Category: The Blog

How to brief your copywriter – in briefing documents and on calls

Posted on by The Radix Team

There’s no such thing as the perfect brief.

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

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

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

Briefing documents – six questions to ask yourself

  1. How much background should I give?

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

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

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

  1. What do I want the outcome to be?

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

  1. Who are our readers?

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

  1. Why are we producing this content now?

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

  1. What’s the call to action?

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

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

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

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

Common briefing call challenges, and how to solve them

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

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

  1. Too many attendees

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

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

  1. The focus of the call drifts

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

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

  1. Technical issues

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

Put yourself in the writer’s shoes

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

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

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

How to commission B2B tech thought leadership – a guide

Posted on by The Radix Team

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

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

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

Let me help you out.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Step 3: Build a detailed brief

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Step 6: Create something outstanding

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

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

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

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

Putting thoughts into words

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

Should content marketers be using AI-generated video?

Posted on by John Kerrison

Hand-on-heart what did you think of the video above? You can be honest – since it was largely produced by an algorithm, there’s zero chance of the director offering to beat you up.

The video was created using an online text-to-video platform called VideoGen. It cost about the same as ordering a pizza and the whole process, including the time spent writing the script and tinkering with the output, probably took around 45 minutes. The time it took an AI algorithm to generate the video itself was under a minute.

For the most part, it’s perfectly serviceable, no? Especially when you consider how time-consuming and expensive it can be to create video content from scratch. (The average cost of even simple content, like an explainer video, is around $5,400.) Unless you were looking for it, I think you’d be hard pushed to distinguish this from most other corporate marketing videos that combine stock imagery, ambient music, and voice over.

So, as 18% of businesses weave AI tools into their video production workflows, is AI-generated video content worth considering?

Understanding AI tools for video creation

AI is already transforming video production in the same way it’s transforming other complex processes, by automating and accelerating repetitive and time-consuming tasks. But we wanted to go a step further and look at the tools marketing teams without their own video production capabilities (like our own) can use to create full videos from scratch.

There’s a lot of variety in this market, in terms of both video style and content quality.

Some programs use prompts to generate “original” footage  (welcome to the uncanny valley, please mind the hands). Others provide digital avatars that will read your script like some sort of slightly unsettling Red Dwarf throwback.

We created our video with VideoGen, because we wanted a video that wasn’t so obviously AI-generated. (And, let’s be frank, because it was quick and cheap.) And because its own marketing hails it as “the most powerful AI video generator ever!” All VideoGen asks is that you enter a script into a text box. The AI then uses key words from your text to pull images from a stock footage library, while a computer-generated voiceover reads it aloud.

The process is more “sortamated” than automated, as it rarely gets everything right first time. As you can see from the first version of our introductory video below, you’re often met with irrelevant imagery, inappropriate music, mistimed transitions and a host of other not-quites. At one point the program insisted on putting a “like and subscribe” page for YouTube directly in the middle of the video, which felt hopeful at best – like AI’s version of *shrug* “maybe this’ll do”.

All of this means, even with one of the most basic tools around, marketers are destined to spend a fair amount of time using a software interface to fine tune their creations.

The dangers of undifferentiation

As I put various iterations of our script through the program, I began to get an odd sense of déjà vu. It quite quickly became apparent that I was being fed the same stock footage over and over – same clip, different day. Despite the service boasting a library of 500,000 videos to choose from.

This seemed far from ideal when the last thing you want your marketing to be is generic and derivative.

And that’s a problem that extends beyond stock-footage-dependent tools like VideoGen. Even if you use a tool that generates images from scratch, you’re likely to encounter a “look” that can be attributed to that particular program. Much the same way lots of people can instinctively tell when something has been written by Chat-GPT.

For me, this is a good enough reason never to use AI-generated video for customer-facing marketing content. Above all else, you want that content to be both unique and specific to your brand.

But there are some scenarios where it could save marketers time and money, with far fewer risks. Given many people find video content much easier to engage with than the written word, AI-generated videos could be a cheap and effective addition to the usual package of sales enablement collateral.

Equally, by providing a way to create rough prototypes of video content, they’re likely to help marketers better convey their ideas when briefing in their human video production teams.

Cutting edge or cutting corners?

Marketers have spent decades talking about the importance of personalised journeys and tailored content. And in recent years, the rise in data analytics has made engaging with prospects as people, not percentages, much more achievable.

In many ways, presenting your audience with AI-generated content runs counter to this trend. Yes, you could argue it creates the opportunity to cost-effectively spin up multiple videos, within a small window of time, and speak more directly to specific audience segments – or even specific individuals. But if they can tell it’s been made by AI – and they can, even when it’s been done well – how will that affect their perception of your brand? Toys “R” Us recently provided the world with a great example of how AI-generated content can backfire.

