Category: The Blog

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.

Podcast 61: what can you buy to improve your B2B writing?

Posted on by Katy Eddy

Every writer has a bit of kit they swear by. Monitors, software, file storage – you name it, someone has an opinion on it.

And as it turns out, George has a lot of strongly held opinions about these things.

In his recent magnum opus, The Professional Copywriter’s Essential Kit List, George gave us a detailed run down of the most important tech a copywriter – or, indeed, a marketer who often finds themselves turning their hand to writing – should have to do their best work.

And in this episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy, he joins David and Fiona to discuss those key purchases in more detail, and answer questions about computers, word processors, and keyboards (which are more complicated than you might expect).

Questions like:

  • Does a copywriter need a Mac, or are you better off with a PC?
  • Is there a realistic alternative to Microsoft Word?
  • Do you need a standalone audio recorder, or will your smartphone do?
  • Should professional copywriters use Grammarly?
  • What is a mechanical keyboard switch (and are they worth the money)?

To help, we have some excellent contributions from our friends on Twitter, giving opinions on their best-ever work purchases, so thanks again to Tom Albrighton, Laura Sutton, Leif Kendall, Anna Gunning, Matt Turner, Lyssa-Fêe Crump, and everyone else who gave us their input.

We received lots of recommendations, including for Airstory, WriterDuet, oTranscribe and Deskmate. (You can see the whole thread on Twitter, here.) And Fiona calls ProWorkflow “one of the most effortless pieces of time recording software that I’ve ever come across”.

You’ll also hear from the rarely seen Kieran Haynes of senior copywriter and content lead fame, as he adds his nomination to our B2B Content Hall of Fame: the CB Insights newsletter.

(Oh, and the first thrilling instalment of “Fiona talks about chairs”.)

Want to contact the show?

We had some great contributions from our friends and listeners in this month’s episode – and we’re always looking for more voices to add to the mix. You’ll find us on Twitter… or feel free to send your thoughts, jokes, questions, suggestions, complaints or keyboard switch colour preferences to [email protected] (better still, email us a voice memo).

How to listen…

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

(Or you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here. Alternatively, add our RSS to your preferred podcast player.)

Credits:

Audio editing and music by Bang and Smash.

B2B Content Hall of Fame: how CB Insights created a God-tier newsletter

Posted on by The Radix Team

As a B2B technology copywriter, I regularly part with my email address in return for the chance to look at a research report, eBook – whatever I need to add depth and credibility to the content I’m writing.

The result is an inbox swimming with newsletters from every tech field and industry. (Yes, I know I should systematically unsubscribe. Just like I know I should make myself lunch, instead of hitting Nemo’s.)

Unless they’re relevant to what I’m working on at the second they arrive, most of these newsletters are terminated on sight. But there’s one exception. The newsletter from CB Insights.

I’ll leave that newsletter be. And then, when a brief gets delayed and I find myself with a spare ten minutes, I’ll go and find it, and open it up. Sometimes I’ll even right-click and download the pictures. And then turn my screen towards my colleague, and show them an Amazon patent for a flying distribution fortress. Or a wildly inappropriate data visualisation.

And occasionally, even though I’m far from the company’s target audience, they’ll be something of genuine use to me – or anyone working in the tech sector. Like a neat little guide to Bitcoin and blockchain.

It seems I’m not alone in making an exception for CB Insights’ newsletter. Six times a week, it goes out to nearly 370,000 people – a six times its circulation in 2014.

Here are a few things that, IMHO, the CB Insights is getting very right…

It’s not afraid to be edgy.

CB Insights’ subject lines are short and rarely sweet. Here’s a selection from the last few months:

  • your analysts are wasting $25K
  • depressing bar chart
  •  Silicon Valley petting zoo
  • deathless cars
  • 86 page report – FinTech deals boom
  •  Slack is a waste of time
  • Zelda – sooo popular
  • an IoT butt plug
  • AI kills 10 million jobs
  • Peter Thiel loves millennial blood

Make no mistake: CB Insights wants your attention. It’s more important than taste, decency, and sometimes, even relevance.

