Category: Radix Podcast

Podcast 94: how to write great content for ABM (now that *everyone* is doing it)

Posted on by The Radix Team

This month’s episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy is about how to write Account-Based Marketing (ABM) conhttps://radix-communications.com/type/podcasts/tent that sticks.

I’ve been in this B2B technology copywriting business for a few years now, and I can think of few approaches that have flourished in that time as much as ABM. Everybody is doing it, and it’s easy to see why: when it works, it *really* works.

But that also means ABM content needs to work harder than ever to make an impression. And that’s why we’re delighted to have Rhiannon Blackwell, head of ABM for Europe at Accenture, join us to share her expert insights into what content actually works.

Radix consultant writer George Reith joins David as guest co-host, to discuss his own experiences – as well as the ABM challenges cited most by our lovely B2B friends on LinkedIn and Propolis.

Plus, senior copywriter Katy shares a 20-second writing tip, and a CX Manager takes on the Anonymous Five.

“ABM is for life. Not just for Christmas.”

Those are the first words you’ll hear from Rhiannon in this month’s episode. (Sure, it’s March, but it’s the sentiment that counts.) You see, the meteoric rise of ABM is more than just another fad; it’s arguably the future of B2B marketing.

But how do you do it well?

Drawing on years of experience, Rhiannon tells us:

  • How to get people to listen to *you* and not just see your ABM content as the output of a faceless brand
  • Why your clients must recognise themselves in your ABM content – and the importance of applying personal insights
  • What effective ABM content really looks like and why you should never tell your audience how to suck eggs

In this episode, you’ll find…

02.30 – An expert’s view on ABM content: our interview with Rhiannon Blackwell

22.30 – George and David discuss the interview and how George’s ABM experiences compare

34.30 – The LinkedIn and Propolis communities share their own ABM challenges

45.25 – The Anonymous Five: a Customer Experience Manager talks job misconceptions and reveals why generational stereotypes are rarely helpful

Anything you loved in this episode?

Tweet us at @radixcom on Twitter or fire a message over to [email protected].

Should you want to share the mic (albeit remotely) with David on a future episode, send us a voice memo with your comment, question, or 20-second writing tip.

How to listen:

Credits:

A huge thanks to Rhiannon Blackwell for joining us despite being on the cusp of maternity leave (and congratulations on the arrival of baby Ivor!).

Thanks also to our correspondents on Propolis and LinkedIn: Shikha Saxena, Fiona Campbell-Howes (Hi, Fiona!), and Scott Stockwell. We loved sharing your perspectives.

And of course, we’re indebted to our mystery CX Manager (we’ve made a donation to the Myton hospices on your behalf), and to Katy for supplying our inaugural copywriting tip of the month.

Podcast editing and music by Bang and Smash.

Podcast 93: getting insights from other departments for your B2B content

Posted on by The Radix Team

In this month’s episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy, we’re talking about an issue that plagues B2B marketers everywhere: getting other departments in your business to share the insights that are so vital to creating worthwhile content.

Guest co-host Adam Harper, Quantexa’s new Demand Generation Manager for EMEA, joins David in the virtual studio to discuss the challenges B2B marketers face when building better interdepartmental collaboration, like:

  • Mad marketing ideas from senior leadership
  • Lack of trust from other departments
  • Being too darned nice to get the co-operation you need

(Yell “BINGO” if you’ve experienced them all.)

Best of all, you’ll catch an interview with indomitable B2B tech marketer and cross-functional insight expert, Maureen Blandford. With her new, free digital book on the subject “Moats and Drawbridges” hot off the press, Maureen tells us why extracting useful insights from other departments is so “ouchy” – and how to make a start.

Finally, a UK-based Fleet Analyst tackles the Anonymous Five. If you create content for fleet customers, you’re really going to want to hear what they have to say.

Time for every functional area to come together

Every functional area of a business – including product, sales, marketing, and customer success – has a wealth of great information that can help everyone else (and especially those of us who make B2B content). But an unstructured, ad-hoc approach to information sharing makes cross-functional insights nearly impossible.

