

What’s the perfect work environment for creating B2B content?

Posted on by The Radix Team

If you’ve read our Barriers to Great B2B Content 2020 report, you know the results are pretty bleak. Of the 105 B2B marketers we interviewed, 68% said they’re not proud of even half their own content.

You might even be one of that number. And if so, it’s probably because where you work doesn’t work for you. Whether it’s because of internal politics, limited resources or interfering stakeholders, our survey showed that lots of marketers just don’t have the right environment to thrive.

And while many of these obstacles may be out of your control, every self-appointed marketing expert will still judge the ‘unoriginal’ work you produce as a result.

We talked to Maureen Blandford, VP of Marketing at Community Brands, about this particular frustration and she gave us a great response: “A lot of the time we have no choice, unless you happen to be in a lucky fairy land.” (Feel free to yell that whenever the mood takes you.)

But don’t give up hope. Your perfect B2B workplace – where you really can be proud of the content you publish – could be out there.

So, what would it look like and how can you identify it? We’ve spoken to Maureen and examined the statistics. Here’s what to look for.

Does company size matter?

Unsurprisingly, our survey revealed that across small, mid-sized and enterprise-scale firms, marketers have different ideas about what makes content great. Similarly, we found that different sized business find some obstacles more challenging than others:

But which will enable you to create your best content? Well, that depends what problems you find least intrusive, and what aspects of B2B content you value most.

We’ve taken a deep dive into the survey results shown above. These figures, taken directly from our global survey of B2B marketers, suggest how the benefits and obstacles of working in an enterprise, mid-sized organisation or a smaller firm could vary.

Enterprise:

Benefits

  • Least likely to struggle with workload or budget
  • Best chance of being proud of your content’s design, humour or emotional impact
  • Close correlation between perceived quality and business results

Obstacles

  • Brand, legal or policy issues could be an issue
  • Direct contact with your customers is likely to be very limited
  • Lowest chance of creating content that reflects customer priorities

Mid-size business:

Benefits

  • Highest likelihood of reflecting customer priorities
  • Slightly better chance of avoiding stakeholder interference
  • Fewest problems with brand and legal restrictions

Obstacles

  • Workload and budget issues are almost inevitable
  • Least chance of using humour, originality or emotion
  • Most likely to experience departmental friction

Small business:

Benefits

  • Easy contact with customers
  • Coordinating with other departments is less of a challenge
  • Best chance of writing copy you’re proud of

Obstacles

  • Constantly changing priorities likely to be a big issue
  • Micromanagement from senior leadership is likely
  • Smallest correlation between satisfaction and business results

When we asked Maureen, she said:

“I work in a sizable company as head of marketing for one of the divisions, and I’ve also worked for small tech companies and start-ups. And while size doesn’t really matter, a HUGE difference – in our quality of work and its results – is seen when bosses and executive teams are switched on and work collaboratively.”

So if you have an excellent leadership team, you’re more likely to create effective content you’re happy with – regardless of where you work. But what does that team look like? Well…

“Results follow good leadership”

When Totaljobs surveyed 2000 UK employees, they found one in two people had left a job because of bad management. And HR tech firm AdviserPlus found that in at least 70% of cases, management coaching resulted in better employee performance.

So the chances are, you’ve had at least one boss with questionable leadership skills.

And whether your boss was (or is) completely incompetent, or just a bit of a micromanager, poor leaders can prevent you from creating your best copy – or stop it being released.

We asked Maureen about great leadership in a B2B working environment – and how it can enable you to write copy you’re proud of. She said:

“There’s a whole bunch of stuff that goes into making content, that the market doesn’t acknowledge. Talent, passion and will are maybe 10% of it. Do you have a supportive team? Are sales co-operative? What about the leadership team? What kind of budget and tools do you have? How many micromanagers are there?

“I can tell you about my boss here, and my previous boss in Amsterdam, who runs a smaller technology company. Both of them had my back, completely supported me, and bought in to transformation.

“And the experiences I’ve had is exactly what Harvard Business School would say. The results are much stronger when leaders actually know how to lead, as opposed to leaders who are micromanaging jerks. Results follow good leadership.”

Toxic workplaces: “just get out”

You’ll find a B2B marketing workplace is always challenging – as our survey results made clear. With so many different departments and functional areas, everyone has their own goals and priorities. And earning their respect is no easy job – you’ll need to juggle a LOT of opinions.

And even though a challenging workplace is normal, it can still prevent you from producing your best work. 86% of our respondents say a problem with departmental co-operation gets in the way of their content.

We asked Maureen how she navigates this obstacle:

“I treat internal stakeholders like customers and prospects. I anticipate their objections, and what their values are. I’m never going to pitch our Head of Sales on some fancy-schmancy thing I want to do, or talk about colours. I’ll ask about her conversion rates, and where she wants to do better. Then I’ll frame projects to her business objectives.

“When I’m mentoring colleagues, I tell them we’re planting seeds. The first or second seed you plant may not grow or sprout ideas in their minds, but after a couple they start to understand your perspective.”

But a challenging culture is very different from a toxic one. So, how can you clearly define the two? Maureen draws a clear line between them:

“In most cultures, it’s challenging to work with colleagues in other functional areas. I don’t think I can code better than the software developers or do F&I better than the CFO; that’s not a thing. But of course everyone thinks they can do marketing.

“But a toxic culture is to do with the CEO; are they encouraging lying, cheating, stealing, hustling or hacking? People should be respectful but challenging, not demeaning and arrogant. If it’s a demeaning culture, that’s a toxic culture. And you’re not going to be able to change that, so just get out.”

And if you’re really, really determined to find the perfect workplace…

…You might need to commute a little further.

The statistics show that if you were to work in North America, you’re more likely to create content you’re proud of. Our survey found 39% of North Americans are happy with most of their work – a big jump from the 12.87% of European respondents.

It seems strange, we’ll give you that. But the figures above suggest some possible reasons. Only 30% of North American marketers find workload a big problem, compared to 50% of Europeans.

