Here’s a fact for you – one very few copywriting professionals will share: it’s very, very easy to write B2B web copy.
Much like anything in fact, if you take quality out of the equation, literally anyone can do it.
What’s hard, and what makes professional copywriters worth their weight in gold (my calculations put me at around $2,883,417.00 USD if anyone’s in the market) is doing it well.
Here’s another fact. There’s a lot of internet out there these days. It’s estimated that by this year there will be more online traffic than in all other years combined. And more traffic means more content (currently there are approximately 2.7 million blog posts published every day). So, if you’re to have any chance of standing out amongst the crowd and getting your message heard, you need to write your copy well. Make it loud, clear, concise and captivating.
But, oh boy is it easy to get wrong. And man, does that happen often – to everyone, no matter how experienced, no matter how talented.
Five common flaws with B2B web copywriting
There are just so many traps to fall into. So many ways to say exactly the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time. Don’t believe me? How about some examples…
- The first date bore
Have you ever met someone for the first time and all they talked about was themselves? Maybe you know a student who’s just taken a gap year? The same thing can happen to your copy. It’s great that your product can do this, that, and the other. But really, that doesn’t interest anyone unless you tell them exactly how it can help them.
If your copy is all ‘me, me, me’ when it should be more ‘you, you, you’, stop talking and start listening. Much like on a first date, it’s an easy mistake to make if you’re nervous or inexperienced. Or a bore, for that matter. But if you follow that path you’ve got no chance of making a good second impression.
- Too technical?
Maybe that’s not it. Maybe you’ve got a brilliant product but your message is presented in a way that’s way too complicated to penetrate. Technical talk is all well and good, but it needs to be saved for when you’ve already generated interest.
Talking about how many gigawatts your flux-capacitor needs to operate is only interesting to an audience if their entire future is at stake.
- Get on with it
Perhaps you’ve somehow managed to entice your customer, but not offered any clear guidance as to what to do next. You need to close the deal. If you haven’t given clear instructions directing your customer to the next phase of the process then you might as well not have bothered. To paraphrase Meg Ryan in Top Gun, “take me to CTA, or lose me forever.”
That doesn’t work at all, but you get the point.
- Too much too soon
I can see you shaking your head. You’d never do a thing like that, would you? Fine. There’s also the chance that your copy is brilliantly written, but there’s so much of it and in such big blocks that no one’s going to dare tackle it.
After all, no one climbs Everest while staring at the summit. And no one reads the whole of Ulysses…well, just that really.
- Something else?
Maybe your mistakes are altogether simpler than this. It may be that the construction of your sentences is in the passive voice (see what I did there?). Or you have pages you simply don’t need getting in the way of the message you truly want to share. Like I said, THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS TO GET IT WRONG. Writing in block capitals might be one.
I could go out of my way to list them all – and wouldn’t that be fun for everyone? – but lest we all curl up in a ball under our desks afraid to put finger to keyboard ever again, how about we focus on the positives instead? On how to get it right.
Because, when it’s good, B2B web copy can be great. Great to read. Great at sharing your message. Great at boosting your bottom line.
The question is, how do you make it good? Am I waiting until 500 words into this blog to tell you so your suspense is heightened, or am I myself making a B2B faux-pas?
It’s the first one, obviously. And here’s the payoff: We’ve put together a handy guide featuring the nine sacred principles of badass B2B web copy, so you can do your bit to make the B2B internet a better place. A friendlier place. A more audience-focused place.
It contains advice on making sure your message is clear, maintaining focus, remembering that no one really gives a shit about your product unless they know how it can help them, and a wealth of other tips to make sure your B2B doesn’t B2T. That’s a trendy way of saying ‘bore to tears’. I just made it up. You can use it if you like.
To download the eBook, follow the link here and then use the contact tab on our website to lavish us with praise and gifts. I like craft beer, if you’re struggling for ideas.