So how can you start to build up that communication, and get the insights you need to create truly great B2B copy? Maureen offers a few tips:

  • Start small: Learning any new skill feels strange at first, so starting small is your best chance of keeping everyone onboard.
  • Focus on one question you really want answered: It doesn’t have to be marketing’s choice; product could be seeing an under-used feature, for example. Pick a question, work together to answer it, and you’ll build muscle memory.
  • Expect messy: Change doesn’t happen overnight – and breaking down barriers is a tough business. A healthy level of friction is part of getting the job done, and that’s okay.

You’ll find plenty more guidance in the full interview (along with a scathing review of Martech vendors). What more could you ask for?

Maureen’s new book can be found here: Moats & Drawbridges: The Current State of B2B Cross-functional Insight Sharing. And when you’re inspired to drive change (and trust us, you will be), join the conversation at #InsightHarnesser.

The Anonymous Five: Fleet Analyst, UK-based maintenance company

In this month’s no-holds-barred Q&A, a mystery Fleet Analyst gives us some brutally honest insights about crap marketing and the impact of electric vehicles.

They tell us which electric car companies have “terrible B2B service” – and which fall short with their targeting – and reveal why, ultimately, Excel is the tool that any software solution needs to beat.

(Thank you, anonymous Fleet Analyst, for being so honest and detailed; we’ve made a donation to Changing Pathways on your behalf.)

In this episode, you’ll find…

0.53 – Introducing the one and only Adam Harper

3.40 – Maureen Blandford tells us why cross-functional collaboration is key

24.21 – David and Adam discuss the interview, and why “anecdata” is so dangerous

36.42 – What one question would you ask? The people have their say

41.26 – The Anonymous Five: a Fleet Analyst tells all

Anything you loved in this episode?

(Or really, really hated? We can take it, honest…)

Tweet us at @radixcom on Twitter or pop us a message on [email protected] Or, if you want to feature on the podcast itself, send us a voice memo our way.

How to listen 

Credits 

Thanks, Adam, for being a consummate co-host – we’ve no doubt you’ll be back on the show soon. Ish.

Thank you to the wonderful Maureen Blandford, for sharing your wealth of expertise (and never being afraid to say it just how it is). Did we mention the book?

Thanks also to our mystery Fleet Analyst, and to our merry band of Twitter and LinkedIn responders: Paul A63005, Ian Truscott, Wendy Clack, Matt Dodgson, Gregory Hooven, Sam Armondi, Sam Batstone,  Kate Roe, and Syed Haseen Ahmed. You guys are awesome.

Podcast editing and music by Gareth at Bang and Smash.

Podcast 92: writing B2B content for telecoms (and other changing sectors)

Posted on by The Radix Team

This month’s episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy focuses on the changing role of content in the telecommunications sector – and what other B2B marketers can learn from it.

The pandemic has had a seismic impact on B2B telecoms, with brands moving fast to accommodate the stampede to home working. But even before that, the market’s major players were moving away from just selling connectivity to a wider range of more strategic services. And their content was playing a big role.

Our guest co-host, Radix Consultant Writer George Reith, joins David to get to the bottom of that change – and what it means for content marketing.

David is also joined by Sarah Zammit, Business Marketing Specialist at GO plc – Malta’s biggest internet, TV, and mobile provider. Sarah gives her view from the B2B telecoms marketing frontline, including the shift to selling new kinds of products and expertise, and how this has affected the way marketers position their content.

How do you earn the right to change?

Change has always been at the heart of telecoms. New technologies enter the market, customers’ priorities evolve… and right in the middle is the content marketer who’s tasked with making sense of it all.

But for some organisations, the COVID-19 pandemic compressed five-year digital transformation ambitions into a matter of weeks, and their telcos had to keep up. Sarah explains how B2B organisations had to adapt their marketing twice – first to meet the immediate crisis, and then to help audiences adjust to the new reality.