Meanwhile, North American marketers are least likely to agree with statement: “There’s always a trade-off between creating enough content, and keeping quality high”, while the European marketers we spoke to agreed 100%.

Of course, you’ll find plenty of job opportunities closer to home. We’re just saying – it’s an option.

How do you spot your ideal workplace IRL?

By now, you (hopefully) have a better image of a workplace that will enable you to create the content you’re proud of.

But when faced with a real-life opportunity, you might not have the transparency you need to know it’s right for you. Even Glassdoor can’t always help – despite having 67 million visits a month.

And truthfully, you’re going to have to gamble a bit. As Maureen says:

“For the most part, and this is not just for marketers, it is really hard to understand the culture until you get there. And it’s important not to feel ashamed about that – you did your best.

“But one way around that is if you actually know people at a company. If you’re being hired and you know someone, they can give you the straight scoop.”

So, use this guide to know exactly what you’re looking for. Then tailor the search to your specific preferences and find someone on the inside to get a clear picture. And when you get there? That’s when the real work begins.

Podcast 83: Lean-Agile B2B Content

Posted on by The Radix Team

In this month’s Good Copy, Bad Copy, we’re talking about Agile and Lean-Agile processes, and whether B2B content producers can learn something from software development and engineering.

David’s joined (virtually, of course) by a very special guest co-host: our former host Emily King, now Content Coordinator at Bluefruit Software. She shares her wealth of experience on adapting Lean-Agile processes for B2B content, and tells us how you can create more meaningful copy with less waste.

We also interview Bluefruit’s UX design expert Dan Goodwin on the role of the user in content creation. He reveals how personas can be used more ways than you think,  shares his tips on bringing customers into the creation process, and gives us some really clever ways to get to know your audience when you can’t actually talk to them (which, sadly, is a common obstacle to B2B content).

So, what is Lean-Agile B2B content?

Put simply, it’s content created with maximum collaboration, communication and flexibility. We’ve put together some basic guidelines:

  • It doesn’t mean you do everything; you shouldn’t start until you and your client have a clear idea of what they need and who it’s for. If it’s a drive-by content request, push back. Ask: “is that genuinely what you need?” (Emily told us there’s no room for subservience in true collaboration. Put that foot down.)
  • Once you have that understanding, start small. Think “minimum viable product” – a phrase you’ll become extremely familiar with. Break the project down into smaller parts, get them out, test them, gather evidence and build out from there.
  • Most importantly, keep communication open, stay responsive. Regular reflection from everyone, especially stakeholders, gives you a clear direction on what needs to change and what is going well. Then you can quickly problem solve any issues, together.
  • Bonus hint: Emails can be miscommunication minefield. Picking up the phone is often a safer, more personal option.

To reduce content waste, add value for the audience

In theory, by starting small, and being clear about objectives, you won’t waste time or money throwing yourself into big complex campaigns that are later scrapped by indecisive stakeholders. Plus, with frequent communication and reflection, you can make sure you’re always on track – so there’s no falling down expensive rabbit holes.

But Dan points out that user-centred development takes things to another level. At its best, Lean-Agile is about focusing on content that meet the real needs of the people you want to read it – and the more you can learn about their context, the more likely you are to create something that gets read and shared.

But how do you get all that information? Dan’s suggestions include:

  • If you can, ask your clients (d’oh)
  • If you can’t, find the people in your organisation who talk to customers most, whether that’s sales, account managers or field staff
  • Get the whole team on board with what you need to know, and they’ll bring you helpful insights from their own customer conversations
  • Go where your users go – whether that’s the right conferences, the right online forums, or even just the right LinkedIn pages

In Episode 83, you’ll hear…

0.55 – The Return of the King: Emily tells us what she does as Bluefruit’s Content Coordinator

4.36 – What ‘Agile’ and ‘Lean-Agile’ really mean for B2B content marketing, and how you can adopt them

19.56 – How to bring users into content creation: an interview with UX Designer Dan Goodwin

39.55 – Emily’s tips for getting more information from subject matter experts

Read more about Lean-Agile, user-centred B2B marketing content

Resources Emily and Dan mentioned in this episode include:

Send us your thoughts, criticism, spare toilet roll and flour (please)@

Contact us through @radixcom on Twitter or [email protected]

How to listen…

Credits

Thank you to Emily and Dan from Bluefruit Software for sharing your time and expertise. You can find Dan on twitter @bouncingdan and on LinkedIn. And if you haven’t heard Emily’s podcast Nerds Assemble, you really should give it a listen.

Podcast editing and music by Bang and Smash.

65 real quotes about B2B content marketing problems

Posted on by The Radix Team

B2B marketers are angry, and that’s probably fair enough. How would you like it if your valiant efforts to create great work were thwarted at every turn, by the people who are supposed to be on your side… and then commentators kept asking why your content isn’t innovative, emotional, or brave?

When we conducted our Barriers to Great B2B Content research, we didn’t expect the volume or ferocity of responses we received.

In hindsight, perhaps we should have. By inviting B2B marketers to reveal their frustrations in secret, we gave them a chance to vent long-held frustrations about their own organisations, and the working conditions that hold them back.

Now, we’ll share those comments with you. In their entirety.

As well as the venom (be warned, some of the language does get understandably fruity), there’s plenty of wisdom and constructive advice here. And, if you’re a B2B content marketer, quite a bit of solidarity too. You are not alone.

We’ve also included some gems from our four expert commentators in the report: Maureen Blandford, Doug Kessler, Mat Harper, and Shaema Shazeel Katib.

What is it about your best content that makes you proud?

1. “Authenticity.” – B2B technology content writer, UK

2. “It is useful and relevant to the customer.” – IT/tech CMO, North America

3. “It’s differentiated from the white noise surrounding it, and it’s specific – not picking from the library of generic B2B language.” – Agency content creator, UK

4. “Not proud of any.” – Marketing manager, legal firm, UK

B2B marketing balance quote

What gets in your way when you’re trying to create great B2B content?