This won’t be true in every case. In some instances and industries, creating video content that shows you’re operating at the cutting edge of AI experimentation could have the opposite effect, impressing your customers and prospects and positioning you as a trailblazer. But whatever your brand and your target audience, the decision to use AI-generated video isn’t one to be taken lightly.

What you won’t get from AI-generated videos

As marketers, we strive to create moments of resonance – genuine, human reactions. Most often, this happens when we break with the long-established formula. When, instead of slotting the same old ideas together in the same old ways as everyone else, we find more surprising (and usually, more human) messages and media.

Those moments require, perhaps more than anything, a sophisticated understanding of human relationships and emotions. Something that can’t be quantified or taught, but is instead just inherently understood – by people, but not by algorithms or machines.

Talking this blog post through with my colleagues, I kept finding myself coming back to the ending of Mike Nichols’ The Graduate (1968). In the final scene of the film, Dustin Hoffman and Katherine Ross’s characters sit at the back of a bus having fled from Ross’s wedding.

There’s a pivotal moment here – what in screenwriting parlance is called a beat – that’s dragged out over several heavy seconds, as we slowly see the enormity of our characters’ actions dawn on them. You’ve probably seen it, so I won’t go on. But this moment, for me, is the perfect example of a human artist’s ability to connect with an audience by understanding the human condition – and being led by what felt right.

Nichols intuitively knew how long that wordless moment needed to be. He understood what his characters were thinking in those seconds, and how the audience would understand those thoughts, too. If you asked AI to edit that film, it would almost certainly be six seconds shorter, and 100 times worse. It would be technically correct. But at the same time, entirely wrong. It’s in this intangible space – in those insightful, empathetic six seconds – that humans will continue to show their creative superiority.

In time, I have no doubt that a healthy balance will be found between marketer and machine – one in which AI simplifies and accelerates processes and leaves more room for such human creativity to flourish. We’re already seeing the fruits of that fertile middle ground. But relying on AI to be creative on your behalf will always feel like cutting corners to me. And when its source material is solely things people have created in the past, you’re removing any hope for originality.

For now then, we should continue to put people in charge of talking to people. And only allow technology to lend a hand.

Expert Q&A: Stephanie Wisdom on surfing the content marketing wave – and bringing customers along for the ride

Posted on by Chloe Jones

When future historians write the story of content marketing, a lot of words will be devoted to the last 20 years – from the unstoppable rise of social media, to the welcome demise of keyword stuffing.

Stephanie Wisdom has lived, and led, though it all. In her recent roles at Udemy, the professional online learning provider, and Five9, an intelligent CX platform provider, she’s created global-scale customer marketing strategies and cemented her reputation as a visionary in the world of customer advocacy.

We sat down with Stephanie to discuss how content marketing has evolved and how to create successful, customer-centric content in 2025.

Radix: How has content marketing changed since you began your career?

Stephanie:

“The most obvious change? In the ’90s, when I started in content marketing as a tech writer, every piece of marketing collateral was still on paper! But really, the most significant change has been the diversification of content formats and the rise of social selling.

As an enterprise company, you have to be on YouTube at the very least, but you should also be on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. All these need to support your sales.

Another area that’s evolved quickly is SEO. When it first became a thing, it mostly just involved stuffing keywords into content. Now that search engines are much smarter – and they actually prioritise user intent and content quality – there’s actually a lot more you can achieve.”

Radix: Did working as a copywriter give you an insight into what makes good content?

Stephanie:

“When I started out as a tech writer, there was a much greater focus on getting the technical details right. Now, writing and creating content marketing is all about storytelling.

To be impactful, you have to tell a story that reflects your company’s brand values and resonates with your audience, all while ensuring the content is built in the right format.

My goal, whether I’m working on a case study or speaking at an event, is to use storytelling to really create a personal connection. I’m not someone who thinks technical messages are enough; for me, it’s all about building an emotional relationship.

Many companies just have transactional relationships with their customers, but I don’t think that’s what customers want. Customers want to know they’re working with a company that cares about them and their goals, and wants them to succeed – especially when it comes to B2B.”

Radix: You mentioned the importance of social selling. How have you seen it evolve and can you share any best practices?

 Stephanie:

“Social selling really took off with the introduction of brand ambassador platforms. When I’ve used these platforms and uploaded content for the sales team to share, I’ve seen huge successes.

Instead of just one person or brand profile sharing a piece of content and reaching 250 customers, the entire sales team can reach thousands.