That said, the newsletter will rarely serve you up clickbait without delivering something at least slightly nutritious in return, even if it’s just a lesson in how not to conduct a survey:

CB Insights’ boldness is understandable, when you consider every bit of frivolity is underpinned by cold, hard a-b (and in this case, c) testing. And that post – go on, click the link, but come back – leads me to another of their strengths…

It shares genuinely useful stuff.

Remember that blockchain guide I mentioned before? It’s far from the only useful content I’ve received from CB Insights. And I’m not even in the company’s target audience.

If you’re a startup or a venture capitalist, you’ll find predictions, patents, and insights into who and what are being mentioned on public company’s earnings calls.

In addition to this home-spun content, you’ll get a well-curated set of articles from around the internet, all teased in the house style – i.e. with lovingly crafted headers such as ‘Tortoises against bot abuse’.

And, if the edition’s attributed to CEO Anand Sanwal, you’ll always receive something even more useful – the reassurance that someone loves you.

It ropes its readers into making the content.

When you’ve an engaged readership in the hundreds of thousands, you’ve a ready-made research group. CB Insights’ newsletter regularly contains bracketed competitions, designed to gauge reader opinion on hot topics. This provides the company with:

  • Fresh newsletter content for a number of consecutive weeks
  • Another reason to open – will your contender have made it into the next round?
  • Fascinating results…

It’s at a massively unfair advantage. The scoundrels…

As professional a producer, aggregator and analyser of data, CB Insights is in an enviable position when it comes to creating compelling newsletter content.

But that doesn’t diminish the company’s achievement. After all, it’s the tactics it uses – its braveness with tone, its faith in testing and optimisation, the way it expertly mixes the valuable with the laughable, the way it weaponises its readership…  – that make its newsletter game so ridiculously strong.

Oh, and the clever bastards have also made sure it’s staggeringly easy to sign up for. (Yes, you probably should.)

Every month, a different Radix copywriter will nominate a piece of B2B writing for our Radix B2B Content Hall of Fame (essentially a compendium of projects we wish we’d worked on), and explain what makes it work. If you’d like to suggest an inductee, please do get in touch.

B2B website copywriting: why it’s all about your customer

Posted on by The Radix Team

The customer is always right.

It’s a mantra that’s stood businesses in good stead for centuries. But its meaning goes far beyond the customer service advisor nodding along while being shouted at by a customer.

In B2B today, websites are usually the business battleground. With so many alternatives a click away, you have to get it right to stay competitive. And here too, the customer (or the reader) needs to come first.

So why do so many B2B sites manage to get it wrong?

In the copywriting world, we’re used to hearing horror stories of businesses that start new website projects from a design point of view, and end up neglecting the copy altogether. The result is a completely new website in appearance, but with the same old copy or, worse, copy that was hastily cobbled together at the end of the project.

Content like that is always going to let your customer down.

In an interview for Business Reporter, Good Growth’s James Hammersley used the M&S failed website reboot of 2013 and its 8.1% drop in sales, to highlight the perils of failing to put the customer first. He states the answer to creating better websites is rarely a technology issue – or even a new website altogether.

It’s thinking about your customer. And often, that’s a writing thing.

So to avoid a costly nightmare before undertaking any web copy project, ask yourself these nine vital questions (they’re taken from David’s Nine Sacred Principles of Badass B2B Web Copy):

Question 1: What are we trying to achieve?

Think of any website you truly admire. I’ll hazard a guess and say it’s simple, informative, and gets to the point – right? It tells you exactly what you’re looking for, with minimal effort on your behalf. That’s the essence of great web copy.

At each stage you need to ask yourself: “so what?”. It’s a really good way of checking your copy and you’ll likely highlight anything unnecessary. If you find something that doesn’t help you achieve your goal, get rid of it straight away.

And one last thing: doing something because your competitors are doing it isn’t a good enough reason. Make sure all your decisions are backed up by experience, data, and a clear sense of purpose.

