Is your B2B content boring? It needn’t be. Let’s look at how to make it interesting and useful. (B2B = Business To Business.)
No matter what the topic, someone needs that content. As content creators, it’s up to us to make it interesting, initially, for ourselves.
If the content bores us, we can fix it.
Here’s how. To make content interesting, become interested in the topic.
Try putting yourself into the readers’ situation. If you wanted to know more about X, what would you want to know? Why would you want the information?
That said, there’s a BIG challenge. If we don’t understand an industry, we need to realize it will take more work to get an initial grounding in it. Factor this research phase into your quote for the client. Sometimes, it’s just too much effort; offer advice to the client to help him to find someone who knows the industry.
OK, with that out of the way, let’s look at B2B content.
B2B content: it’s about people
B2B Content Isn’t Boring Unless Your Writing Is puts it well:
… you may be focused on what the product is rather than what it does – viewing it primarily in functional and technical terms – which can be quite different to the customer’s viewpoint.
Consider the customer’s point of view. Who is he? Why is he reading the content? How can you help him?
If you’re a marketer, you’ll think about personas, and where in the buying cycle the reader is, too.
Try thinking on paper:
- Why should anyone read this content?
- Who should read this content, and why?
- What does the reader hope to gain from the content?
- How will this content help him?
- A question for the client: what’s your preferred response to this content? And apropos of that: what’s the CTA? (Call to Action.)
Your musings on the reader, the content and the product you’re promoting needn’t take much time. However, do write down your questions and answers. You’re not only kickstarting your brain, you’re building your own interest in the topic.
To reiterate: to write interesting content, YOU must be interested. Ask yourself questions and you’ll discover that you CAN become interested, even in the most “boring” content.
These tips will help you to make the content interesting for readers.
1. Aim for clarity and readers’ comprehension: be aware of jargon
Avoid unnecessary jargon.
Assess your readers. Will readers understand you? People in an industry communicate using that industry’s terms, of course, but aim for clarity, always. You have no way of knowing a reader’s level of experience in an industry.
Uncertain whether your readers understand a term? Define. Offer a glossary, if that will help readers to understand industry jargon. (Suggest developing a glossary, if a client is paying for the content.)
2. Get practical: what’s the takeaway for the reader?
Make a promise in the headline, then ensure that you deliver on the promise. For example, if your headline is “Why… (Something)”, ensure that readers will know why after reading. If you promise a “how to”, deliver.
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Copywriter and marketing pro Angela Booth maintains a busy copywriting and ghostwriting practice. Fascinated by online marketing, she wrote one of the first business books for internet marketing, published by Allen & Unwin. She’s been an enthusiastic blogger since the late 1990s.