6. “Executive fear.” – IT marketing director, North America

7. “Not enough insight. Client too product focused. Client-side marketing does not have enough status or power.” – B2B technology marketing consultant, UK

8. “I don’t always know what language/terminology to use with the target audience, or what level of knowledge they already have.” – Engineering copywriter, UK

Stakeholder micromanagement

9. “Too many cooks in the kitchen. I’ve had many projects drag on far, far longer than they needed to because we had to have 6+ stakeholders weigh in. We revise according to their feedback and put it in front of them again, only to have them find new issues or suggest something entirely different that they’re now excited about and want to see.” – Technology marketing manager, North America

10. “I’ve heard all the following recently: ‘I really like the concept but…’ ‘Lovely job, and we got great results, but I am missing the creativity of marketing and writing.’ ‘I’m going to bring the work back in house now you have shown me a different way of approaching it.’ ‘No I don’t want to abide by your terms of 45 days notice.’ ‘Great content but it hasn’t worked. I don’t have any sales yet and website traffic hasn’t really changed.’ ‘I can see what you are saying and I enjoyed reading it, but please add in the following edits.'”  – Tech startup CMO, UK

11. “If your stakeholders are not in alignment, nothing is possible. And if they are, almost anything is.” – Doug Kessler, Creative Director, Velocity Partners

12. “I’m hired to write great copy. I do. The technical MD clearly knows best though, and needs to rewrite everything a million times just to grow his ego and make marketing feel like shit.”
– IT content writer, UK

Executives who don’t “get it”

13. “Subject matter experts not understanding that you are trying to write to the customers’ pain points.” – Marketing manager, multinational manufacturer

14. “Executives who think all content is selling/promotional – don’t get thought leadership is different.” – IT marketing director, North America

15. “In my organisation at least, non-content people don’t fully understand the true role of content (it being much more than just ‘chucking up a few blog posts’). Because it’s not understood, it’s not valued – and neither are its creators. This doesn’t stop almost everyone having an opinion on content, however, despite not being able to actually create, plan, implement or measure it themselves. Go figure…” – Content manager, business insurance, UK

16. “Too much tech talk. Internal clients don’t think clever, simple or emotional messaging/visuals are as effective as feature listing.” – Telecoms marketing executive, North America

Maureen Blandford B2B leadership quote

Forgetting about the reader

18. “Interference from management who want content to sell, sell, sell.” – Technology CMO, Europe

19. “A pretty headline with multiple adaptions (‘Lead with confidence’ ‘Train with confidence’ ‘Operate with confidence’ etc) seems to always be preferred over interesting content that readers actually care about and will engage with.” – Agency copywriter, UK

20. “One of my biggest bugbears? The fact companies think their brand matters to customers. I had a client recently contract me to write ten short blogs about eCommerce – which was fine… until the MD got involved and complained they didn’t sell what the company was doing enough. I took her point – they could be steered more in that direction – but ultimately, my argument is that good content should provide value for customers; giving them information that they can go away and use. Or it should provide insight into the challenges they’re facing. When you stop trying to sell and think about the customer (and given that they’re already reading your content on your website) you have a much better opportunity to foster their trust. But often, this is a tough sell.” – Professional services content writer, UK

21. “A brief that’s aimed at the brand not the consumer. Clients who don’t believe that business people are just people who happen to be at work. Clients who don’t show any empathy/understanding of their consumers.” – B2B marketing copywriter, UK

22. “What’s important is finding the right format, length, structure, and tone – and that’s a matter of knowing your audience well enough.” – Shaema Shazleen Katib, Content Marketing and Automation Analyst, Intel

Changing priorities and briefs

23. “Interruptions are a big factor. I have a whole docket of content I’ve envisioned, planned, and want to see through, but it often gets disrupted by ‘drive-by’ projects that have more urgency to them. And because I’ve got the skills and the tools, I have to make the bandwidth.” – Manufacturing marketing manager, North America

24. “Execs and decision-makers who are making it up as they go… meaning they don’t spend the time up front to define main messaging. And that impacts all the collateral that relies on the messaging – which is pretty much everything. ” – Technology copywriter, North America

25. “Convoluted targets and goals for each piece, different key internal stakeholders with contradictory targets unwilling to compromise or even communicate. Lack of subject matter expertise within the content team.” – Media marketing manager, UK

Sales versus marketing

26. “The age-old tug of war between sales and marketing. Not every piece of content I create has to have a pitch, a value proposition, or a call to action attached to it. Ads are ads and content is content. And sometimes content has to be allowed to just inform, inspire, entertain, or enlighten – to build affinity and show thoughtfulness without asking the reader to then DO something or, worse, gating the content.” – Manufacturing marketing manager, North America

27. “We’re meant to interview contacts for our content. These contacts are meant to be ones that make the most strategic sense for the sales team. When you don’t put their leads in or put people they don’t want in your content, they moan. But when the time comes to send out an email asking them for contacts, not a single person responds, until the content is finished and they pipe up that they’re contacts weren’t included??!!” – B2B marketing copywriter, UK

Basically, the internet sucks

28. “I hate that it has to be so heavily reliant on SEO. Once you’ve optimised the content, it just looks ugly, repetitive and cheap. We’ve attempted to write good opinion pieces but the blog posts drowning in keywords always have more success.” – B2B agency marketer, UK

Hell is other departments

29. “People from other departments thinking they know what’s best for marketing. Constantly sticking their oars in and criticising.” – Technology copywriter, UK

30. “Lack of interest or help from other departments that could actually really improve our content. Marketing is at the bottom of the list for attention and they don’t realise its importance for the business performing well.” – IT marketing manager, UK

31. “Management/sales/other departments that don’t know how to present relevant, useful content in a clear, concise manner so it provides true value to the customer. Corporate branding rules that are inflexible, so every piece of content must fit into predefined templates (even if you are trying to create something new). The ‘we’ve always done it this way’ mentality.” – B2B technology CMO, North America

Doug Kessler Quote 2

How do you prove it works?