Watch: The First Principle of Badass B2B Web Copy – Clarity.

Question 2: What does the customer want to read first?

You’re not special. There, I said it.

And neither’s your website. Given that there are currently… [Googles]… 1.3 billion websites in the world, chances are at least some of them do exactly what you do.

So when someone finds one of your pages, what’s the first thing they see? Lots of copy? Stock photos? Aspirational words? If you don’t know already, that’s a big red flag.

Why? Because what’s important to you may not be important to your visitors. And if you don’t grab their attention within the first line, you’ll likely lose them to one of those other sites. For good.

So think about where your visitor has arrived from (perhaps Google, a social share, or another referring page). This tells you what they’re expecting to find… and you can use that thought as the basis for your copy brief.

And remember, keep it simple.

Watch: The Second Principle of Badass B2B Web Copy – Focus

Question 3: What does the reader truly care about?

Or more precisely, what are their problems, and how can they begin to overcome them?

Simply, it’s not all about you. In fact, it’s not about you whatsoever. You need to speak your customer’s language and talk how they talk.

That’s easier said than done because, let’s be honest, you’re programmed to believe your product or service is the best. But you need to keep quiet about that (for now at least).

Instead, you need to demonstrate that you understand the reader’s issues, and that you have solutions.

Watch: The Third Principle of Badass B2B Web Copy – Perspective

Question 4: What information are they really trying to find?

Take a moment to think about your current web pages. Are they pages that you think your customers want, or pages your customers actually want? Often, there’s a big difference – and this is where you need hard data to back up your decisions.

Luckily, there are a couple of simple things you can do to discover what your customers want, without even asking them directly:

Web analytics: find out which pages people predominantly arrive at, and where they go to from there. Also, consider the search engine terms (keywords) they used to get there.

Search: if you’ve got a search box on your site, the terms people have entered into it are a goldmine of information. This will also tell you the kind of words and terminology customers prefer to use, i.e. if you’re not using the words your customers are using, they’re not going to find what they’re looking for.

Indeed, the same principle can be applied to Google. Things like Google Trends can be a treasure trove of insight into the words and phrases people are using when looking for something in particular.

Watch: The Fourth Principle of Badass B2B Web Copy – Kindness

Question 5: What language does our customer use?

Back in the day, copywriters were often given a spreadsheet of “keywords” to smuggle into the copy. And if they were lucky, they’d get this before writing, and not be expected to crowbar them in afterwards.

Thankfully due to a change in Google’s algorithms, keyword-crowbarring is now a rare request (and one we can comfortably decline). It leaves copywriters to instead focus on writing valuable content that strikes a chord with readers.

That’s not to say that SEO and keyword research no longer matter – far from it. We still get the spreadsheets, and they’re still valuable. It’s just that now we use them to help us write for people, not just for Google. Because they tell us the words that your audience can relate to.

Watch: The Fifth Principle of Badass B2B Web Copy – Empathy

Question 6: Do we have something genuine to say?

If you don’t – no matter how hard you try – your audience will see right through you. And remember you for it as well.

You come across examples of it every day. Think about the clickbait links you see at the bottom of genuine online articles. And now consider the poor fool who’s had to write that content because they have nothing constructive or interesting to say.

It’s an important factor when writing copy. No matter how much you want a shed-load of traffic to go to your website, there’s absolutely no point in trying to trick people into coming to it, if all they do when they arrive is shrug, and click “back”.

(Here’s a hint: if you’re thinking “traffic”, and not “reader”, you’re doing it wrong.)

Watch: The Sixth Principle of Badass B2B Web Copy – Integrity

Question 7: How quickly will they get the point?

B2B web copy needs to work on several levels – because that’s how people read.

There’s the five second-skimmer who’ll be fairly random about where they look – focusing on titles, captions and bullet points. But there’ll also be the detailed readers, who want as much information as possible. And everyone in between.

And guess what? Your website copy needs to accommodate every one of them.