In the interview, Sarah also discusses:

  • How telecoms breeds agile marketers – who have to deal with constant shifts in technology and business strategy
  • Why telcos need to earn the right to reposition – and how marketers can achieve this through content
  • How marketers can get up to speed with new tech – and how Sarah works with experts in her team to distil technical concepts into digestible content

Following their chat, George reveals his take on creating marketing content for telecoms as an outsourced copywriter. He concludes that while telecoms has unique marketing challenges, much of the way the industry tackles change can apply to other sectors too.

In this episode, you’ll find…

03.44 – Marketing is a process of constant education: an interview with Sarah Zammit

17.51 – George and David discuss the key takeaways from Sarah’s discussion, including how good B2B content can help brands move up the value curve

25.15 – How experts and third-party contributors can help establish authority in a new subject area

30.09 – George shares some unconventional tips you can use to get up to speed quickly on challenging technical concepts

We really want to hear from you

If there’s anything you’d like to hear more about on the podcast (or even things you don’t), contact us through @radixcom on Twitter or [email protected].

You can even get on the podcast yourself – just send us a voice memo with what you want to say.

How to listen 

Credits 

Thanks once again to Sarah Zammit for giving us an insider’s perspective on the state of telecoms marketing today – here’s to it being completely different tomorrow! And we’re forever grateful to George Reith for his invaluable ‘on the ground’ insight.

Podcast editing and music by Bang and Smash

Podcast 91: the Best B2B Content of 2020

Posted on by The Radix Team

Our final Good Copy, Bad Copy of 2020 is an extra special one. It’s our third annual Best B2B Content roundup – when we reveal what you’ve voted as the best content of the year.

And this year, through the joys of Zoom, David’s joined by an international panel of B2B marketing experts to discuss the results.

Meet our expert panel of B2B marketing all-stars

We know we’re biased, but this year, our best content shortlist has it all. There’s brutal honesty. There’s outrage. There’s celebration. There are surprises. There are insights from industry leaders. And there’s a whole load of fantastic B2B content to talk about.

You can can see all the nominees in more detail here.

Plus, you’ll hear from our all-star panel on the B2B marketing trends that have dominated 2020, their top predictions and tips for the B2B content that could define 2021 – and why B2B content is such a level playing field.

So who have you voted the winner? You’ll have to listen to find out…

In this episode, you’ll find:

00.33 – Meet our all-star panel of B2B marketing experts

05:20 – 2020 in review: how do you make B2B content in a year like that?

12:05 – Our countdown begins: places 10-6

20:27 – We reveal places 5-2, including this year’s runner-up

44:26 – Honorary mentions: the content that didn’t quite make the top 10

46:18 – We reveal what you voted this year’s best B2B content

49:50 – Hear our panellist’s tips and predictions for B2B content in 2021

Tell us your joy, despair or outrage at the results…

Contact us through @radixcom on Twitter or [email protected] (you could even send us a voice memo).

How to listen 

Credits 

Hearty congratulations to our finalists, and a big thank you to everyone who sent in audio, nominations, or voted: Emily King, Doug Kessler, Joel Harrison, Paul Hewerdine, Giles Shorthouse, André Spiteri, Andrew Last, Eman Malik and so many more. We had an absolute blast looking through them all.

And thank you so much to the ABBA of B2B copy – our wonderful panel of experts. Maureen Blandford, Harry Kapur, Karla Rivershaw and Lasse Lund, it was great to hear your round up of the longest year ­ever, find out your honest opinions on our finalists, and get an idea of what’s coming up next. You should do this for a living.

Podcast editing, music, and festive sparkle by Bang and Smash.

Podcast 90: telling stories with data

Posted on by The Radix Team

In this month’s episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy, we discuss how storytelling, data, and customer insights all come together to create engaging B2B content.

Guest co-host Ramon Vanden Brulle, Copy Director at Yesler (excitingly now part of Accenture Interactive), joins David to dissect why data and a well-structured, strong story are both components you can’t leave out.