My social team will write posts that our sales team can instantly share on their personal accounts with a single click. You can help them populate their profiles with weeks’ worth of content in minutes, and ensure they’re sharing your content with the right tags, keywords, and information to reach your audience. It makes facilitating the connection between sales and customers much easier.”

Radix: Can you tell us about a content marketing project you’re especially proud of?

Stephanie:

“I started awards programmes at both Five9 and Udemy that recognise top customers. And I’m not talking about top customers based on the amount of product they purchase or their revenue figures. This is about recognising customers based on how they are using the product and the results they are seeing.

I love these programmes because they acknowledge the work that customers put in to succeed with any new technology.

I also did a video series at Five9 called Take Five, where we asked customers five questions in five minutes. This made for really successful content, because it allowed us to humanise the customer for our audience while simultaneously humanising our own company.

It’s storytelling in its purest and best form. Just sitting and talking to the customer, asking about their business, the successes they’re seeing, and what our audience can learn from them.

As I mentioned earlier, many marketers view customers in a transactional way, but they’re much more than that. Your customers are what keeps your company alive, and as a content manager, that’s a reason to take customer advocacy very seriously.”

Radix: What are the most exciting trends in content marketing, right now?

Stephanie:

“We’re really starting to see a rise in the use of influencers in the enterprise and midmarket space. If you go on TikTok, the majority of the content you’ll see is by influencers, often for small and medium-sized businesses.

That wasn’t a thing in B2B marketing five years ago – especially in the tech space – but we’re seeing that influencer marketing starting to grow.

I’ve worked with influencers at both Udemy and Five9, and it really helps expand your world. They have different followers and audiences than you do, and if you find the right influencer to share your information, you’ll receive huge engagement.

We’ll also start to see dedicated TikTok roles form on social media teams, as that’s where a huge influx of people are going.”

Radix: What advice would you give to someone starting out as a content marketer in 2025?

Stephanie:

“It’s a really exciting career, but you have to be prepared for the evolution it takes, because it never remains stagnant. It’s always changing.

Successful content marketing requires feeding customers information in a way they find easiest to consume. In my lifetime, that’s looked like mailing white papers and going to events with a suitcase full of printouts. Today, it looks like providing a QR code and offering instant access.

You always need to keep up with the latest trends and embrace new formats, platforms, and technologies while maintaining centred control. You also need to be ready to switch up your strategy and think ahead.

Content marketing is one of the few careers in which you can constantly A/B test to see what works, so use that to your advantage.”

Let’s keep the conversation flowing

Looking for more insights from Stephanie? Be sure to follow her on LinkedIn. If there are other B2B thought-leaders you’d like us to interview, just let us know at [email protected].

Reviewing B2B copywriting? Steal our 16-point quality checklist

Posted on by The Radix Team

In any industry where quality matters, there are a series of objective tests that a product has to pass before it’s released. But somehow, assessing B2B marketing content still seems to be a highly subjective process.

Maybe there’s a belief that creative work is exempt from objective judgement, or a fear of provoking arguments and resentment among writers and stakeholders. Still, nobody reviewing B2B writing seems to have a clear idea of what good looks like.

And that’s ironic. Because in most other contexts, a simple checklist of definable yes/no tests – making quality a little less subjective – is precisely the thing that prevents disagreement.

At Radix, we challenged the idea that evaluating writing is only ever subjective. So, we created a clear, 16-point QA checklist that’s inspired by the process we follow for all our internal reviews – the ones our content leads do before the client sees the work.

Our QA process helps to safeguard quality, but it also improves consistency across our writing team by highlighting areas for development in both writers’ work and client briefs.

And it works so well that we want to share it with you.

B2B Content Marketers checklist for assessing quality technology copywriting

A 16-point quality check for your B2B content

The questions you can use to guide your reviews are grouped into five tests, reflecting the five key B2B copywriting competencies: accuracy, clarity, authority, empathy, and wizardry.

Test A: Accuracy

Q1: Is the copy free from factual errors?

Readers won’t take your content seriously if it’s littered with factual inaccuracies or (worse) straight-up lies. This is basic integrity.

Q2: Have you screened for typos, grammatical errors, and spelling mistakes?

Writers and marketers are only human, and typing is hard. But your reader may not be forgiving, so take the time to proof thoroughly.

Note: If you’re using the QA checklist to identify issues for development, you’ll need a scoring threshold that separates consistent errors from occasional slips. If you’re interested, our wording is: “Are there two typos or fewer per 500 words AND is the copy free from grammatical and spelling errors (that aren’t obvious typos)?”

Q3: Does the piece meet the technical requirements (word and character count limits, templates, style guide, SEO)?

This might seem niche, but it’ll save a lot of headaches when you come to upload documents into your CMS or pass your copy on to designers. The point to take away is that the copy needs to meet the technical requirements of the format.