Simply, your copy needs to be straightforward and do exactly what it says on the tin. Otherwise it’ll cause confusion and drop off. This also goes for you other copy (print, emails and adverts).

Watch: The Seventh Principle of Badass B2B Web Copy – Consistency

Question 8: What do we want them to do next?

To avoid the risk of visitors dropping off a website, a good copywriter will always give users an escape route from a particular page.

This could be in the form of a call to action or a link to another connected page within the same website. But if the copy just kind of…stops, your visitors won’t see any logical next step or action. They will simply leave.

So what do you do? Simple – have the natural next step in mind from the moment you start writing the copywriting brief.

Watch: The Eigth Principle of Badass B2B Web Copy – Prescience

Question 9: How should we order the site creation?

Think of your website like a big tree. Your homepage is the trunk. And the roots, they’re what feeds it – say, referrals from Google. (Or Bing. Hey, it could happen.) And your leaves and branches? They’re every other page on the site.

It might sound counter-intuitive, but when writing a website, it’s always best to start with the leaves, then the branches. That’s where your bread and butter is – the really granular detail.

Once you know how you’re delivering these arguments, it’s easier see the themes and the highlights, and to be consistent as you work your way back, through the branches, to the trunk.

So if you can, brief your writer on the detail first, then zoom out.

Watch: The Final Principle of Badass B2B Web Copy – Patience

Nine easy steps – simple, right?

Website copywriting projects are seldom as straightforward as they seem. And hitting the mark rarely comes easy.

Websites that appear simple probably look that way because they took the longest to craft and refine. But once you have the basics down, the rest is a process of test and learn – figuring out what works, what doesn’t, and refining accordingly.

If you’re in doubt, think about your reader. In the end, they’re all that matters anyway.

Want more detail? Grab The Nine Sacred Principles of Badass B2B Web Copy. (It’s free, and we won’t even ask you for your email address.)

Podcast 60: the lowdown on B2B messaging workshops

Posted on by George Reith

If your business has more than one person communicating externally, you’ll know it’s hard to keep messaging consistent across your sales and marketing, and make sure everyone always has the right personas in mind.

One way to solve this issue is a messaging workshop – and it can also sharpen your elevator pitch, and give you a matrix of powerful, multi-use copy blocks to boot.

In the newest episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy, George and Fiona dig deep into what these workshops are all about.

Listen now to find out:

  • Why consistent messaging is so important
  • Who should attend messaging workshops
  • What you really get out of a messaging workshop

(If you’d like a more detailed rundown of how a messaging workshop works, you’ll find Fiona’s in-depth blog post here.)

Also, copywriter Ben Philpott explains why he nominated Zoom’s “A Video Conference Call in Real Life” as our inaugural B2B Content Hall of Fame inductee.

Want to contact the show?

We want to hear from you. You’ll find us on Twitter… or feel free to send your thoughts, jokes, questions, suggestions, complaints or hat recommendations to [email protected] (better still, email us a voice memo).

Next month, we’ll be going shopping for essential copywriting kit, and inducting another member into our B2B Content Hall of Fame. 

How to listen…

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

(Or you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here. Alternatively, add our RSS to your preferred podcast player.)

Credits:

Audio editing and music by Bang and Smash.

When copywriters show their working, everybody wins. Here’s why.

Posted on by The Radix Team

Notes:

  • Hi David. Below you’ll find the copy for my next Radix blog post.
  • As agreed, it discusses why I often include notes at the start of my copy documents, explaining how I’ve responded to the brief and the key decisions I’ve made along the way.
  • It’s a bit shorter than our usual posts – but I’d rather keep it to the point than pad it out unnecessarily.
  • Other than that, there shouldn’t be too many surprises – though as you’ll see, I’ve opted for a rather meta opening. It might be a bit much. See what you think.

A great piece of writing is built on great decisions.

Decisions like: “I’ll put these product features in a sidebar, so they don’t ruin the narrative flow”, or “I’ll drop the retail message, because we’ve such limited space, and it’s only relevant to half our audience”.

