Category: The Blog

Podcast 30: How to fire up your writers to create brilliant copy

Posted on by The Radix Team

During his keynote at this month’s Content Marketing World, Convince and Convert’s Jay Baer discussed the importance of passion in content marketing. He went on to say that:

“Passion is the differentiator, more so than any tactic. It will set you apart.”

And Velocity Partners’ Doug Kessler explained at this year’s B2B Summit – during his talk Stop Creating Crap: 10 reasons your content isn’t very good but could be – that one of the ways to produce great content is to fill your writers with enthusiasm.

In B2B, 70% of marketers are producing more content marketing now than they did in 2013, but content alone won’t move the needle. What’s going to make brands stand out is content that is truly great. Content fuelled by passionate, convincing copy that drives people to take action.

So how can you ensure your copywriters approach a blog post about your latest product with the same fervour as they would their own novel or personal blog?

In this episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy, I’m joined by Fiona to discuss what B2B marketers can do to help their copywriters find the inspiration they need to write outstanding content.

Listen now to find out:

  • Why great copy starts with a fired-up writer
  • What’s stopping your copywriters getting excited about your brief
  • 4 ways marketers can inspire writers to create outstanding copy
  • Hallmarks of a project created with passion
  • … and more

Download the episode here (right-click and “save as” to download). Or listen in the player at the top of the page.

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here.

Alternatively: add our RSS to your preferred podcast player.

Music by Industrial and Marine.

Header image adapted from “IMG_1743” by John Martinez Pavliga, under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Podcast 28: Telling B2B stories, wrestling with emotion and writing for intelligent content

Posted on by The Radix Team

If you are new to Good Copy, Bad Copy: welcome. This month is a highlights episode and is a good place to jump on. I’ll be looking back at some of the best discussions and content creation advice we’ve had on the podcast over the past year.

Creating engaging content is the top issue for many UK businesses and B2B brands in North America. Over 50% of marketers, on both sides of the Atlantic, cite it as their top concern when creating content. This challenge is reflected in the demands placed on copywriters working in B2B marketing.

On our podcast, we do our best to discuss issues affecting B2B copywriters, especially those who specialise in writing for enterprise technology brands. Here at Radix we also often find that we’re wrestling with content formats that are not mainstream, but could be about to make it big. Writing engaging content is one of our top concerns.

Listen now to hear about:

  • How to use storytelling in B2B copy
  • Using comic strips and books in content marketing
  • What is means to bring emotion to copy
  • Keeping content fresh and how to repurpose existing content
  • Intelligent content and what it may mean for copywriters

Download the episode here (right-click and “save as” to download). Or listen in the player at the top of the page.

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here.

Alternatively: add our RSS to your preferred podcast player.

Music by Industrial and Marine.

The full episodes from this episode

Storytelling in B2B, the final frontier

Bringing comics to B2B marketing

Using emotion in B2B copy

Five smart strategies to freshen up your B2B content

Doug Kessler talks intelligent content and copywriting

Header image adapted from Headphone Kitty by Jaap Joris, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Podcast 27: Highlights and takeaways from the B2B Marketing Summit

Posted on by The Radix Team

Image by Simon Callaghan Photography for B2B Marketing. Pictured: Fiona Campbell-Howes

It was a stunning event by all measures: all tickets sold out, a fantastic venue in The Brewery, a packed agenda across five different streams, and a ‘superstar’ keynote speaker – Newscred’s Michael Brenner – flying in from San Francisco to address the 580-strong crowd.

But what were the highlights of the 2015 B2B Summit, and did it give us any clues about what’s in store for B2B copywriters in the months to come?

In this episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy, Fiona shares her impressions of the event, and summarises key themes that will have a bearing on B2B copywriting for the rest of this year.