Plus, you’ll catch an interview with Dr Christine Bailey, CMO and Managing Director SMB UK and Ireland for the payment tech company Valitor. With a newly-released book on customer insight strategies – not to mention an actual doctorate on the subject – Chris tells us how data and storytelling reinforce each other in your content. (And she shares a structured approach you can totally steal.)

In this month’s Anonymous Five, a Chief Marketing Officer at a large, UK-based telecoms distributor reveals whether their job makes them more judgemental about the marketing content they receive.

And *drum roll * voting is now open for the best content of 2020. We’ve compiled the most exciting and inspiring nominations into a shortlist. Now, it’s time to vote for your favourite – if you can choose, that is.

Blending data and storytelling? Use SCIPAB®

Christine explains how Mandel’s simple(-ish) acronym can help you add urgency and incentive to your B2B content, by prompting you to create a compelling structure infused with the right data points.

What do the letters stand for, you ask? Here you go:

  • Situation: Start by painting a familiar, comforting scene your reader understands.
  • Complication: Bring in the “but” – the issue disrupting the scene – complete with stats to back it up.
  • Implications: Discuss the fallout of this issue – and the opportunity it creates. Illustrate your point with infographics, statistics, or other bits of data.
  • Position: Introduce the good that can come from this opportunity – including success stories.
  • Action: Get into what your reader needs to do, and how you can help. (If it’s appropriate, Christine recommends including some funny stories here – like people who’ve really effed it up.)
  • Benefit: Tell your reader what’s waiting for them if they get it right, with quantifiable results.

In the interview, you’ll hear real-life examples of this in action.

Chris also dives into her new book: Customer Insight Strategies. She shares how you can find out what your customer actually cares about, and why you should use this information to build your value proposition and personas.

(Hint: it involves this TED talk by Simon Sinek.)

After, David and Ramon chat about championing the customer, and avoiding boasts and promises they’ve heard 1,000 times before. Ramon reveals his secret recipe for extracting the right data points from tricky clients… You lucky, lucky thing.

The Anonymous Five: Chief Marketing Officer, UK-based telecoms

Who doesn’t love a brutally honest answer – especially when it comes direct from a B2B persona you might be targeting?

This month, a CMO at a UK-based telecoms distributor tells us how they’ve changed tack to deliver digital sales enablement, why marketing technology is such a boon, and exactly how much of the content they receive is “woeful”.

(Thank you, anonymous CMO. We’ve donated to Downs South London Kids Walk 300 on your behalf.)

And the VOTING IS OPEN for the best B2B content of 2020

Don’t forget we have 15 inspiring examples of 2020’s best B2B content for you to choose from. (Well, they’re mostly inspiring. One of them just made us want to vomit and laugh at the same time.) Which will be your favourite?

Anyway, you have until the morning of Tuesday 8th December to cast your vote.

If you have thoughts on any of the nominees, record a voice memo and email it to us.

In this episode, you’ll find…

00.55 – Meet Ramon Vanden Brulle, straight from Seattle

04.19 – Where data meets story: an interview with Dr Christine Bailey

26.12 – Ramon and David chat about Christine’s pearls of wisdom

40.07 – The Anonymous Five: a telecoms CMO spills (some of) the beans

Send us your thoughts, feedback, or unwanted advent chocolates…

Contact us through @radixcom on Twitter or [email protected] (ideally, send us a voice memo so we can hear from you on the show).

How to listen 

Credits 

Thank you to Dr Christine Bailey for joining us; it was a joy to chat with you (and congratulations on the book). Also, a big hand to Ramon Vanden Brulle for being one of our best co-hosts yet. Thanks also to our anonymous CMO.

If you like the sound of Chris’s new book, you can grab your copy here.

Podcast editing, music, and natty new jingles by Bang and Smash

Podcast 89: B2B copywriting tools, tips and tricks

Posted on by The Radix Team

In this episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy, we’re talking about copywriting tools, tips and tricks to make you a better B2B writer.