A good writer will put a lot of thought into these decisions. But when you – as an in-house Marketing Manager, or an Account Manager at a marketing agency – open up the copy they’ve submitted for you to review, you won’t see that thought at all.

You’ll dive into the copy, and surface, sometime later, with a host of questions. Questions like: “Why are the product features in a sidebar?”, and “Where’s the retail message we included in the brief?”

That’s why, for years now, I’ve been adding notes at the top of my copy documents explaining my rationale in creating the piece.

Why it’s great for me as a copywriter

This transparency is great for me in a number of ways:

  1. It forces me to understand exactly why I’m making the decisions I’m making. And that makes me a better writer and editor.
  2. It helps reassure the client I’m writing for that a professional, experienced copywriter has really engaged with their brief. Instead of some copy in a word doc, they see something crafted by human being who has their best interests at heart.
  3. It gives me a chance to foreground any tough decisions I’ve made, and quickly set out the logic behind them.

Why it’s great for our clients

Our clients benefit from these explanations too.

  1. If I’m writing for a marketing agency, the Account Manager can use my notes to help frame the copy when they share it with their client.
  2. If I’m writing directly for a B2B technology company, the Marketing Manager can use my notes to help frame the copy when they share it with any other stakeholders – e.g. the product team.
  3. Whoever’s reviewing my copy, the notes put them in a better position judge the work, and feedback quickly and to the point.

To sum up…

Where a cold copy document can quickly become the basis of confusion and suspicion, a document with a few intelligent, relevant notes at the start is more likely to foster understanding and respect. Communication flourishes. Projects get signed off faster. Everybody wins.

That’s why including notes – where they’ll be helpful – has just become Radix policy.

At least, that’s what we agreed this morning in our Writers’ Meeting.

And now I’ve announced it in this blog post, for all our clients to read, so…

Podcast 59: writing email subject lines, B2B InTech 2018

Posted on by The Radix Team

Here’s a simple fact. Your B2B marketing email can be as good as you want, and if your subject line’s no good, nobody will read it.

But here’s where things get really meta… even if your subject line is brilliant, two thirds of your audience are still not going to open your email. That means, most of the time, the subject line and preview text is the only part that will reliably get read.

We tend to think of subject lines as a functional thing, just to get the email opened. But more often than not, they’re all the copy you’ve got.

In this episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy: The B2B Copywriting Podcast, we’re joined by senior copywriter and content lead Steve George, who’ll share:

  • His five go-to approaches for B2B email subject lines
  • How mobile usage is affecting subject line copywriting (in more ways than you think)
  • Why we might need to think differently about what a subject line is for
  • Whether his choice of hat makes a difference to voice and tone

You can also hear our special report from B2B InTech 2018, where we’ll recap favourite sessions, and talk to senior tech marketers, like Scott Stockwell of IBM’s Watson IoT and Malin Liden from SAP, about what they got out of the day.

Want to contact the show?

We want to hear from you. You’ll find us on Twitter… or feel free to send your thoughts, jokes, questions, suggestions, complaints or hat recommendations to [email protected] (better still, email us a voice memo).

Next month, we’ll be talking about what you can expect from a messaging workshop, and inducting the first member to our B2B Content Hall of Fame. 

 

Ways to listen…

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

(Or you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here. Alternatively, add our RSS to your preferred podcast player.)

 

Credits:

Thanks to Scott Stockwell, Sinead, Lukas, Laura Sutton, Malin Liden and Alysha Ferris for allowing David to interrupt your day, and speaking with such clarity.

Audio editing and music by Bang and Smash.

 

5 questions you should ask a B2B copywriter (but few marketers do)

Posted on by The Radix Team

The proof is in the pudding, sure. But when it comes to copywriting, ability and trust need to be established and proven – usually, long before any copy has been written.