Listen now to hear about:

  • Which speakers had the most interesting stuff to say, from a copywriting point of view
  • Why content is only going to get hotter – and more voluminous
  • How “P2P” is replacing B2B – and why that’s a good thing
  • The state of storytelling in B2B – and why we may be making it sound harder than it is

PLUS: Fiona gives us a flavour of her own talk in the Content track – The 7 Types of B2B Copywriter (And How the Wrong One Can Destroy Your Campaign). See the full slide deck from her talk below.

Download the episode here (right-click and “save as” to download). Or listen in the player at the top of the page.

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here.

Alternatively: add our RSS to your preferred podcast player.

Music by Industrial and Marine.

Podcast 26: Writing for millennials and why it’s not all me, me, me

Posted on by The Radix Team

The face of the global workforce is changing, and if you’re writing copy for a B2B brand then you’ve got a whole new audience to deal with. Those born between 1980 and 2000 are often considered to be Millennials or Generation Y’ers. And they’re taking over the workplace in unforeseen ways.

From the hype about being self-obsessed to the more accurate picture of people concerned about ethics in and outside the boardroom: there’s a lot of information (and misinformation) flying around about millennials at work.

But what are the real differences between Generation Y and X? Do these differences matter? And just what does it all mean for copywriters working on B2B marketing content?

In a world where nearly half of all researchers of business purchases are millennials: it means a lot.

In this episode, Fiona and I explore how millennials view marketing content, and how you can write with this age group in mind.

Listen now to find out:

  • How technology has shaped millennial attitudes to advertising and marketing
  • The different ways in which Generation X and Y perceive marketing
  • Why old-school marketing tactics are unlikely to work with the new generation
  • How to engage millennials through your copy
  • … and more

Download the episode here (right-click and “save as” to download). Or listen in the player at the top of the page.

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here.

Alternatively: add our RSS to your preferred podcast player.

Music by Industrial and Marine.

Podcast 29: How we made an entire board game based on one blog post

Posted on by The Radix Team

In Epic Content Marketing, Joe Pulizzi talks about the task facing marketers as they fight to gain the attention of their audience: a.k.a. “breaking through the clutter”. It’s a big task, and it’s becoming harder each day.

It takes a lot of creativity and perseverance to make something that’s more than just noise being blasted at your audience. To make something that not only conveys the messages a brand wants to impart, but is also something that audiences will want to interact with.

Facing up to these challenges, we created Funnel! – a board game that focuses on the role of copy in content marketing.

In this episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy, I’m joined by Steve and George to discuss how we made Funnel! here at Radix.

Listen now to find out:

  • Why we wanted to make a board game
  • The importance of sharing ideas
  • How you don’t have to be a geek to make a board game
  • What it takes to whittle down game mechanics into something elegant
  • … and more

Download the episode here (right-click and “save as” to download). Or listen in the player at the top of the page.

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here.

Alternatively: add our RSS to your preferred podcast player.

Music by Industrial and Marine.

Want an even more detailed look at the making of Funnel!? Then check out Steve’s blog post.

Editorial boards in B2B content marketing: a beginners’ guide

Posted on by The Radix Team

What is an editorial board and why would you want one?

In B2B marketing, editorial boards are an approach to help marketers consistently create content that engages with the needs and interests of their audiences.

The board is a regular meeting between marketing, sales, content creators, senior and sometimes C-level stakeholders – all with an interest in creating content for your organisation. It’s also a great way to field information from people who have regular contact with existing and potential customers, and generally come up with content ideas.

Did you know that 60-70% of B2B content goes unused? Editorial boards are a great way of getting team buy-in and reducing content waste, because both sales and marketing have a hand in creating content.

And if you don’t have a content strategy?

Research has found that 68% of B2B brands don’t have a documented content marketing strategy. They know the value of content, know they need to be creating content on a regular basis, but they don’t have a documented content strategy as such.

We always encourage you to have a documented content strategy. But if you don’t have one: an editorial board is a way to have a governance process in place to make sure content is happening and that it is the right content.