33. “One of the biggest challenges that I’m sure all B2B marketers face is that creating an outstanding piece of content – that actually brings commercial value or return to the business, other than the number of likes – is increasingly hard to quantify. All evidence is qualitative, which makes it difficult to argue positive performance even in the best of circumstances. Creating something truly fantastic – that drives conversion – that’s the golden goose. And it’s always hard; it’s always a struggle. I have lots of friends in B2C marketing and by comparison their job feels like a doddle; it’s easy to write a fantastic piece of content that implements basic consumer psychological trends to sell a pair of trainers or a yoga subscription. Try doing the same thing to convince a CIO that his approach to cloud migration could do with a tweak. It’s a different ballpark. But senior B2B marketers are almost 20k behind the average B2C marketer in terms of salary.” – Software-as-a-Service CMO, UK

Mat Harper business results quote

Agencies versus clients

35. “Weak agencies who act subservient to me and don’t challenge me hard enough.” – Professional services marketing director, UK

36.”Clients destroying the work. (Nearly.) Every. Single. Time.” – B2B agency copywriter, UK

37. “Clients who go to agencies and want something different but then churn out the same shit. You have departments, just save some money and use them. Last but not least, when they want leads with zero brand awareness. For the love of god Coke still invests money in brand awareness, you need to invest in brand awareness.” – B2B marketing manager, UK

38. “Clients who don’t trust you to make the call. You’ve appointed an expert – let us get on with it.” – Freelance B2B content writer, UK

Lack of alignment

39. “The internal hurdles and the challenges of multiple teams from different departments and countries all with their own idea of what good content should look like and not listening to the strategists and the analysts is incredibly frustrating. Why hire us if you don’t want to listen to what we find?” – Multinational B2B digital marketing strategist

40. “Clients who insist upon multiple levels of approvals. I recall one press release which ‘required’ approval from 11 stakeholders. That will never result in inspired copy – everyone feels they need to change something to justify their involvement.” – B2B content writer, UK

Doug Kessler stakeholder management quote

“A new player has entered the game…”

42. “Writing a piece that I’ve mostly got my way on (aimed actually at helping the customer in their journey rather than just touting our product) and having it all approved and sent to design. Design is just having me proofread and copy check the final doc when the CEO sees it and decides to delete some pages, add in some others (very product heavy), and edit some messaging. But we HAVE to publish it the next day due to campaign timelines. No choice but to approve the change with small amends. Gah!” – Software-as-a-Service content writer

43. “The client came to us and wanted to build a game and a campaign surrounding it with a limited budget. We compiled KPIs and built a strategy to gain said KPIs. One facet was to use influencers to provide quotes to include within the game and a series of blogs. But signoff on the influencers came way after the production of the game so we weren’t able to leverage the quotes within the game. Well, the entire purpose of using the influencers was meant to get reshares of the game to those influencers’ accounts and instead we could only use the quotes within the blogs we produced to cross-promote the game. When all was said and done the effort to gain influencers, interview them, etc didn’t meet the KPI targets we originally set out for the game…” – Software-as-a-Service marketing manager, UK

Lack of time, investment and resources

44. “When I was in-house, it was totally a resourcing problem. The marketing team was growing out in the regions, but they all had to funnel through a tiny content team that was being pulled every which way. We were accused of not being strategic enough – that was because we were constantly asked to check emails, event invites, flyers, presentations, the whole lot. Content was under-valued, under-appreciated, under-resourced… yet every single person in that marketing team relied on content to do their work. Major issue in B2B: content is more than just the team’s writers and grammar experts, so give them the space and resource to do their job, not make you look better.” – B2B content writer, UK

45. “Lack of original ideas and then time to get buy-in to a concept. Poorly skilled in-house resources and/or no budget to deliver it.” – Marketing manager, multinational IT enterprise

46. “As a writer I’m fairly in demand, which means I’m working on a lot of projects for a lot of clients simultaneously, which means I can’t devote as much time/headspace as I’d like to each project.” – Agency content writer, UK

47. “Senior management not having a f’ing clue and still seeing all marketing as cost, not investment.”
– Marketing manager, law firm, UK

The usual suspects…

48. “Lack of ambition is depressing. Aiming SO low.” – B2B agency creative, UK

49. “Content by committee. It never ends well. Everyone knows this, and yet… somehow it persists.” – Technology copywriter, UK

50. “Lack of customer challenge/solution understanding. Relentless focus on leads rather than good content. Decision by committee. Over reliance on the ‘same’ content again and again. Struggle to agree balance between product detail and good creative copywriting that’s emotive rather than just functional. Lack of attention to identifying clear differentiators, etc. etc.” – B2B marketing consultant, UK

51. “Internal politics in the client organisation – ends up being design by committee.” – B2B healthcare copywriter, Oceania

52. “Where do I start? Companies that cannot succinctly articulate what they do or sell? Companies that decide they want to create a piece of content before they even decide they have anything worthwhile to say? The bullshit circus of ‘thought leadership’…” – Technology copywriter, UK

53. “A lack of bravery, and resistance against not using jargon. If clients insist on using the same old  terminology, their copy will always be boring. It’s a constant battle when you’re the only one bold enough to ask ‘What does that mean? Why would the customer care about that? So what?’ We’re the only ones with the guts to ask those questions, and it isn’t always well-received.” – Freelance B2B copywriter, UK

B2B Marketing Pain Quote

A question of attitude

55. “Inherent lack of risk taking, inability to try new things, lack of vision for creative solutions, doing it the same way because ‘that’s the way we do it’ mentality, laziness to try new things…” – Marketing manager, health IT startup, North America

56. “People trying to be too creative for B2B content to suit their own ego or career aims. Sometimes you have to write run-of-the-mill stuff, or just come up with campaigns that are helpful or informative. Not everyone needs to be like Ogilvy, ESPECIALLY in B2B but a lot of people agency-side don’t recognise that. Listen to the customer. They know the audience best. The only reason you are getting friction from a customer is because you aren’t listening to them, you’re listening to your ego.” – B2B agency marketer, UK

What would have the biggest impact on your ability to create good content?