Plus, adhering to file-naming conventions makes managing content easier for everyone.

(So far, so good. The first three questions should ensure your copy is error-free. But we’re just getting started…)

Test B: Clarity

Q4: Does the copy have a logical structure that presents a compelling argument?

Usually, a B2B decision-maker isn’t interested in reading meandering walls of copy or navigating subversive storytelling approaches. Your content can be long, but you must take your reader with you. That means you need a strong structure that always makes sense.

Q5: Is the point of the piece obvious – from the start and throughout the narrative?

If you’ve got to the end of the introduction and aren’t sure why you should continue reading, or if the piece completely tails off towards its conclusion, the result is the same: you’ve lost your reader. (And your mark for this question.)

Q6: Is every sentence easy to read?

If you find yourself rereading sentences, tripping over grammar, or referring to Google to understand the language, the piece won’t work. If your reader is a senior decision-maker, time-poor, or reading on a mobile device, that only adds to the pressure to ease the cognitive load.

The “every sentence” part of the question sets an incredibly high bar – B2B tech can be complex – but this is important, so we make no apologies for that.

Test C: Authority

Q7: Is there appropriate use of technical or industry terms that are relevant for the intended audience?

There’s no point claiming expertise if you don’t speak your reader’s language. If the content is for a specialist B2B audience, the writer will likely need to use relevant technical jargon where appropriate. And they’ll need to handle it correctly – too much B2B content sprays industry terms around to mask a lack of confidence, and it always shows.

Q8: Are the claims supported by evidence and specific details?

Talk is cheap, so ensure every claim is specific and appropriately sourced. Don’t just say it’s fast; say how fast. Don’t say a viewpoint is widely acknowledged; link to an example. If there are references to studies or ongoing news stories, ensure the sources cited are the most recent available.

Q9: Is the copy free from waffle, hyperbole, clichés, and overly formal language?

Hyperbole fails when it promises the impossible (inflated language makes you less believable). If the writer seems too in love with their thesaurus, they might be making up for lack of relevant knowledge.

“If you care about being thought credible and intelligent, do not use complex language where simpler language will do.” Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow

Test D: Empathy

Q10: Is there evidence that the writer understands the target audience?

This is fundamental to effective B2B marketing content. If the brief failed to define the audience, the writer should’ve pushed back before they even got close to writing.

Q11: Does the piece avoid making assumptions about the audience?

This is a tricky one. When you’ve done your audience research, it’s easy to go too far and lapse into telling the reader what they must think. Some writers will do this without realising, but making ill-advised assumptions only alienates the audience or dilutes the piece’s credibility.

Q12: Are the content and tone appropriate to the audience’s interests, priorities, and knowledge level?

How many B2B content pieces aimed at a particular sector start by defining the market or saying why it’s important? Newsflash: if you work there, you already know.

You need to understand your audience’s knowledge and awareness level. This is partly about the language, of course. But it’s also about being excited by the right things and going beyond features and benefits to understand the real difference a product, service, or idea will make to someone’s working life.

Test E: Wizardry

Q13: Does the piece offer original insight and value to the reader?

Not every piece needs to reinvent the wheel, but it does need to offer tangible value to the reader – and more content pieces fail on this count than any other. It might be new primary research, an original point of view, or a handy 16-point checklist (ahem), but the reader needs to gain something in return for their time.

Q14: Is it written in the right voice?

This is a little easier if you only write for one brand, but still, the piece needs to sound right. If you cover up the branding, is it still clear who’s speaking? Whether you’re writing on behalf of a brand or by-lining to an individual, reading should feel like the client is sitting in your head, dictating it to you.

Q15: Is it engaging and enjoyable to read? And is it likely to incite readers to action?

Place yourself in the reader’s shoes. Does the end arrive quicker than you thought, or does it seem like hard work? Do you naturally want to take the next step, whatever that may be?

What interests this audience may bore you to tears, but if a piece is well written, you should be able to get to the end and say, “Yes, that would work for me if I was a slurry engineer.” If that’s the case, then hey, good stuff.

Q16: And most importantly… Does the piece meet the brief and reflect the right messaging?

After meeting all the points above, it’s important to consider whether the piece reflects the initial brief. If your answer is no, you must take a few steps back and identify where you went wrong.

Even if you’ve produced the most well-written blog post of the year, it won’t be useful to your client – or your campaign – if it doesn’t reflect what you set out to achieve.

If your content scores 16/16, it’s ready to go…

Having reviewed thousands of pieces of content to date (from individual emails to messaging frameworks and entire websites), we find that this checklist works pretty well as a scoring tool.

