It may surprise people just how much of marketing involves writing. But if you look closely, writing is everywhere: in ads, eBooks, landing pages, websites… even video scripts.

This means that good writing is incredibly important to making sure your marketing is a success. Even more so when it comes to copywriting for B2B, where the buyer’s journey is longer and more complex and relies on a wide variety of marketing campaigns and collateral.

Yet copywriting isn’t always given the attention that it deserves – it can often be an afterthought, or a task handballed off to marketers to take care of (whether they have copy training or not). The truth is, good copywriting is not a cost, it’s an investment in the success of your marketing.

5 ways copywriting for B2B can improve your marketing

Marketing is a multifaceted activity with lots of moving parts. It’s very easy to get caught up in strategy – what you want to say, to who, at what time… But what about how you say it?

Copywriting may just be one part of marketing, but the impact it has can be huge. Bad copywriting has been proven to damage brand image and increase page bounce rates by up to 85%*.

On the flip side, there are plenty of ways purposeful copywriting can improve your marketing. For example, it can help you:

1. Utilise different mediums

As mentioned above, B2B buyer’s journeys are often more complex and longer than B2C journeys. This means more stakeholders that you need to move through more stages – which ultimately means more marketing tools and assets. But if this isn’t done well, these assets can fall flat, costing time, money, and potentially a new customer.

The right message, at the right time, presented in the right way at each stage is vital. As is the ability to communicate this message in the format and language that will most attract and engage your audience.

2. Put your data to good use

Your data can tell you a lot about how your marketing initiatives are being received by your audience – but it’s quite common for this data to be collected, glanced at, then left to gather dust. When you’re copywriting for B2B audiences, this data is a goldmine. It will show you what works well (and what not so well) and give amazing insight into your audience, enabling you to improve the success of each campaign. It’ll also save time and money – simply recycle the copy that works.

3. Speak to different audiences

We mentioned above that B2B selling means dealing with multiple stakeholders – and not all of them have the same needs, wants, problems, or concerns. Tailoring the right message to the right audience (whether it’s different industries or different roles within the same business) is what’s going to make your prospect sit up and pay attention. Customisation is key, and the best way to do it? Damn good copywriting.

4. Simplify the complex

A majority of your audience is turning to your business as the expert or thought leader that can help them – but do you know how to make your business and services understandable to them? For example, you might be a business of tech geniuses, but does your audience have the same level of knowledge? Will they understand all the technical details of your products and services? Great copywriting is vital for ensuring marketing is approachable and understandable by every reader – so you can communicate the benefit and difference of your business.

5. Evoke emotion

B2B buyers are motivated by emotions just as much as B2C buyers – their motivators may be different, but you still need to understand which emotion to appeal to when you’re writing. Is your audience scared of potential consequences, does your audience need a saviour, or are they frustrated? Copy can play on these emotions to the strongest response from your audience so that your content can resonate with them.

The top traits of a good B2B copywriter

Once you understand the power of copywriting, the next step is ensuring you harness that power for your own marketing efforts.

Even in bigger companies that have an entire marketing department, there is no copy specialist. Copy is something marketers are expected to do as part of their role. But in reality, it’s a completely different skillset.

While some marketers might also be proficient copywriters, it shouldn’t be a given. Before you give someone the role of writing copy (or take it on yourself), you want to make sure they have these traits as a minimum:

  • A strong foundation – this might sound obvious, but it shouldn’t be overlooked. Strong writing and communication skills – including a good understanding of grammar, flow, and copyediting – is incredibly important. Anyone undertaking copy work needs a good base understanding of the written word.
  • Familiarity with buyer’s journey – you want copy to feed the buyers journey (the right message at the right time, remember?) To make this happen, whoever is writing copy needs to have a strong understanding of each stage of the journey so they can customise the message to suit.
  • Understanding of your business (and your customers) – this includes a good grasp on your products/services, the problems you solve, plus your preferred writing style, tone, and branding. Just as important is insight into your prospects – target industries and roles, how they feel and what they think about the problem you solve and your business (if it all). Being able to get into the mind of the buyer (rather than the perspective of the seller) is key.
  • Flexibility – copy styles will constantly change depending on tactic, platform, and prospect. An email asking a CEO for a meeting will sound much different than a social post positioning your business. A good writer will know this – and will be able to change as the intent does.
  • An eye on the trends – the goal posts are always moving when it comes to copy, so it’s important to stay on top of the latest tactics, trends, and stats. You want a writer who is always learning, testing, and figuring out what works best.

Work with B2B copywriters on your marketing

It’s obvious that great, purposeful copywriting is not something everyone can do (although you can learn!) And it’s certainly not something you should be skimping on.

As the saying goes, copy is king. Use it well and you could enjoy a better return on your marketing effort, boosted engagement, a stronger brand, and a whole lot of saved time (to name a few).

It’s no wonder 64% of B2B businesses are outsourcing their copywriting** – proof that if you want to create great content and copy for your B2B business, you don’t have to wing it yourself.

Align.me work with dozens of businesses – from Aussie SMEs to global enterprises – to help them create and publish great copy. Our expert team can help you come up with new ideas, create great assets, and then send them out into the world to help lift your thought leadership, promote your products and services, and increase your sales.

You can contact us today to discuss how we can help you make great sales and marketing.

Want to receive more content like this? Subscribe to our monthly B2B marketing blog!

 

Sources:

*https://smartblogger.com/copywriting-statistics/

** https://ownersmag.com/copywriting-statistics/