57. “Love my work but it can be lonely and I don’t always have the right people around me to brainstorm problems or creative approaches.” – Technology startup CMO, UK

58. “A guide to managing the management that wants to interfere and get involved.” – B2B technology CMO, North America

59. “Case studies proving that interesting content works would be so helpful. There’s not enough B2B content case studies out there. Loads of B2C case studies but clients instantly ignore those positive results because the audience is different.” – B2B agency copywriter, UK

60. “Something for CEOs and non-marketers on content strategy.” – IT marketing director, North America

61. “Unlimited resource. A CRM that wasn’t a mess.” – Technology CMO, North America

62. “How to get the best from your Client Services department? How do we meet ‘their’ pain points to buy into our vision.” – B2B marketing manager, UK

63. “There shouldn’t be this tension between the well-crafted, beautiful content and the effective content. If we don’t start by defining great content as that which has the most impact, we’re never going to succeed.” – Doug Kessler, creative director, Velocity Partners

If nothing else, realise it’s not your fault…

If some of these quotes feel a little unguarded and unpolished, it’s because we’ve tried to keep them as close as possible to the actual text as entered in the survey. What you’re feeling is the frustration of B2B marketers who are being prevented from doing their best work.

As Maureen Blandford put it in the report: “Imagine having people screwing your work up, and then being blamed by the market when your content sucks. It’s like: ‘If you only feckin’ knew.'”

And if reading this had you nodding your head until your neck is sore, that’s good (the solidarity, not the injury, anyway). It shows there are others going through the same thing. Maybe together, we can find the voice that B2B content marketers need.

We’d love to hear about your own experiences too; you can find us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Maureen Blandford B2B results quote

Podcast 80: Survey results special – barriers to effective B2B content

Posted on by The Radix Team

This episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy is a bit special. It reveals the results of our survey into B2B content problems, and it’s also peppered with insights from some stalwarts of B2B marketing. As a result, it’s a little longer than normal, but we promise it’s worth your time.

At the end of last year, we conducted our first survey of B2B marketers and content creators to uncover the Barriers to Great B2B Content. More than 105 of them took part, representing every part of the industry.

(You can see the resulting research report for yourself, here.)

The survey unearthed some surprising findings – not least that nobody said they’re proud of all their content. Clearly, there are significant roadblocks preventing people from doing their best work, so we dug into the details to see what we could learn.

Crucially, we found these barriers aren’t just an annoyance for marketers. They can also significantly restrict content performance – reducing brand awareness and stifling business results.

The survey also revealed that:

  • Just 14% of respondents say that everyone in their organisation agrees on what good content looks like
  • 81% of B2B marketers have to fight to publish their best work
  • Stakeholder interference and changing priorities can reduce content satisfaction by more than 25%
  • Only 44% agree that the best content gets the best results

In this episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy, David and Fiona examine the survey results in more detail, and unpack the six big content obstacles experienced by at least 75% of B2B marketers.

Listen now, and you’ll also hear what four top marketers think you can do to overcome these barriers, including:

What you’ll find in this episode…

03:17 – An overview of the key survey results, including David and Fiona’s top takes

05:58 – Anonymous comments about nightmare stakeholders

07:19 – Maureen Blandford on inter-department issues and challenging cultures

21:12 – Doug Kessler says stakeholder alignment is your most important job

33:49 – Shaema Shazleen Katib brings a data-backed view on which content works

47:44 – Mat Harper talks about making space for creativity in a large tech enterprise

Tell us what you think of the results (or use us for content-related counselling)

Contact us through @radixcom on Twitter or send an email (better still, a short voice memo) to [email protected].

How to listen

Credits and resources

We released this report in a free webinar. If you like, you can watch it on demand.

Podcast editing and music by Bang and Smash

Research report: barriers to B2B marketing content

Posted on by The Radix Team

In November 2019, we invited B2B marketers to tell us, anonymously, about the problems that prevent them creating the content they’d like. We write B2B content, so we thought we might learn something useful.

The response was so surprising, and so vehement, that we turned it into a full research report – and we asked leading B2B marketers from the US, UK, Germany, and the Netherlands to share their commentary and advice.

It reveals six problems shared by at least 75% of marketers, as well as six ideas to break the cycle. If you want to dive straight in, you can do so here…

Click to read Barriers to Great B2B Content 2020: Survey Results and Analysis

Big surprises in the survey results

The response to the survey shocked us, in a whole bunch of ways.

Responses from all kinds of B2B marketers, everywhere

First, the number and variety of marketers who took part. We’d anticipated that maybe a few dozen would be disgruntled enough to use our survey to let off steam. In fact, we attracted 105 responses – B2B content marketers of all levels, from all round the world. CMOs and marketing directors to content writers and agency types, working in all kinds of B2B: tech, engineering, SaaS, legal, manufacturing, and more.

B2B marketers are really, really angry about this stuff

Second, the sheer vehemence of the answers. These aren’t just small frustrations; B2B content marketers are angry. And when you think about it, it’s hardly surprising; marketers are being prevented from doing their best work, and then being talked down to by content experts who only see the content, but not the struggle behind it.

Maureen Blandford has experienced this in previous roles, and says the results are “the reality for most marketers”.

Imagine having people screwing your work up, and then being blamed by the market when your content sucks. It’s like: “If you only fuckin’ knew.”

– Maureen Blandford, VP of Marketing, Community Brands

Pretty much everyone is dealing with the same crap

Third, the fact they’re largely angry about exactly the same things. Irrespective of seniority, business size, sector or location, there are issues that seem to affect everyone. Specifically, six challenges were rated as a problem by 75% or more of our respondents:

  1. Conflicting and changing priorities, and unclear briefs
  2. Stakeholder interference
  3. Limited budgets and resources
  4. Too much work, and not enough time
  5. Lack of co-operation from other departments
  6. Problems getting access to customers

All the assumptions about B2B marketing are wrong

Fourth, the challenges that aren’t on that list. We often read that B2B content is not engaging because the subject matter is complex and dry, B2B buyers are conservative, or marketers lack creative skills. None of those things made the list. Instead, we see a picture of B2B marketers who have plenty of good ideas, but are prevented from executing them by their own organisations.