With an editorial board you can:

  • Generate content ideas
  • Decide on content that fits the brand and audience’s needs
  • Make sure content fits your brand’s themes
  • Check that all of your audience personas are having content tailored to them
  • Get content approved quickly and smoothly
  • Stops random acts of content
  • Review content that is and isn’t working

5 essential steps to running a successful editorial board

Here’s five rules to keep your editorial board in order:

1. Set a time and place

Keep a regular meeting slot for the editorial board. A thirty minute meeting or conference call once every two weeks is how we’ve run editorial boards here at Radix and with clients. You can run it more frequently than this, but any less and you’ll lose the ability to act quickly on ideas and information on how well different pieces of content are performing.

2. Bring your key players

During your meetings, ensure you have:

  • A marketer: so that content ideas can be checked against strategy and message
  • A head of sales or sales representative: they have the customer insight that will let you know what content is missing and what customers want or need
  • A content writer: from the meeting they’ll be able to garner important background information to produce the content

And if they’re available:

  • Senior and C-Level team members

Senior and C-Level team members are great to have on editorial board meetings. They’re the ones with the vision of where the organisation is going and what the customers are looking for at the highest level.

If your business relies heavily on partners, you may also want to bring in your head of alliances, as they’ll have insight to share from the partners who are selling your products.

3. Review content – find out what’s working and what isn’t

It’s really important to stay on track and review created content. You need to make sure it’s doing its job and you’re seeing value from it. The whole aim is to create content that is appreciated and useful – engage the audience so that it gets the results that you need.

An advantage of having these meetings is that you can act quickly on trends that are happening with your content and your customers.

4. Listen to the team

Editorial boards aren’t just for planning: they’re good for idea generation too, enabling participants to bounce ideas around. Ideas spawn ideas and you will end up with a richer variety of content, more so than if it was just one or two people coming up with ideas.

These are people who will have been reading around key topics, talking to customers and heading to events – so they have a lot of relevant current knowledge to draw upon.

5. Have an editorial calendar

An editorial calendar allows everyone involved in the editorial board to see what content ideas are being worked on and when they’re likely to be completed or if any issues have arisen. You can divide up the calendar by theme, so you can easily check if you’re producing content around all of your key themes, or if you’re focusing on one at the expense of others.

The calendar can be put together in something as simple and as easily accessed as a Google Sheet. It should be updated after each meeting and when progress with content has been made.

The calendar should at least show:

  • Content ideas and how they fit to themes and personas
  • What actions are being taken on the ideas
  • Who is writing the content
  • What format it is being written for
  • Due date for completion

A typical editorial board meeting

If this isn’t the first meeting, you look at how the content you’ve previously produced is performing, and then look at the content ideas that you’ve got in your editorial calendar. Based on reports on how content is doing, you can prioritise content ideas accordingly, planning content for the next couple of weeks.

You can also look at anything that’s gotten stuck in the creation process. Ideas can be discussed and everyone can feedback into these ideas and either approve them or not. The calendar is updated after the meeting.

Do you have experience to share?

We’ve used editorial boards to good effect with our clients and for our own marketing, and find they really help to create a regular flow of original, high-quality and relevant content. If you run an editorial board for your organisation or your clients, we’d love to hear your experiences and tips for getting the most from them.  Let us know in the comments.

Advice

Want more B2B content marketing and copywriting insights? Sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Resources

B2B editorial calendar template

Podcast: How to use an editorial board to drive B2B content creation

Editorial Calendars: why you need one and how to make one in Trello

B2B Content Marketing Strategy Checklist

How to distil complex subjects into compelling copy – a Radix guide

Posted on by The Radix Team

As B2B tech copywriters, we write about complex products and projects every day. A lot of these subjects have become second nature to us now (just ask us about enterprise mobility or the difference between GLONASS and GPS – I dare you), but they didn’t start that way.