Our guest co-host, Radix copywriter and content lead Katy Eddy, speaks with Julia Pierce from Literature and Latte about whether a writing tool like Scrivener might be a serious alternative to Word. And four writers share what they learned at this year’s Copywriting Conference.

Plus, a Deputy Chief Information Security Officer gets brutally honest in the Anonymous Five, and we need your help to find the best B2B content of 2020.

Where professional copywriting meets creative practice

What can creative writing pursuits teach us about professional copywriting? Lots, it turns out. And here’s the surprising thing: that learning flows both ways. The habits and disciplines of the day job can make creative work more effective too.

But when it comes to software, most B2B copywriters consider Microsoft Word as the de facto tool of the trade (in fact, we have a whole blog post about Word v Google Docs). Specialist writing tools like Scrivener can often be seen as the preserve of novelists, screenwriters, and other creative types. But in our feature interview this month, Julia Pierce explains why that might not always be true.

Especially if you’re writing an ebook, a white paper, or any other piece that involves organising multiple reference sources,  it a change of tool could be just the thing to help you see the big picture among the details.

(Also: if you’d like to know any more about NaNoWriMo, and how it can help you to write faster, you’ll find Katy’s blog about that here.)

What we learned at CopyCon: perfectionism, persuasion, reviews

Kudos to ProCopywriters for using the switch to digital events as an excuse to make the Copywriting Conference bigger than ever. At Radix, we got several writers involved in the training, as well as the day itself. Have a listen, and you’ll hear what they learned:

  • George shares how to harness systematic and heuristic decision-making
  • Lizzie reveals a coping method to overcome the perfectionist’s fear response
  • Ben muses on the importance of sharing with writers from other backgrounds
  • Kieran suggests you might want to ditch tracked changes, and have a call instead

The Anonymous Five: Deputy Chief Information Security Officer

In this month’s “Anonymous Five”, we get a brutally frank perspective from a Deputy Chief Information Security Officer (or DCISO for short), at a large US real estate firm.

Basically, if you write or commission cybersecurity content, you need to hear it.

(Thank you to our anonymous DCISO. We’ve donated to the charity of your choice: the mental health charity MIND.)

Here’s what you will find in this episode…

2.10 – Katy explains why everyone should be grateful to Goths

9.05 – Julia Pierce shares some of the more surprising uses for Scrivener

24.30 – Katy reveals which B2B content projects might benefit from new software

28.49 – Four Radix writers share what they learned at the Copywriting Conference

40:18 – The Anonymous Five: Deputy Chief Information Security Officer (DCISO)

Send us your thoughts, feedback, and favourite B2B content

Contact us through @radixcom on Twitter or [email protected] (if you’re up for it, email us a voice memo).

In particular, we want to know about the best piece of B2B content you’ve seen this year.

How to listen 

Credits 

Thanks to Julia Pierce for your time and insights. We’ll definitely be giving Scrivener a go in the office, and we’ll let you know how we get on.

Thanks also to our anonymous DCISO, and all the speakers and trainers at this year’s Copywriting Conference. In particular Tim Fidgeon, Jo Watson, Honor Clement-Hayes and Hinrich Von Haaren.

Podcast editing and music by Bang and Smash.

Podcast 88: the changing face of B2B marketing content

Posted on by The Radix Team

Strange as it may seem, there was once a time where the idea of B2B marketing just didn’t exist. So, from that bleak, cold world, how has B2B evolved into the innovative, passion-led industry we know today?

In this episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy, David and co-host Jane Morrin, EMEA Director of Marketing at Udemy, take a look at the pivotal moments in the B2B industry’s history, what it could look like in future, and the dramatic changes taking place today.

And who better to ask than the editor-in-chief of B2B Marketing, industry founder, and B2B evangelist (his words, not ours), Joel Harrison?