Your needs might differ; some questions could be more relevant than others. You may also have technical requirements that require greater nuance.

If that’s the case, feel free to download our B2B content scoresheet and make your own version. Maybe you’ll want to change the questions or weight the scoring somehow. Get creative.

But the point is this: asking clear, objective questions makes it much easier to tell whether your content works and reduces the number of arguments you’ll have about preferences. It can help you spot issues and change how you brief, write, and review. And ultimately, it’ll stop you from rushing out weak content.

If it helps to improve the quality of B2B tech content overall, then by all means, steal away. We’ll be delighted.

What’s the big idea?

Posted on by Steve George

Great content starts with a big idea. It’s the thing you want to say that nobody else has the experience, authority, or guts to talk about. It’s your unique perspective on the world you operate in. It’s your story.

The trouble is, when you’re operating in a crowded market – like, say, B2B tech – that angle isn’t always easy to find. You might have plenty to talk about, but still you may find you’re lacking that all-important hook that’s going to differentiate you from the crowd.

Similarly, you may find that you just don’t know enough about what others are saying and talking about to see where your unique opinions, viewpoints and messages lie.

But fear not. I’ve helped quite a few B2B tech companies find and develop their big idea, and I’m going to share some tips to help you do the same.

What do you think you do better than anyone else?

You might have a perfectly rehearsed elevator pitch for what your organisation does, and hopefully you understand which elements of your messaging resonate best with your target customers. But when it comes down to it, what’s the one thing your business really does best?

It’s a far more difficult question to answer than many people expect. It forces you to really get to the essence of what you do differently – and often, once you get there, the answer appears far less exceptional or exciting than you really want it to be.

Think about a huge global tech company for example. They’re built on a history of innovation, but today the cloud services they provide look pretty similar to the offerings of their competitors. It may transpire that the one thing they do better than the rest of their market is guiding and serving customers.

Every marketer in that company wishes with every fibre of their being that their tech was in some way superior to that of their competitors. But in this case, it’s not. There’s no unique story there. The thing they can really speak about with authority is the value of guidance and customer service – a concept that to most won’t seem very exciting at first glance.

But ultimately, the thing you do best is going to form the basis of your big content idea – assuming your customers actually agree with it.

What do your customers think you do better than anyone else?

New research from the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs shows 58% of B2B content marketers don’t talk to customers when they’re planning. That’s crazy.

When it comes to planning and creating content, interviewing your customers is one of the most valuable things a copywriter like me can do. Often, the positive thoughts and feelings they have to share about your products or services are remarkably different from what you’ll find in your sales team’s pitches.

Customers have a unique perspective on what it really is that your business does differently, because they see the context of your market – and they choose you. So if you’re struggling to find your own unique story to tell, it’s worth talking to them directly.

And similarly, if you think you’ve found your own big story to tell, you’re going to want to run it past some existing customers to make sure it rings true, before you push ahead with building a content program around it.

What are your competitors saying?

Once you’ve built a balanced picture of what you do best, your head will hopefully start filling with exciting ideas for stories and content you could create. But before you push that button, it’s worth checking out what your competitors are saying.

Maybe they’re not saying anything particularly special or inspiring, but its important to understand the nuances of the conversation, so you can stand out.

Firstly, it’s important for ensuring that what you want to say truly is unique. Secondly, it’s going to give you an idea of the sorts of myths and misconceptions that others are perpetuating that you may want to dispel as part of your big idea.

Where is your business (and your market) heading?

Looking at what’s happening today is important, but your big idea is going to fuel your content plans for (hopefully) months to come. The things you do right now may form the basis for it, but to some degree it also needs to be future-facing.

Do you anticipate major changes in your market over the coming years? Is your product strategy likely to change for any reason in the coming months? And if the answer to either of those questions is yes, why is that?

If you’ve identified changes that your business needs to react to, you’ve also identified valuable topics that you can start discussing in your content today – these are your best opportunities to own a significant conversation in your market.

Big ideas push you towards your best content

Whatever your big idea turns out to be – whether it’s a tough truth your market doesn’t discuss, or a big change that you think is going to impact your market or your customers – having one is going to help you build better content.

At the most basic level, coming up with a big idea forces you to think critically about which subjects are really worth discussing in depth. It keeps you away from creating content for content’s sake, and ensures a level of consistency across everything you produce.

Your big idea isn’t the only thing that your content will explore and discuss, but it is the thread that should tie all of your content together. As little ideas come and go, look at them through the lens of your big idea – identifying ways of exploring emerging topics and hot trends in a way that complements and aligns with the core of your content marketing efforts.