And finally, a lot of the findings are shocking in their own right. For example…

Just 32% of B2B marketers are proud of most of their content.

Many of the critiques of B2B content seem to assume that marketers don’t know their content could be better. This result – in response to the question “How much of your published B2B content makes you proud?” – proves that’s a huge mis-assessment.

Out of 105 respondents, not one could say they’re proud of all the content they produce; only 32% could even say “most of it”. By contrast, the most popular response was “a handful, ever” (37%). 28% went for “less than half”, and 3% said “none”.

It’s a worrying state of affairs, replicated in every group we spoke to. CMOs and marketers in North America were slightly more positive, but there was no category where “most of it” scored higher than 45%.

81% of B2B marketers have to fight hard for their content.

And the issue certainly isn’t that stakeholders don’t care. 81% agreed with the statement, “I sometimes have to fight hard to publish content I’m happy with.”

That’s a global issue, and the scores were fairly uniform. There was no category where fewer than 73% agreed (the UK, followed by tech marketers with 76%), and for marketers working in enterprises and on mainland Europe, the figure was 100%.

Just 14% of B2B marketers say their organisation agrees on what good content is.

Conversely, no enterprise or European marketer agreed with the statement, “In my organisation, everybody agrees on what good content is.” Overall, the figure was just 14%.

The fact the figure is almost an exact mirror image of the “I sometimes have to fight…” question could suggest that a lack of stakeholder alignment could be one of the root issues revealed in this report. If the organisation cannot agree what good content looks like, then the marketer will always face a fruitless task trying to create it.

In the report, Doug Kessler talks about stakeholder alignment as “the number one job” for B2B marketers. And he explains the importance of taking that alignment work outside of the daily process of content approvals.

If your stakeholders are not in alignment, nothing is possible. And if they are, almost anything is.

– Doug Kessler, Creative Director, Velocity Partners

One way to address the issue is to draw up a clear, agreed specification for your content, and base each point on data (whether from research or, better still, your own A/B testing). If you can use independent metrics like content readability scoring, better still. This makes the conversation less subjective, and more aligned to the pass/fail quality tests in other areas of your business.

If you like, you’re more than welcome to steal the B2B content quality checklist we use for our own internal reviews, and adapt it for your own purposes.

There’s evidence these content barriers really do hurt business results.

As we looked at the research, it quickly became clear that B2B marketers aren’t lacking inspiration for their content; they need evidence to help them fight their daily stakeholder battles. So we went back to the data, to see what we could find.

We cross-referenced some of the bigger problems marketers were reporting with the answers to the question, “What is it about your best content that makes you proud?”

It’s not absolute proof, but we can show the impact of each problem on marketers’ perceptions of their own content, based on whether they were more or less likely to be proud of that aspect, compared to the average.

And this is where things get really interesting:

Excessive stakeholder interference makes B2B content 26% less likely to get good business results.

Ever thought that all that micro-management from stakeholders was actually making your content less effective? Turns out, you were quite possibly right.

Respondents who reported stakeholder interference as a big problem were 26% less likely to be proud of their content’s business results than the overall average.

Tight marketing budgets make content less effective. (Heavy workloads makes it less creative.)

The theme continues among marketers who said lack of budget and resources were a big issue; they were 18% less likely to be proud of their content’s business results.

There was also a marked decrease in pride about original concepts, and quality of copywriting – which suggests that cheap content has a knock-on effect on business outcomes.

A similar pattern occurs among people who said workload is a big issue: they’re 25% less likely to say they’re proud of their best content’s originality, with a commensurate impact on results. It suggests that having insufficient time ties marketers to tried-and-tested concepts, at the expense of cut-through.

B2B marketers who can’t talk to customers are 27% less likely to be happy with their content’s business results.

Our sixth barrier was possibly the most surprising: marketers around the world are being kept away from customers, meaning they don’t have a clear view of their priorities, needs, and language.

This is obviously a painful issue, as the respondents overwhelmingly believed that giving the reader value, and reflecting the customer’s point of view, were the most important aspects of good B2B content.

As you might expect, marketers who say this is a big problem are 24% less likely to be proud of their content’s customer alignment. But here’s the surprising thing: the impact is even greater on business results (27% lower).

That’s reflected in a comment from Intel content marketing and automation analyst Shaema Shazleen Katib, who says: “Our best-performing content has that credibility factor, things like statistics, customer success stories, and testimonies. These things have always performed the best on a global scale.”

What’s important is finding the right format, length, structure, and tone – and that’s a matter of knowing your audience well enough.

– Shaema Shazleen Katib, Intel

59% of B2B marketers say their own signoff process makes results worse. (And the really shocking part? They’re right.)

Here’s a crazy thing: almost 6 out of 10 B2B marketers think their organisation’s own signoff processes actively impairs content outcomes. In fact, 59% agreed with the statement, “If nobody else had to sign off our content, the results would be a lot better.”

And here’s a crazier thing: the research agrees with them. People who agreed with the statement were less likely to be proud of their content, right across the board:

  • Writing quality: -8%
  • Business results: -8%
  • Customer alignment: -6%
  • Marketing prestige: -15%
  • Emotional impact: -19%
  • Value for reader: -5%

Time to break the B2B content cycle.

Sooner or later, the six barriers to B2B content come down to a single fact: in many B2B organisations, marketing does not get the respect it needs to work effectively.

The irony is that good content can be part of the solution: 86% of respondents agree that “Great content makes the marketing team look good”. But until marketing gets that respect, that content can’t happen: just 20% say their best content reflected well on the marketing team.

In the back of the report, we discuss six approaches which might help. First among them is getting away from the idea that good content and effective content are two different things.

56% of respondents disagreed with the statement “The best content usually gets the best results”, and Doug Kessler thinks this is the heart of the problem. Marketing will continue to be underestimated until marketers’ objectives align with the rest of the organisation. As Doug says: “What’s great, what’s effective, and what’s wonderful should be the same thing.”

There shouldn’t be this tension between the well-crafted, beautiful content and the effective content. If we don’t start by defining great content as that which has the most impact, we’re never going to succeed.