Sometimes, converting a complicated subject into clear, digestible copy can be like translating from a foreign language. But with a little preparation and a good brief, you can help your friendly neighbourhood copywriter to get it right every time.

Here’s how.

1. Give us a clear, relevant brief

I know we bang on about it a lot – in fact, I think I’ve mentioned this on my past two blogs – but providing a good brief is essential to getting a great piece of copy back. This is your opportunity to give us as much information as possible to get up to speed on a topic.

If you have technical documents, videos or just a bunch of informative articles, this is the place to include them. That way, we can have a good look through and learn more about the subject.

But let me take this opportunity to dispel a copywriting myth: giving a comprehensive brief isn’t writing the piece for us – far from it. It’s simply a way to provide us with the resources to start the job. The rest is down to us.

2. Allow time for desk research

As copywriters, we have an incredibly powerful tool at our fingertips (in addition to our creative brains): the internet. This enables us to read around the subject – and also, importantly, to see how your competitors are tackling the same topic, so we can write in a way that stands out.

It’s also vitally important to back up opinions and claims within copy – which is why you’ll find hyperlinked sentences throughout the copy we send. And just like you got taught in school or university, it’s important to go beyond Wikipedia (pro tip: try to find the original source).

Realistically, though, desk research alone will only ever give you a rehash of the opinions already online – rarely adding genuine value for your reader. That’s where a briefing call can make all the difference…

3. Let us talk to an expert

Briefing calls vary wildly, from the client leading the conversations to the copywriter asking a number of their own questions. But in either case, the end result is the same – valuable first-hand insight, direct from a product or subject matter expert. We wouldn’t have got that without the call.

Remember: although we’re B2B tech writers, we don’t live and breathe this stuff like your people do. Yes, we have a good starting knowledge of enterprise tech, but only a real expert can give us the insight to write a really good piece of copy.

As a bonus, they might also give us a personal, subjective point of view that can really help to make your content stand out from the bland, faceless stuff your competitors write – and humanise your brand to boot.

4. Pay close attention to our outline

For larger, more complex projects, outlines are a great way to plan out and summarise what we’re going to write about, before going all the way to a first draft. This gives our clients a good idea of what they can expect, and the opportunity to send back comments and guidance for the writer when they start the piece.

They’re also a great tool for copywriters. An outline allows us to structure the argument, order our thoughts, and set out exactly what the piece is going to say, without writing the entire piece beforehand.

This not only ensures the writer understands the brief – and has all the information they need – but also helps to reduce amends after the first draft. It also avoids scope change early on in the process, which can be both costly and time-consuming for the client.

5. Where possible, use a specialist writing team

Working as a copywriter in a copywriting agency, my most valuable resource is the other writers sat around me. And it’s something I just wouldn’t have access to as a freelancer or working at home.

Combine the 10 writers at Radix, and you’ve got a massive knowledge base on everything to do with B2B technology – so if I’m ever in doubt on a finer point of technology or jargon, I’ll just swing my chair around and ask.

And it works both ways: explaining a subject to colleagues can help us to think – and therefore write – more clearly about it too.

B2B technology for the masses

A wise political campaigner once told me that campaign literature was all about taking broadsheet issues, and melting them down to tabloid format. This is a crude analogy I know, but taking complex and technical ideas, and distilling them down into widely digestible content is the essence of a good copywriter.

If you have the product experts, but sometimes struggle to speak to a wider audience and want to know more, have a chat with us and explore the options.

How to write an awards entry (and win*)

Posted on by The Radix Team

Ah, January. That strange post-Christmas period where B2B copywriters relearn how to juggle briefs like we’re in some kind of crazed copy circus, all while abstaining from things that we love. But hey, at least we’ve got awards season to look forward to.

And entering? Surely all it takes is to read the questions and have a wee gush about how great you are?

If only it was so easy.

