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Persuasive communication is the core of all marketing, whether you're speaking to businesses or consumers. In the business-to-business world, success is all about efficiency and value.
Business-to-business copywriting, also known as B2B copywriting, is a specialized skill set that lets companies connect with decision-makers. Copywriters recognize that B2B audiences are busy professionals who share one primary goal: to help their organizations run more smoothly. B2B copywriters are experts at communicating how a product or service meets that goal.
In this post, we'll examine why copywriting is a crucial component of the B2B marketing landscape. We'll examine what effective B2B copywriting looks like and how to develop the necessary skills for success.
How B2B Copywriting Differs From B2C Writing
Copywriting is the art of facilitating a sale through the written word. To do so, copywriters must be able to engage, inform, and convince. Whether you're working in a business-to-business or business-to-consumer (B2C) model, that means understanding what your potential customers want.
In B2C copywriting, you're playing to the audience's emotions and engaging them with personally relevant stories. B2B writing, on the other hand, addresses professionals who are accountable to multiple stakeholders, including managers, budget holders, and end users. It's less about emotion and more about compelling data, tangible benefits, and return on investment.
Know Your Business Audience
Before you can write effective B2B copy, you must identify your audience. You need to know who your readers are on a professional level, including their industry and job titles, as well as their typical pain points and where they are along the sales funnel. Once you know what they struggle with and what they've done to find a solution, you can present your product or service as the perfect match.
One effective way to answer these questions is by developing user personas for different buyer groups. A persona is a fictionalized representation of your ideal user, including their professional background and job responsibilities. For example, you're not writing for "a digital marketing manager," you're marketing to Lucy, marketing manager for an e-commerce startup who struggles with automation.
Common B2B Copywriting Formats and Channels
Copywriting is essential throughout the B2B marketing funnel, from social media posts and other awareness-focused content to lead-nurturing emails that close the sale. The more formats B2B copywriters can handle, the better their chances of reaching broad audiences.
Websites and Landing Pages
B2B businesses' websites play a crucial role in guiding buyers to become customers. From home pages to product pages and landing pages, each aspect of the site should emphasize the benefits that the targeted product or service offers the reader. Every paragraph should answer the question, "What's in it for me?", and each page should contain a clear call to action (CTA) that encourages next steps.
Sales and Nurture Emails
It's crucial to fill every B2B email with value, whether you're writing an explicitly promotional message or one that focuses more on relationship building. Busy professionals will only click or continue reading if they believe they'll gain something of value right away, so keep reminding them how your product or service can solve the problems they face at work.
Use every sentence to guide the reader to convert. Depending on the buying stage you're targeting, that might be a purchase, a free trial, a sales call, or another action.
White Papers and Case Studies
While B2C content marketing strategies can attract audiences through short-form articles and social media posts, B2B content marketing requires more in-depth material. White papers and case studies provide the additional information necessary for complex decision-making. When well-written, this marketing content reinforces the organization's topic authority with valuable industry insights.
Writing With Clarity, Authority, and Purpose
To persuade without being pushy, B2B copywriting must inspire confidence by conveying expertise and knowledge of the reader's pain points. It respects the reader's time and professional status by focusing on a particular issue and offering a clear, relevant solution.
Earning the reader's trust is a key part of this process. A skilled B2B copywriter will use valuable trust signals, such as industry data and relevant statistics, to position the company as a trusted expert. The true experts will integrate those statistics into personable copy written in an authentic brand voice.
Crafting Calls to Action That Convert
B2B businesses use copywriters primarily for one reason: to encourage action and boost conversions. To achieve that goal, even the most compelling content needs an effective CTA. CTAs are where the B2B copywriter invites the reader to take action.
For readers to respond, the CTA must include both urgency and a specific, tangible benefit. It should be concise and use strong action phrases, such as "Captivate your audiences" or "Harness your team's potential."
SEO Best Practices for B2B Copywriters
Search engine optimization (SEO) is how a B2B copywriter tells Google that their material answers the reader's question. It's about how you attract new audiences to discover your marketing content or website, depending on where they are in the buying cycle. Key steps include:
- Identifying niche keywords: Find the words and phrases decision-makers use to solve the problems you address or find products and services like yours. Do this for every stage of the buying funnel.
- Planning valuable content: Identify the topics your customers are reading about. Craft high-value content that offers original insights and integrates keywords.
- Use authoritative sources: Link to respected industry, government, or academic publications to build trust.
Tools To Improve Your B2B Copywriting
Today's copywriters use technology to work more effectively. Harness these tools to stay competitive:
- Clearscope: An SEO assistant that can help you plan, write, and evaluate your B2B marketing content
- Google Keyword Planner: A free tool that finds the keywords your readers use to search
- Grammarly: A writing assistant software that scans your content for errors and offers phrasing suggestions
- Hemingway: An editing tool that scores readability and helps to improve the clarity of your writing
- Hotjar: An analytics tool that tracks user behavior, from time on page to conversion rates
Common B2B Copy Mistakes To Avoid
It's essential to treat B2B copywriting as the unique skill it is. Treating it like B2C writing or other forms of content writing can lead to:
- Using business jargon: Even when you write for professionals, clarity and simplicity are key. Make your copy easy to read.
- Over-explaining features: Instead of explaining what the product or service can do, show how it will benefit the reader.
- Neglecting engagement value: B2B copywriting doesn't need to be dry or dull. Embrace the power of B2B storytelling to make your material something you'd want to read.
- Distracting with "fluff": B2B readers are busy. Be concise and to the point at all times.
Top Tips for B2B Copywriters
Now that you know what not to do, let's cover the secrets of success that help top copywriters thrive:
- Write for people, not roles: You need to know your reader's professional pain points, but remember that they are human, too.
- Focus on what matters: Do your research and find out what benefits will tip the scales for decision-makers. Emphasize those in your copy.
- Write like people talk: Consider how an executive with your brand voice would speak to a group in a boardroom, and write accordingly.
- Analyze B2B copywriting examples: Ask yourself what makes you want to take action and what turns you off.
- Hire professional writers: B2B copywriters train and stay up to date with best practices.
Empower Your B2B Strategy With Conversion-Focused Copy
Hiring a professional writer is one of the simplest, most cost-effective ways to make sure your B2B copywriting reaches the right audiences. Compose.ly's B2B copywriting services give you access to vetted professional writers who know your industry, so you can publish with confidence without overloading your team.
Learn more about how our Managed Service option takes the logistics of copywriting off your plate so you can focus on running your business.