Over the past few months – in various meetings and phone calls – several prospective clients have asked us to provide previous examples of our work. And rightly so. As a marketer, you’re trusting a copywriter with more than just your budget; we’re often writing your innermost secrets and assets. You want to be 100% certain we’re going to do a great job.

But lately we’ve seen an increasing number of people asking about the writers themselves. What’s their experience? What kind of content formats do they prefer? And does more than one writer work on a particular project?

These are all excellent questions. So, I’ve decided to answer them – and suggest a few more. If you’re choosing a copywriter (or copywriting agency, in our case), here are some things you might want to ask before you take the plunge… and what the right answers should be.

“How current is this portfolio?”

Think of all the writers’ websites you’ve visited that list big, international clients – pretty impressive, huh? Well, that list wasn’t created by accident, because let’s be honest, who’s going to brag about writing copy for an exchange-and-mart ad?

But what are the chances that the writer still works for those clients? Or even that they’ve worked for them in the past 10 years? Often, the correct answer is very, very low. And even if a writer has written for the likes of Oracle, or Salesforce, or Adobe, what use is that, unless the piece saw the light of day?

(And yes, these are all brands we’ve written for. This week. And we’re more than happy to direct you to examples of our work in the real world.)

This is precisely why asking to see previous client work is vital. Not only will it give you a good idea of a writer’s raw capabilities, but it’ll also give you a good view of how often they work for a particular client. (The date the piece was published is a big giveaway.)

At the same time, though, bear in mind that the writer or agency has likely signed a non-disclosure agreement, which will limit aspects of what they can and can’t tell you. And as much as the writer may want to work with you, their first duty is always to meet their obligations to the client.

“What’s your writing ‘sweet spot’?”

While a writer having experience in your sector is helpful, it’s not the be-all and end-all… especially if your aim is to sound different from your competitors. So you should also ask for evidence of the writer’s ability to write in a voice and style that’s close to what you want – even if it’s about another subject entirely.

At Radix, for example, we specialise in B2B technology – but our writing experience is pretty varied.  As I glance around the office right now, I can see a former games journalist, blog writer, PR writer and engineering writer. And that’s not including my background in ecommerce and B2C tech.

That variety of experience means we have writers who are specialists in different styles, topics, and formats. That’s important because it helps us to match the right writer to each project.

You might want an educational white paper on service mobility, for example, or an agenda-setting blog post on the future of HR technology, or a quirky video script about an aspect of IoT. Having specialists in different styles and formats means you get the best-equipped writer for the job, without sacrificing consistency.

“What’s included in the price?”

It’s the elephant in the room, and for some reason, it’s still taboo. But it’s important and can be a barrier to working with someone. This is – quite literally – the money-shot.

Too expensive, and you’re left wondering what you’ll get for the money. Too cheap, and you’ll be wondering if you’ll get anything usable at all.

But like it or not, price can often be the clincher, regardless of how good the copywriting is. And that’s exactly why we have a price list – and why we quote for every job upfront. Our prices always include research, briefing calls, writing, internal review, and two rounds of reasonable amends, so nothing’s hidden – and there are no unpleasant surprises.

“Why are you calling me so often?”

We’ve all experienced the hard sell. Whether it’s for a mobile phone contract, PPI compensation, or car insurance, it’s a sure fire way to turn someone off.

If a writer is pestering you for work, by phone or email, there are two options: either you’re genuinely a company they really, really want to work with (and that does happen – we all have our own secret list of dream clients), or they’re not as busy as they might be.

As good writers are usually booked to the hilt, a constant stream of calls could be a sign that your would-be writer isn’t quite as great as they make out.

“Is this going to work out, long term?”

Ultimately, you’ll get the best work from a copywriter or agency who’ll get to know your business over a number of projects. So if you think you might have found a true copywriting partner, take the time to discuss your objectives in depth – because if the fit isn’t right, it isn’t right.

(And in our case, we’re never precious about recommending someone else, if we think they’re better suited.)

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]. (And don’t be shy to ask for examples of our work; we’ll be more than happy to send you some.)

 

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.

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.