Here at Radix towers, we’re flattered to have had our share of success writing clients’ awards entries. (Heck, we’ve even been nominated and won before in our own right, too.) And with deadlines looming, we thought it made sense to share a little of our secret sauce. Anyone can answer a question, but what does it take to actually win?

From our experience, it generally pays to be mindful of the following…

Knockin’ the judges dead (metaphorically, with words)

1. Stay on point.

Typically, you only have so many words to tell the judge why your candidate is so deserving of the award. Wasting time talking about how good Steve is at Magic: The Gathering wouldn’t win any us any favours – so we don’t (we’d need a lot more than 300 words for that, anyway).

Instead, we prioritise what makes our entry so unique, ground-breaking, and interesting – and present it proudly, right at the start. (With persuasive language, in an active voice.)

2. Provide evidence. For everything.

Our clients may love what we do, but if we can’t back up our grandiose claims with cold, hard stats, then we stick to the humble truth. If we are indeed the best (perhaps even the only) specialised B2B tech copywriting agency in the South West, then you can bet we’ll have the data to prove it. Nobody likes a blagger.

Wild, unsubstantiated statements undermine the credibility of everything else in your entry. So if you can’t prove it, don’t say it.

3. Tell a compelling story.

Who wants to read endless lines of self-congratulatory guff? OK, it may be the judge’s job to do exactly that, but let’s cut them some slack. Instead, we tell a compelling story that’ll seize their attention and keep them on our side.

Especially if you know the judging process includes a committee discussion, it pays to have a succinct, powerful “THIS is the one who did THAT”.

Of course, it’s still important to articulate why the candidate is so damn great, so it pays to break it down into a digestible beginning, middle, and end. For example: What objectives were set? How were these objectives met? And what super-amazing things happened as a result?

The judge needs to be able to describe exactly why you should win, in two seconds flat.

4. Mind the marking scheme.

The more we know about how the decisions are made, the better.

Sometimes, it’s obvious. If a question is worth double points, that’s the one where we really set our stall out. Often this means getting tactical; we may be itching to talk about a particularly juicy project, but in many cases, it pays to reserve the big guns for the highest-scoring questions.

If the scoring process is mostly numerical (each answer is scored out of ten, or five) then it’s a question of marginal gains: finding enough relevant things to say in each one, to gain a one-mark edge here or there.

But if it’s a group of people discussing each entry around a table, then it’s wiser to take the best shot as early in the entry as possible. It’s simple behavioural science: if they get a feeling early on that this entry is a good one, they’ll then see every subsequent point as a confirmation.

5. Check, check, and check again…

Slinging a first draft off for consideration may be tempting (gotta hit that deadline), but chances are we’d just secure a fast-track to the recycle bin. At Radix, we value quality – no rush jobs, no jargon, and no wince-inducing typos. It’s not like there are points for good grammar and spelling, but if it comes down to a gut decision, you need to look like a contender.

So we proof, we ask for a second opinion, we proof again… and then maybe (just maybe), we send.

[Editor’s note: it is an inescapable truth that the copywriting gods will now punish us for our hubris, and you’ll spot a typo in this blog post in the next three seconds. We can only apologise; such ancient and mischievous forces are beyond our control.]

The clock is ticking.

Most importantly, you do actually have to meet the entry deadline. (Yes, we know most awards end up extending the deadline “by popular demand” *cough* but you can’t rely on that.)

It’s not uncommon for an awards entry to run to 2,000 words or more. So if it’s going to be good, you do need to book out a fair chunk of time.

(Of course, nobody does… which might just be why a certain B2B copywriting agency finds late January tends to bring a sudden influx of urgent awards entries to write. Having ten writers in a room does mean we can turn things around pretty fast.)

If you have any questions about this post, or you’d like some help from Radix in hitting your own scary deadline, just get in touch at [email protected]

—

* Radix Communications Ltd cannot guarantee that you will win an award. Obviously. But by reading this far you have already won our esteem and our thanks. Well done you.