– Doug Kessler, Creative Director, Velocity Partners

Ultimately, the fight is yours.

Please feel free to use this report however best helps you to win the argument for good content. Share it with stakeholders, write blogs, whatever works.

Because unless we can change the conversation around B2B content and what good looks like, marketers will continue to have to fight their own organisations, just to get effective work done.

(And selfishly, as B2B content writers, that’s no fun for us either.)

We should be shouting these results from the rooftops. Because if marketers aren’t delighted with the work they’re doing, we need to show why.

– Maureen Blandford, VP of Marketing, Community Brands

 

Podcast 79: The Best B2B Content of 2019

Posted on by Katy Eddy

Welcome to the second annual Best of B2B Content awards, as nominated and voted for by you, our esteemed audience of B2B marketers, copywriters, and everyone else who has found their way into listening to Good Copy, Bad Copy.

We’ve put together a rundown of the 17 nominations, and now we’ve had a chance to collect and count all your votes, it’s time to announce the winner.

We’ve a lot of traditions in the Radix office, particularly when it comes to the festive portion of the year. Our tree is always topped with a slightly unnerving fairy with John’s face. Matt always provides enough chocolate and sweets to give us all month-long headaches. I attempt to sew a piece of festive clothing before our end-of-year dinner (this year, I failed miserably).

The question is, how many times do you have to do something before it becomes a tradition? I’m hoping it’s two, because otherwise both my dressmaking and this awards event don’t count. Yet.

So, in this soon-to-be-traditional finale, David and Fiona run down the list of your top 12 examples of content from the last year of the decade (yikes), including your 2019 Best of B2B Content winner.

You won’t get any spoilers from me – I’ll just say congratulations to all the finalists:

  • ABC News Story Lab
  • Adobe
  • The Center for Advanced Defense Studies
  • Danfoss Cooling
  • dotdigital
  • DXC
  • Hectare Agritech
  • Korn Ferry
  • Linode
  • MarketingProfs
  • Microsoft
  • NTT
  • Rockwool
  • Sophos
  • The Marketing Practice
  • Turtl
  • Wait, What? and Quartz

Want to find out who won? You’ll need to listen.

In this special countdown episode, you’ll find…

2:10 – A brief yet heartfelt apology for our broken email address

2:40 – The nominations that – sadly – didn’t make it into the top 12

4:41 – The countdown begins

24:18 – Time for the top three

28:40 – Fanfare… the winner is revealed

32:38 – A sneak preview of January’s edition, where we’ll be discussing the results of our recent survey into what gets in the way of great B2B content

Send us your thoughts, podcast-related feelings, or righteous indignation

Contact us through @radixcom on Twitter or [email protected]. (Bonus points from David if you share a voice memo.)

How to listen

Credits and resources

Thanks so much to everyone who sent us a nomination or audio: André Spiteri, Angela Cattin, Giles Shorthouse, Heather Barnett, Jon Lonsdale, Karla Rivershaw, Kerry O’Shea Gorgone, Lasse Lund, Maureen Blandford, Paul Hewerdine, and more. You rock our world.

Podcast editing and music by Bang and Smash.

Podcast 78: Maths for B2B marketers

Posted on by The Radix Team

In this month’s Good Copy, Bad Copy, we’re talking about… maths. Yes, maths. The bane of my life as a student and, to this day, a subject I remain bewildered by.

Judging from Fiona and David’s discussion, I’m not alone. B2B (and B2C) writers have often had a difficult – no, abusive – relationship with maths or, more specifically, statistics. And while many marketers are guilty of mixing up percentage points with percentages, we must take responsibility for the accuracy of the numbers in our copy.

That’s why we invited the award-winning maths resource designer, writer and podcaster Lucy Rycroft-Smith of Cambridge University, to talk us through the fundamentals of statistics for marketing copy – and put an end to some common mathematical misconceptions in the process.

As Fiona rightly points out, “our job is to communicate clearly and accurately, and if we aren’t sure ourselves, we can’t do that job properly”. So, get ready for some truth bombs – and possibly the toughest maths test you’ve taken since you last wore a school uniform. We promise, it’ll be fun!

Vote for the best B2B content of 2019…

It’s finally time to vote for the best B2B content of 2019.

We’ve compiled a shortlist of content based on your nominations. Head here to explore the nominees, and choose your winner using the Typeform at the bottom of the page (don’t forget to hit the enter button at the end to submit your vote).

It’s a diverse list of bold, original and inspiring content – and a wonderful opportunity for us to spotlight some of B2B’s greatest content creators. So, get stuck in.

CAST YOUR VOTE

In Episode 78, you’ll find…

3:25 – Why writers need to get comfortable with numbers

8:09 – ‘Why is maths so scary?’ with special guest, Lucy Rycroft-Smith

14:30 – Why we shouldn’t think about maths as ‘right’ or ‘wrong’

17:14 – What is “mathwashing”, and why should marketers avoid it?

21:00 – How percentages can mislead our readers (and complicate our copy)

28:00 – Lucy’s special three-part percentage challenge

Read more about maths for B2B marketing…

Resources Lucy mentioned in this episode include:

Send us your praise, criticism, Christmas cards, favourite cracker jokes…

Contact us through @radixcom on Twitter or [email protected] (if you really want to make David’s day, send us a voice memo).

How to listen…

Credits

Podcast editing and music by Bang and Smash

How to give copywriters better feedback

Posted on by George Reith

Amends are a natural part of the copywriting process. Sometimes it’s because a writer missed something in a brief or didn’t fully grasp the topic. In other cases, new information comes to light halfway through a project, plans shift and change, or a new stakeholder wakes up and wants their say.

Regardless, if you run projects that involve copywriters, you’ll likely have to give them feedback so they can amend their first draft. But not all feedback is created equal.

If you can deliver your comments in a precise, constructive, positive way, you’ll get far better results from your writers – both on that project and in the long term.

Follow these five feedback tips, and you’ll find your writers are better motivated, and better equipped to make the right changes to their drafts.