From pub conversations to a lively, booming industry

The interview is truly inspiring, with deep insights into the foundation of the B2B industry, and its evolution. You’ll hear:

  • What inspired Joel and co-founder James Farmer to create B2B Marketing
  • How they built a thriving community around B2B Marketing’s content and events
  • Why B2B demands a deeper emotional connection than B2C – and why they should remain two separate entities
  • How two periods of inflection have shaped the industry: the 2008 credit crunch, and this year’s COVID crisis
  • What Joel loves about the industry – and his biggest pet peeves
  • How the B2B industry needs to evolve from here, and the importance of greater diversity

Plus, David and Jane share their thoughts on the interview and discuss under-representation in the B2B tech industry, and how 2020 will change the industry forever.

Jane chats about Udemy’s own focus on diversity, and the recent virtual event by Tile’s Jossie Haines on equality and inclusion. (You can still catch up here – it’s well worth a listen.)

The Anonymous Five: small business owner, UK

For this month’s “Anonymous Five”, the face behind the curtain belongs to a small business owner, at a UK-based womenswear company.

They tell us what a nightmare day would look like, and why marketers should take the time to find out where a small business is in their journey – and the specific challenges they’re facing – rather than just assuming the owner is overwhelmed.

Thank you, anonymous business owner, for your time. We’ve donated to the charity of your choice: The Wave Project.

Here’s what you will find in this episode…

1.00 – Jane Morrin chats about changing jobs during a pandemic

5.00 – Our interview with B2B founder, Joel Harrison

24.46 – David and Jane add their thoughts on the evolution of B2B marketing

36.51 – How this year will change the B2B world forever

47:38 – The Anonymous Five: a small business owner

Send us your thoughts, feedback or cute pet photos…

Contact us through @radixcom on Twitter or [email protected] (if you’re up for it, email us a voice memo).

How to listen 

Credits 

Thank you to Joel Harrison, it was fantastic to share some of your pet peeves, and hear you get so passionate. Also, a big thanks to Jane Morrin for being a wonderful co-host. You’re both stars.

Podcast editing and music by Bang and Smash

Podcast 87: B2B content for the public sector

Posted on by The Radix Team

The public sector isn’t like any other B2B audience. The people, the practices, and the motivations are very different – and there are whole ecosystems of sectors within sectors. So how do you avoid creating marketing content that’s tone deaf, and publish something that actually works?

In this special edition of Good Copy, Bad Copy, we go pretty deep to find out. We dive headfirst into the world of B2B public sector content, with not one, not two, but three interviewees, alongside other contributions from leading marketers and anonymous public sector buyers.

First up is Raine Hunt, marketing and communications director for NHS Shared Business Services – a joint venture between the Department of Health and the IT company Sopra Steria. As someone who’s part of the NHS, but also markets to NHS organisations, Raine’s double role gives her a wealth of insights into the biggest challenges you’ll face when creating public sector content.

Later, we’re joined by Hannah Marques and Mike Wilkinson of CACI Ltd, who won the B2B Marketing Award for Best Use of Content Marketing for the emotionally-led “Walk in their Shoes” campaign, addressing the youth justice sector. They talk about the power of content that helps a public sector audience to tell their own compelling story – underpinning emotion with logical, data-backed messages.

We also share valuable contributions from Microsoft public sector marketing lead Shona Wright, and experienced public sector marketer Lynn File.

And last, but by no means least, an anonymous director at an NHS trust spills the beans on which marketing goes straight in the bin, reveals what a bad day at the office looks like, and explains why they hate receiving content that’s aimed at local authorities.

Public sector content: takeaways, tips and advice

Here are just a few of the nuggets we gleaned from our guests in this episode:

  • There’s no one public sector. Although there’s a loose categorisation, every service is different – and each require a different vocabulary and messaging. Usually, you can’t speak to a local council in the same way you would to a police force. The NHS alone houses dozens of different sub-sectors.
  • Research, research, research. As with any B2B marketing content, it’s critical to know exactly who your audience is, the challenges they face, and how you can help them do their job. Even within organisations, there’s a world of different job roles, each requiring its own approach.
  • Use the correct language, correctly. The best public sector content carefully balances emotive content with a rational business case. In both cases, speaking the right language is the key to being taken seriously. But don’t scatter terms willy-nilly, or be glib about challenges you don’t understand. This audience can spot phoney engagement a mile away.