“How long will it take?” Five factors we consider when quoting for copywriting

Posted on by The Radix Team

As you may know from your own experience, quoting for any kind of project isn’t all about the money. A major component in delivering a job is being realistic about what’s achievable, so you can keep your promises. It’s how your client comes to know they can trust you to deliver.

Of course, it’s important to deliver jobs quickly, but quality is an important part of what we do – it’s what separates us from the content mills (*shudder*). So we have a clearly defined set of questions we need to ask before quoting for a project, which enable us to stick to deadlines, and ultimately, let our clients know exactly what they can expect, and when.

So, what do we look for before we put pen to paper? Here’s five things we consider when quoting for a writing project:

1. How complex is this, really?

We’ve been doing this for more than a decade (and we’re really geeky about our data). So when we get presented with a brief, we can usually work out how much work it’s going to entail at a glance. But there are of course exceptions.

For example, from time to time we get asked to copy edit an existing document (usually written by one of the client’s colleagues). It might need shortening, expanding upon, or something different to copy editing – like proof reading, or a rewrite. My colleague George has put together a great piece to explain the difference.

It’s only natural to take an optimistic view of an existing piece. But if we don’t quote properly for a project, we’re not helping the client. If the piece turns out needing a complete re-write, this could pose a problem when it comes to delivering the work to the agreed schedule. We pride ourselves on never being late, so it’s essential to get right.

The more information we have at the brief stage, the better we’re able to understand the true scope of the job. (And if we ask to see the content you’d like us to copy edit before we quote, this is why.)

2. Yes, we know B2B tech, but do we need a call, or extra research?

We understand enterprise technology; it’s what we write about every day. But that doesn’t mean we’re experts in every field. The nature of the industry means it’s constantly evolving, so we as much as anybody else to keep up with the latest trends and developments.

For some projects, this is pretty straightforward. But if it’s a key piece of content where you really want to add value for your reader, we’ll need to dig a little deeper, and uncover things your audience won’t already know.

This can mean doing extra research, or having a call with product experts – they live and breathe this stuff, so if anyone is going to give us invaluable insight, it’s them. (In fact, it’s so valuable we recorded a whole podcast episode about it.)

3. Who’s our best writer for the job?

One of the real benefits of having ten specialist B2B copywriters in a room is that we each have our own natural strengths. Like anything in life, we have subjects we find more interesting over others and special areas of interest – and our natural writing styles fit certain types of content.

This means we’ll always to try to match the job to the ideal writer and content lead. This can affect the turnaround time slightly, but it also ensures you’re getting a great piece of copy from a copywriter who has a genuine interest in the topic and, what’s more, truly understands what you’re trying to achieve.

The more specialised or important the job, the more essential it is to find just the right blend of interests and style.

4. Can we be certain of delivering quality work on time?

We know you’re busy, and you have deadlines to meet. If a job’s urgent, having 50+ hours of writing time at our fingertips every day means we can usually turn it around.

But like air traffic controllers at a busy airport, our account managers balance this hectic, fast-moving workload with the absolute need to get the job right. They’ll always have a clear, visual grasp of our writing diaries, enabling them to ensure the right writer has time to do the job well.

That’s why we need to receive a project brief, set out the breadth of the project, and understand who’ll write it, and when, before we give you a firm deadline. But once we have, you know we’ll absolutely deliver exactly what we say, when we say, for the price we agreed.

5. Have we allowed enough time for review, and amends?

To make sure you’re completely happy with our work, we factor in up to two rounds of amends as standard in our quotes – as well as our own internal review process.

This gives you the flexibility to question and edit what we’ve produced (within reason) if you need to, so we can refine the piece totally in line with what you want.

Quite often, that time won’t be necessary (especially if we’ve worked hard on the brief), but you’re safe in the knowledge that we’ve factored the time it usually takes into your project schedule – enabling you to confidently forecast your content schedule.