1. Be specific

Try and be as prescriptive with your feedback as possible. Telling a writer the piece is “generic” or “lacks impact” leaves them guessing what needs to be done.

But if you instead highlight specific phrases you feel need more authority, or give concrete examples of areas that need more detail, your writer will have a much better idea of what you’re looking for.

This isn’t to say you need to hold your writer’s hand. But if you don’t give them a good idea of where changes are needed, they’ll be left guessing – and likely missing the mark once again.

(This is also true of things you do like. If you can highlight specific sections for comment, rather than saying things like “this reads well”, then your writer will be able to carry that feedback into the next piece.)

2. Use positive framing

Just in case you roll your eyes looking at this subhead: yes, we’re all adults working in this industry. So no, you don’t need to sugar-coat our feedback unnecessarily.

But we’re human beings too – and nobody likes re-writing work they’ve already done. A little psychology can help you get a more engaged writer – and a better result.

If you come in with strong negative criticism right from the first round of amends, you’re likely going to put your writer on the back foot and make them feel defensive. And defensive people seldom do their best work.

But what if, instead of saying “you missed out points x, y and z”, you said “can we include points x, y and z?”

Your writer isn’t an idiot – they’ll be able to read between the lines and realise they forgot to put the points in. But they will absolutely appreciate you helping them save face.

A little positive framing can make the world of difference to your copywriter. It will keep them better motivated during the amends process, help them act on the spirit of your comments, and ultimately lead to better changes to your piece – and better content overall. And that’s the real goal, isn’t it?

3. Consolidate your criticism

Maybe you have a lot of stakeholders who need to offer their feedback on a document. Or maybe you come back to a piece a few days later and have additional thoughts. Either way, you should avoid the temptation to send feedback to a writer in bits and pieces.

The average copywriter needs several reference documents at a time (brief, product spec, company website etc), and if you add several different emails to the mix, you’re making their job far harder than it needs to be.

And if the various comments conflict (believe me, they often do), you’re far better placed than the writer to consider which should take precedence. If you don’t want to go to another round of amends, it’s best not to make them guess.

4. Consider what’s possible (and what isn’t)

We’d all love the perfect stat to come falling from the heavens to give every blog a punchy intro. But if no one’s published the study, that stat simply doesn’t exist. And if it doesn’t exist, no amount of desk research will help your copywriter find it (no matter how nicely you ask).

Similarly, your writer might be limited in other ways. If they can’t talk to any subject matter experts, end customers, or other specialists, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to add the extra depth or unique insights you’re asking for. Even an experienced B2B tech writer is only a writer.

So, before you request a change, consider what your writer will realistically be able to do with the time, information and resources available.

5. Build in time for changes

It’s well understood that rushing any creative process leads to poor results. For the first draft at least. Yet, when it comes to amends, there’s always an expectation that they should be done quickly to avoid derailing the project. But just as rushing the initial draft leads to suboptimal copy, editing a document too hastily can also lead to ineffective changes.

The key is to keep amends in mind when first planning out your content delivery schedule. A good rule of thumb is that any writing project will require two rounds of changes – one round for any big tweaks or new additions, and another to sand off the remaining rough edges. So plan for that, and anything else is a bonus.

(That’s also why we allow for two rounds of amends in all our quotes.)

Good content needs a good feedback process

Robert Graves once said, “there is no such thing as good writing, only good rewriting.”

Were he around today, he would no doubt approve of a great amends process. And once you see the impact changing your feedback can have on the quality of your content, you’ll probably be converted too.

So, take these lessons to heart, and show your copywriter a little kindness during the amends process. They’ll likely be very grateful for it – and deliver you even better copy as a result.

Podcast 77: B2B content formats – copywriters v the PDF

Posted on by The Radix Team

In this month’s Good Copy, Bad Copy, we’re talking about B2B content formats with a whole bunch of marvellous guests.

Lorraine Williams from Lighthouse Proofreading shares tips to help you check a PDF properly, while Nick Mason and Karla Rivershaw from Turtl put forward a convincing case for the format’s indefinite retirement. Contrarian as it may sound, they provide a convincing (and cathartic) argument.

(While you’re listening, be sure to check out Turtl’s apocalyptic ‘Kill the PDF’ campaign story.)

Also, David returns after hosting this year’s Copywriting Conference with a ton of great tips shared by copywriters throughout the day. (Hello to Mel, Ashley, Rohan, Melissa, Paul, Jason Isaacs, and Sam!) We’re not sure how he managed to snag so many of you to talk at such a busy event, so thanks for giving the charmer your time.

Nominate your favourite B2B content of 2019

Our rundown of the best of B2B content is back. And this year, we’re casting our net even wider.

So, if a piece of B2B marketing has impressed you this year, now’s your chance to give it props. It could be a social post, a blog, a white paper or even multi-media – whatever the format, let us know.

To nominate a piece of content, you can either open our nifty Typeform (remember to hit “submit” at the end)… or better yet, record a quick voice memo on your phone, and email it to [email protected].

And don’t forget to tell us your name, and where you work, so we can give you a shout out.

One checklist to rule them all…

86% of B2B content creators say people in their organisation can’t agree on what good content even looks like. If that sounds familiar, our webinar on 15 content checks is for you.

It’d be nice to interact with you directly as a podcast listener, but spaces are limited, so please register before you miss out.

In Episode 77, you’ll find…

1:25 – How to share your favourite B2B content of 2019

3:24 – “What did the PDF do to you?” interview with Nick Mason and Karla Rivershaw

9:45 – Our take on the PDF debate and writing for new B2B content formats

15:33 – How to proof a PDF: interview with Lorraine Williams

29:55 – How do copywriters find the PDF proofing process?

31:10 – Attendee tips from the Copywriting Conference 2019

Send us your praise, criticism, ideas, jokes, pets…

Contact us through @radixcom on Twitter or [email protected] (if you really want to make David’s day, send us a voice memo).

How to listen

Credits

Big thanks to Lorraine, Nick, and Karla for their time. And to everybody who David teased tips out of at this year’s Copywriting Conference.

Podcast editing and music by Bang and Smash