We asked, they answered: copywriting for B2B social media

Posted on by Steve George

It’s understandable that clients often ask us for social media advice. We write social posts, and much of the B2B content we write gets shared online. But we’re always acutely aware that we’re only copywriters, and social media is a fast-moving field, with expertise and best practice all of its own. We can write you a great LinkedIn article, but we can’t tell you how you should use it.

So we were delighted when we were joined by social media expert Kate Stoodley from Comment Ground for episode 71 of our podcast. It gave us a great chance to ask all our most burning questions – but there was still loads more we (and our audience) wanted to know.

And so the idea for this pair of head-to-head blog posts was born.

B2B copywriters and social media specialists approach similar challenges in very different ways and contexts. There’s so much we can learn from one another. So, why not put each other on the spot with a handful of hard-hitting questions, and shine some light on what each side really wants to know about the other?

Here’s how Kate responded to the B2B copywriting inquisition. If you’d like to see how I answered Comment Ground’s questions, keep an eye on their blog: the Comment Ground Commentary. This blog’s twin will be appearing soon!

Question 1: How does the length of copy on a B2B social post affect its performance, and are there any clear trends in the data? (Also, how many hashtags is too many?)

Kate: There are many factors to consider when thinking about social post length; data and trends, the channel, the topic, the goal and of course the intended audience. While it’s absolutely worth considering best practices and guides (like this comprehensive one from Hootsuite), it’s equally if not more important for B2B companies to test, test and test again to determine what performs best for their content, audience and networks.

Across most social channels right now, there’s one clear trend emerging – that less is most definitely more. On LinkedIn, recent data found that shorter updates outperform longer ones, with 16-25 words being a general goal for B2B. Brevity also still rules on Facebook, where posts with approximately 40 characters receive 86% more engagement than their lengthier counterparts.

Interestingly, despite upping the character limit from the infamous 140 to 280, shorter tweets (100 characters and under) also still typically perform best. Hashtags can be used more liberally on this network – though we’re seeing marketers’ focus shift to quality over quantity, even on this rapid-fire platform, and especially for B2B.

Question 2: There’s a perception among copywriters that social channels are a good place to test the limits of a brand’s voice and tone. Is that fair, or is it better to be consistent with other copy?

Kate: Social is definitely a prime arena for testing brand voice and tone limits. In fact, we recommend crafting a social-specific voice to many of our clients. Simultaneously though, we also advise our B2B clients to ensure they keep the focus on what their customer wants, and how they prefer to be communicated with.

It’s tempting to view social as an opportunity to let the creative juices flow, and while that can be true, most B2B buyers aren’t looking for brands to stray too far from their core offering/messaging/style. Most B2B buyers report wanting to feel understood and in good hands – and to be able to quickly recognize a brand’s post.

Question 3: What things are B2C brands doing in social that B2B hasn’t caught onto yet? Can B2B ever be on the same level as B2C in social, given the personal nature of the channel?

Kate: To answer the second question first – Yes! B2B brands can be on the same level as B2C in most ways. However, B2B brands should not aspire to do something just because B2C can.

In terms of the personal nature of social, B2C brands are still definitely quite a way ahead of B2B. Generally, they’re doing a better job of personalizing copy and posts to resonate with consumer buying habits and different personas. However, we are starting to see exciting B2B personalized social content emerging, largely thanks to ABM’s rise in popularity.

B2C brands’ visuals tend to garner lots of attention. For B2B brands, the volume and quality of data at their fingertips presents an exciting opportunity to do the same. By grabbing a stat that their audience is really interested in and presenting it in a compelling way, B2B brands can create engaging visual social content that feels just as fresh as what B2C is doing.

Lastly, B2B is still in the early stages of effective employee and C-Suite social programs. Despite an almost over-abundance of thought leadership content and talk, there’s still a huge opportunity for B2B brands’ subject matter experts, sales teams, C-level leaders and other associates to showcase their brand’s culture and messages personally, in a way that will resonate with various target segments. After all, the people behind brands is where successful social is heading, regardless of industry.

Once again, we’d really like to thank Kate for her time and input. If you’d like to hear more from her, check out Good Copy, Bad Copy Episode 71, or visit the Comment Ground Commentary page.

Subject lines: the secret shortcut into the subconscious

Posted on by Steve George

Everyone knows email subject lines are important. They’re an offer or a teaser that either pulls readers in and intrigues them, or turns them off completely and sends them reaching for the unsubscribe button.

But here’s the big secret: subject lines do so much more than just get your emails opened. Most of the time, they’re the only thing your contact will read. They move the conversation forward – whether the email gets opened or not.

Yes, that goes against everything you’ve probably ever learned about subject lines, but stay with me for a moment. Because even when a subject line is great, most emails these days never get opened. We monitor the open rate, and the unopened majority just gets written off.