Public vs private sector content: what’s the difference?

Turns out, quite a lot. With a little input from Microsoft’s Shona Wright, and Brand Innovation’s Lynn File, George takes a look at how marketing to the two sectors varies – and where crossovers exist.

Take a listen to find out:

  • How customer experience expectations are shifting, and how the public sector can keep up
  • Why the internal processes and timelines in each sector are so different, and how that impacts content creation
  • What local authorities and organisations can learn from the digital disruption of the retail industry

(He’s also working on a longer article for us about this very topic, so keep an eye out.)

The Anonymous Five: Director, NHS Trust

This month’s “Anonymous Five” interview packs quite a punch. Our hardest-hitting yet, the interview offers a glimpse into the life of a director at an NHS Trust.

They tell us the best (and worst) pieces of marketing aimed at the NHS, explain why “service user” is the least-bad way to describe customers, and provide a humbling glimpse into their worst working days.

Thank you, anonymous director, for your time. We’ve sent a donation to your charity of choice: Refugee Action.

Here’s what you’ll find in episode 87…

2.42 – Raine Hunt offers a unique perspective on marketing inside the NHS

20.01 – Hannah Marques and Mike Wilkinson from CACI Ltd discuss emotion-led content

30.41 – We unpack the key lessons from our interviews

38.07 – George shares top content tips from leading public sector marketers

48.44 – The Anonymous Five: The life of an NHS trust director

Send us your feedback, thoughts, and deepest, darkest secrets…

Contact us through @radixcom on Twitter or [email protected] (if you want to be our favourite listener, send us a voice memo).

How to listen 

Credits 

A massive thank you to our wonderful interviewees, contributors, and anonymous public sector spies for taking the time out of your busy schedules to talk to us. We hope you’re happy with the results.

Podcast editing and music by Bang and Smash

Podcast 86: stakeholders and storytelling

Posted on by The Radix Team

In this month’s Good Copy, Bad Copy we’re joined by guest co-host Angela Cattin, as we find out just how much behind-the-scenes work it takes to align stakeholders behind an award-winning B2B campaign.

Our interviewee is Mwamba Kasanda, from Barings. In her previous role at Korn Ferry, Mwamba spearheaded the Global Talent Crunch campaign, which managed to bring a new perspective into the crowded space that is “Future of Work” thought leadership. It ended up garnering hundreds of PR features, reaching a business leadership audience, generating millions of dollars in revenue, and winning pretty much all the awards.

But that success is just the last mile in a long, long journey. And Mwamba shares the process she used to secure global stakeholder support for the company’s biggest and most ambitious campaign to date.

Ideas for aligning your stakeholders

The interview is a real eye-opener, with inspiration and ideas for B2B marketers in all kinds of organisations – especially if you’re in a sector with a lot of companies talking about the same subject. You’ll hear:

  • How Mwamba used a small, preceding campaign as a springboard to the big idea
  • The challenge – and benefit – of involving stakeholders right from the idea generation phase
  • Tips for preparing global champions to tell resonant local versions of the same story
  • The eleventh-hour stakeholder intervention that improved the campaign’s international appeal
  • When to fight for your idea, and when to compromise
  • Why data and storytelling are both essential factors in winning stakeholder support

Mwamba’s unusual approach succeeded in elevating the idea from a marketing campaign into an organisation-wide business initiative. And ultimately, this helped colleagues around the world to run with the story, and turn the content into sales.

The Anonymous Five: SME IT Director

This month also sees an outsourced IT director tackling the “Anonymous Five” – our semi-regular feature giving you a quick window into the minds of the real people behind key B2B marketing personas.

The subject, who works with small and medium-sized businesses, opens up about their ambitions, which content they actually read, and whether cybersecurity can ever be anything more positive than an annoying pain in the bum.

(Thanks, anonymous IT director, for your time. We’ve made a donation to your nominated charity: Pregnancy Sickness Support.)