Ultimately, we’ll always be realistic and upfront with you

Getting copy projects turned around quickly is great, but getting them done properly – and reliably –  is even better.

In our experience, clients are much more satisfied with the end result (even if they’re in a hurry for it) when we’re clear about what they can expect, and keep them updated at every stage. That’s why we’ll never overpromise or say yes to a project without reviewing a brief first.

If you like the sound of the way we work and you’re interested to know more, feel free to give us a call on 01326 373592 or email us at [email protected].

(Or if you’d just like to see a copywriting price list, that’s no problem either.)

When is thought leadership NOT thought leadership?

Posted on by The Radix Team

According to Forbes, thought leadership is “grossly indulgent slang for plain ol’ expertise”. Ouch.

Is that fair? Maybe. Marketers (content marketers in particular) do like shiny new jargon – and it’s not like expertise is ever a bad thing to demonstrate.

But here’s the sticking point – content is all too often framed as thought leadership, when it’s anything but. For us, thought leadership means stuff that’s original and compelling, and rests on the cutting edge of a discussion.

Or the head of Radix’s copy team, Matt Godfrey, wryly put it:

“If you haven’t put any thought into it, it’s not a thought. And if it’s not on the vanguard, on the tip of the point of the spear, it’s not leadership – it’s just waffle.”

No thought… and precious little leadership

But when does thought leadership become, well, not thought leadership? And when is a ‘hot take’ just a thinly veiled cry of ‘me too, me too’?

Look close enough, and you’ll see this fluff everywhere. The same arguments, the same stories, the same opinions. It’s essentially content marketing churnalism.

And your audience thinks so, too.

In 2016, Grist surveyed over 200 senior executives from FTSE 350 companies for a “definitive” look at the subject of thought leadership. It’s a good read, and a rare insight into why certain content does and doesn’t work, and what an executive audience looks for in a thought leader.

Here’s a choice cut from the survey: when asked what they dislike most about existing content online, executives cited content as:

  1. Too generic – not directly relevant to me (63%)
  2. Lacking original insight or ideas (58%)
  3. Promoting the adviser rather than addressing my problems (53%)

Our creative director, David McGuire, thinks the problem’s in the term itself:

“For a lot of marketers, ‘thought leadership’ has become a catch-all phrase for self-indulgent content that doesn’t fit anywhere else. It’s like the usual rules of value and customer-centricity don’t apply – when in reality, they’re more relevant than ever.”

The search engine echo chamber

But faux-leadership content doesn’t just stem from brands wanting to get in on a conversation without having anything meaningful to say. There’s a technical incentive too. SEO.

If a content marketer is under pressure to match a competitor blow-for-blog on a certain Google keyphrase, then of course there’s a temptation to regurgitate content and ideas. And while the resulting content may still have merit to those unaware of other sources, it is anything but ‘thought leadership’.

If it’s not new and exciting, then you’re just adding to the noise.

How to do thought leadership well

But let’s not dump thought leadership in the bin just yet. Because when it’s done well, it really can add value, shed new light, and guide an industry in a whole new direction.

So, what does good thought leadership look like?

Typically, consulting firms such as Cognizant and Accenture do a strong job delivering original perspectives on the latest market trends. Whether it’s deep diving into the latest developments in healthcare AI, or exposing the hidden value of risk in banking – they tend to offer something fresh and relevant to their readers and clients.

(Heck, Cognizant won an award in 2017 for ticking all these boxes with their financial services campaign: ‘Blockchain: Thought Leadership Driving Action and Results’. That blog netted them over 150,000 views alone.)

There are lessons we can learn from firms like these. Do your research. Monitor your competitors, but don’t ape their content. And know your audience inside out.

The point is, good B2B thought leadership is not easier than other content. It takes effort, discipline, resources, and time; there are no short cuts.

But are the results worth the investment? Absolutely.