Meanwhile, every email we receive hits our pocket and grabs our attention with a smartphone notification – and that means there is huge value to be gained by looking at subject lines as discrete communications in their own right.

When it comes to opening your emails, your contacts get a decision. But, as far as reading subject lines goes, they don’t really opt in, or even make a conscious choice. They just do it. All the time. Day and night.

Taking the shortcut into the subconscious

Chances are, like me, you have hundreds if not thousands of unread emails sat in your inbox, from various companies you’ve engaged with over the years. You’ve grown indifferent to them, rarely opening them, but not going to the effort to unsubscribe from them either.

Think about those companies for a moment, then think about what they’ve said to you recently. Maybe you know that they’re having a sale, that they’re running some kind of contest or other promotion, or that they’ve got a new product launch coming up.

How did you know that? You didn’t go looking for that information, and you certainly didn’t read their emails.

Spooky.

Adding a new ingredient to your subject line soup

So, you’ve made your peace with the fact that the companies you’ve shared your details with are using subject lines as a shortcut into your brain, and we’ve determined that subject lines have intrinsic value as standalone communications.

But what does that mean when we’re writing them?

Even before factoring that new consideration in, your subject lines were doing a lot of heavy lifting. In one way or another, they’re already trying to effectively:

  • Convey the value of opening your email
  • Grab attention without looking like generic clickbait
  • Demonstrate an understanding of your customers’ unique needs
  • Offer something new or insightful without giving everything away upfront

Now, in addition to all of that, you’ve also got the task of ensuring that your subject lines convey a clear message when removed from the context of the email itself.

Here are four quick tips to help you do that (without having to unlearn everything you already know about writing great subject lines):

1: Lead with a single compelling insight/takeaway

Some schools of thought strongly argue that you shouldn’t give your most valuable insight away upfront, because if you do there’s no reason for someone to click through to whatever you’re offering.

I’ve never really agreed with that. If you’re fortunate enough to have something really exciting to share, front-loading it has to be worth serious consideration, at least. Why would you reserve your most important message for just those who open the email – when you already know they’ll likely be the minority?

2: Beware the perils of teasing

Clickbaity subject lines may have worked once upon a time, but today, people know clickbait when they see it. If you create subject lines that purely tease instead of demonstrating value, people that don’t open your email get nothing.

Once you recognise that the people that don’t open your emails are still important contacts, it becomes clear how a dangerous teasing subject line can be. If you consistently provide value, you just might inspire enough interest for them to re-engage. But if you keep giving someone nothing, it won’t take long before they finally do open one of your emails, as they scour it for the unsubscribe button.

3: Personalise the whole subject line (not just their name)

Increasingly, technology allows you to send your contact a tailored email, with strong reasons to click through that are personal to them. So why can’t the same principles be applied in your subject lines?

And I’m not talking about dropping their name and company into a generic title. Your customers provide you with enough data for you to determine what matters to them, so there’s no reason why you can’t lead with a tailored line that really resonates.

4: If your email had an eight-word limit, what would you say?

Emails are a strange beast. Because there’s no real limit on how long or complex they can be, we’re all guilty of not getting to the point quickly enough or spending too long dancing around the big thing we really want people to know or do.

I start any email I write by thinking about what I’d want to say to the customer if I only had eight words to do it. That helps me create subject lines that inspire opens more often – but say what they need to when they’re unopened too.

Say something meaningful, be heard

Seeing your subject lines as discrete communications in and of themselves is important for two big reasons.

Firstly, it’s going to help you communicate with contacts that you’ve long thought of as disengaged and perhaps re-establish your relationship with them.

And secondly, it forces you to look at your subject lines in a completely new way – one that forces you to really consider what value they’re delivering, and whether they actually tell anyone anything.

If you say something meaningful in your subject lines, you’ll be heard – by far more people than your open rates would have you believe.

How to tell a compelling brand story in a world full of heroes

Posted on by Steve George

As I took stock of everything I’ve learned throughout the year,  I had an interesting realisation. One of the most valuable copywriting lessons I learned this year didn’t happen in the Radix office.

It didn’t even happen in this world.

I’ve been a passionate player of MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games) since my early teens. My hobby has taken me to dozens of fantasy worlds, but my experience this year really stood out – and helped me develop as a B2B copywriter.

Everyone’s a hero. So now what?

The nature of MMORPGs makes traditional video game storytelling very difficult. In a world where millions of players are running around together and constantly interacting, it’s hard to make each and every one of them feel like they are the one true saviour of the digital world – destined for glory and power above all others.