Here’s what you’ll hear in episode 86…

2.25 – Angela shares how different tech companies are responding to COVID

5.33 – How Mwamba and Man Bites Dog gave “The Future of Work” a human angle

8.16 – Winning stakeholder support though involvement in the idea generation phase

11.40 – The stakeholder conversation that inspired a key campaign improvement

17.17 – Building on a smaller campaign to secure support for the big idea

25.15 – Mwamba’s key tips for winning stakeholder engagement

29.10 – Creating a global  “Champion’s Pack” with instructions and a social contract

32.34 – Angela shares her own perspective on global stakeholders and storytelling

44.34 – The Anonymous Five: an IT director talks technical content and cybersecurity

Send us your feedback, questions and thoughts…

Contact us through @radixcom on Twitter or [email protected] (best of all, email us a voice memo from your phone).

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Mwamba Kasanda is now Global Head of Client Communications at Barings. Mwamba, thanks for sharing your stakeholder engagement process in such detail. We’re certain our listeners will be inspired.

Angela Cattin provides specialist marketing support for B2B technology businesses – including interim marketing leadership – through Interalia Marketing. If you’d like to chat, you can find her on LinkedIn. Thanks, Angela, for being an awesome co-host.

Podcast editing and music, as ever, by the masterful talents of Bang and Smash.

Podcast 85: B2B blog writing statistics – what’s changed, and why?

Posted on by The Radix Team

In this month’s Good Copy, Bad Copy, we’re looking at not one, but two recent reports into the current attitudes and trends driving B2B blog writing.

With the publication of the 2020 Content Marketing Institute (CMI) benchmarking report, it’s clear that marketers no longer malign blogging the same way they did back in the dark days of… *checks calendar* …oh yes, the mid-2010s.

Back then, blogs were often seen as a quick, cheap, and easy SEO tactic. In the equivalent CMI report from 2016, only 59% of B2B marketers considered them effective – ranking the format behind events, webinars, case studies, white papers, videos, research reports, and email newsletters.

But attitudes have shifted. Today, 89% of B2B marketers publish blogs, and it’s considered the highest-performing format for brand awareness, and the second-highest for lead nurture.

What’s behind the renaissance in B2B blog writing?

To try and explain what’s happening, and frame our own recent experiences writing blogs for B2B tech clients, David and Katy unpack the 2019 Orbit Media report How Has Blogging Changed?

The results are fascinating, and do much to verify that in 2020, blogs are a vital source of informed, long-lasting, and practical content.

Basically, blogs got better.

Here’s a sample of some of the stats that made us feel warm and fuzzy inside (and a couple that didn’t – we’ll let you guess which):

  • The average blog post is 1,236 words long – 56% longer than in 2014
  • 77% of marketers published “how-to” articles in the last 12 months
  • The average blog post takes 3 hours and 57 minutes to write
  • 75% of bloggers who report “strong results” include 10+ images per article
  • 51% of bloggers say their blog delivers strong marketing results

The Anonymous Five:  IT Procurement Manager

This episode also sees a welcome return for our “Anonymous Five” feature – giving a warts-and-all glimpse into the real-life experiences behind common B2B marketing personas.

This month, we talk to a senior IT procurement manager at a leading British technology retailer, and their nominated charity is Sebastian’s Action Trust.

If there are other roles you’d like to see us cover (or if you know someone who’d exchange some honest views for a charity donation), do drop us a line. We’re on [email protected].

Here’s what you’ll find when in Episode 85…

2:30 – 89% of marketers now use the blog format, so what’s happening?

7:30 – Is it ever smart to rely solely on yourself for blog proofing? (Spoiler: no)

12:30 – Katy and David unpack the Orbit Media 2019 blogging report – debate ensues

24:15 – The return of the Anonymous Five, this time with a senior IT procurement manager at a leading technology retailer

Send us your feedback, thoughts, cries for help…

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

How to listen 

Credits 

Podcast editing and music by Bang and Smash