Yet, in spite of the obvious challenges, the game I played this year – Final Fantasy 14 if you’re interested – does it almost flawlessly. In the game’s world of Eorzea, every single player character is the “warrior of light”, a chosen individual destined to save the world from multiple catastrophic threats.

That got me thinking about the B2B copy I write. I’ve often found myself working on a project for a client that wants to stand out from their competition and sees themselves as a lone hero, but – at first glance – doesn’t really have any massively compelling USPs.

A crowded and competitive market is much like a world full of heroes. Every company wants to stand out and feel unique, but only a handful have an offering that’s obviously differentiated and able to deliver value above that of the alternatives.

It’s a difficult situation that many copywriters dread. But thanks to my online experiences, it’s a challenge that I’ve learned to embrace and overcome. Instead of clutching at straws and trying to scrape some kind of pseudo-unique proposition together, I’ve learned to embrace it – and devised a few tips to help you craft your own compelling stories for businesses in hero-filled markets.

Finding your individuality

The game makes every player feel like a uniquely significant hero by using:

  • Almost endless character customisation options
  • A strong supporting cast of non-player characters
  • A unique character development system where you can be whatever you want to be

Those tactics are great for game developers looking to achieve the same. But how exactly do they translate into tips and strategies for a brand that wants to be a hero, when its competitors are all offering the same?

The honest answer is “not directly”. But, by thinking about the principles behind those game design decisions, I’ve helpfully engineered them into three simple tips for brands that need to find the extraordinary hidden in the everyday.

Differentiate the brand through tone

So, your brand can’t do anything more than your closest competitor can. It’s a grim reality that few company stakeholders – especially those in marketing – will ever hold their hands up to. But if you can, you’ll be at an advantage.

Because products and capabilities aren’t the only way to differentiate a brand.

Voice and tone are important weapons in any brand’s arsenal. They provide a simple way of showing your reader your attitude, your ethos, and why working with you is a different experience – even if on paper the features and benefits look much the same.

Even if you can’t offer a massive amount of unique value, you can make dealing with you a unique experience – and as a copywriter, we can help you demonstrate that by talking to the customer in a unique way.

Be more open, honest and friendly than your competition. The person reading your content is going to remember that, and often simply being honest and approachable is enough to secure customer interest in an offering.

Tell your customers’ success stories

Telling real success stories is a great way to make your company look heroic – even if, realistically, many of your competitors could have solved the same problems and achieved similar outcomes.

That’s because your reader might not be looking for unique value. Often, they just need to know that you solved a real, relatable problem for a customer in their position, and that the outcomes achieved were positive and appreciated.

(By the way, if you haven’t already read Kieran’s blog post on everything you need to know about B2B case studies, you really should.)

It’s really helpful if your writer can talk directly to a satisfied customer. Often, by explaining why they chose to work with the company and what they gained from it, customers can help uncover USPs and differentiators that senior stakeholders hadn’t even considered.

Because ultimately, in your customer’s world, you’re not the hero anyway. They are.

Say the things other companies are scared to say

If you’re in a well-worn sector, where best practice is well-established and there’s little genuinely new or exciting to say, don’t fake it.

Instead, try cutting the crap.

Is there an elephant in the room that people are scared to address? Is there common jargon or shallow promises that get thrown around a lot in the marketplace? Or – if you’re feeling particularly brave – is there a glaring weakness that is common across all available solutions in your market?

Discussing the points that others are afraid to – and being open and honest about them – is a great way to make a brand stand out, and show your attitude in practice.

Whether it’s breaking the silence on an underdiscussed flaw, or just openly acknowledging that most solutions in the market are very similar and will deliver similar results, openness can pay dividends.

Don’t bullshit. Ever.

Whether they want to rise to the top of their market, make a difference to their customers or simply continue growing, every company we engage with as B2B copywriters wants to be a hero. If they have a compelling story to tell already, then that’s great – but often, they’ll look to us to provide that spark.

A clear, differentiated narrative is a luxury not everyone can afford. Especially in B2B tech, too many brands overstretch trying to look unique, and end up undermining their credibility by pretending something’s different when it’s not.

Instead, it’s up to us to find ways of making the ordinary extraordinary, and helping individuals stand out from a crowd of others with the same capabilities, on the basis of their attitude. Their ethos. Their people.

As copywriters, we’re in a unique position to make that happen. We can influence things like tone, voice and honesty in communication to help a single voice rise above the static. We don’t need to try and sex-up product offerings or call on unsubstantiated facts to fabricate a narrative that simply isn’t there.

(Even if, sometimes, we need to push back on a brief, and have those awkward conversations for the brand’s own good. Because somebody has to.)

If the offer looks the same on paper, we need to be honest about that. Because the conversation that happens next is when we can really make our chosen champion feel like the only hero in their world.