Events are a great way for businesses to directly connect with both new and existing customers. The problem is, they can only be experienced by so many people.

To spread the word and help others attend the event vicariously, a range of content is often made post-event. Alongside videos and photo galleries, a big event report, summary or paper may be commissioned to summarise the key messages of the day.

If you’ve been asked to attend an event and write up such a report, it can be a daunting prospect. Here are seven tips to take the pressure off and help you really capture the spirit of an event in writing.

1: Eat something

A two-part tip to start. The first thing you should always do before an event is to eat something. In the hubbub of getting across London, Berlin, Paris, Vegas etc. during rush hour, it’s easy to skip breakfast. Don’t. A hungry writer tends to forget things.

If you’re at an event and food is on offer, you also shouldn’t hesitate to get stuck in for a couple of good reasons:

• Other attendees are more likely to network over some good grub
• Food at events is often really amazing

2: Be social, but don’t forget why you’re there

Events are a great opportunity to meet new people and discuss the goings-on in their industry. That kind of info, direct from the source, is gold dust for any writer—and could come in handy for later projects you take on. Even if you’re there to be a fly on the wall, there’s nothing to say you shouldn’t be a talkative fly and get as much out of the event and its attendees as you can.

That said, don’t go too far with your own personal networking. You’ve got a job to do, so make sure you put that first.

3: Work out your “angle”

Just like any other writing job, an event write-up benefits from a solid brief.

Make sure you talk to your client before attending the event to work out what the angle is. Is it a straight write up of the event? Is there a particular new product or service that they want to come shining through? Should one speaker get more weight in the copy than the others? Are there any hot trends you need to reference, or use to frame the speakers’ insights?

These are all important questions, and it pays to answer them before you start attending the event and taking notes. Speaking of taking notes…

4: Bring a recorder…

OK, maybe not that kind of recorder.

A handheld recording device is your best friend for events, calls, and anything else that requires you to take notes quickly.

Ideally, try and pick one up that has built in condenser microphones. This isn’t the place to get into the complexity of microphone choice, but in general condensers are a bit more sensitive. So, they’re more likely to pick up what a speaker is saying – even in a crowded conference room.

The Radix office (shameless promotion alert) uses this Tascam portable for taking notes, and it works pretty well. There are plenty of other recorders on the market that will also do the job, and most can be had for less than £100.

5: But be prepared to take notes as well

You want a recorder to pick up the full event, but you shouldn’t rely on this entirely.

For starters, having several hours of audio as your only writing reference is daunting, to say the least. If you also have a word doc with the key points highlighted, that can help make things feel a bit more manageable.

Also, recordings can fail, files can become corrupted, and white noise can prevent you from hearing the speakers during playback. Things can and will go wrong, and it pays to have a backup set of notes.

6: Capture the spirit of the event

I appreciate that sounds a bit “new-age”, but it’s important to think beyond the core messages of the event, and try to capture the feeling in the room.

Every event will have a different theme, décor, or other element to it that goes beyond the core sessions and speakers on the lineup. Even without these things, most events will have an overall theme they try to build the sessions around. Riffing off this can be a great way to start your write up.

7: Don’t wait too long to start writing

I know, it’s Friday evening and you’re on the train back from London. It’s late, and smells weird in your coach, and the last thing you want to do is start writing. But you should.

Even with notes and recordings from the event, a lot of the best copy you write will come from the small details you remember. Unfortunately, your memory is going to quickly fade from the moment you leave the event. So, it’s best to start writing as early as you can.

Bonus tip: don’t panic

Stuff goes wrong. That’s a fact of life – and a fact of any event you’re attending. You might miss the connecting train you need, have an alarm malfunction and show up late, or zone out right when a critical speaker says their most important sentence. Or all three, if you’re really lucky.

The important thing is not to panic. Just put any blunders like this in the back of your mind, and try and make the best of the rest of your day.

Follow these tips, and nail that write up

No matter how experienced you are at this whole copywriting thing, events can be a daunting prospect.

But if you can keep your cool and follow these tips, you’ll be in the best place to produce a great write up – one that pleases your client, and helps non-attendees see just how much they’ve missed out.

Do you want more copywriting and content writing tips? Sign up for our monthly B2B writing advice email.

Header image from photo by John-Mark Kuznietsov on Unsplash.

Recorder image: by Óscar Romero (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

The post Attending a client event? Here’s how to write a kick-ass summary appeared first on Radix.

Blogs began life as “weblogs:” personal pages people used to catalogue their experiences. An intimate, personal and often raw format, businesses quickly began trying to capture this same kind of energy in their own blogs.

But while you can write about how your day went in a few hundred words, you need a lot more page real estate to get into a meaty business technology topic.

So how long can a business blog be before it overstays its welcome? And how long should a blog be to engage your audience?

How long is a piece of string?

Other B2B content formats tend to have strictly defined layouts and lengths. We all have a rough idea how long an email or social media post can be before it becomes unbearably long. And though many marketers often see white papers and ebooks as interchangeable (here’s a guide to help you tell the difference), the general consensus is that these are longer-form pieces of 1,500 words or more.

But the blog? The blog can be a wide range of lengths – and there’s not a lot of agreement on what kind of word count is best for engaging your audience.

What does the research say?

When it comes to engagement, a quick Google will yield a lot of opinion pieces, articles and scientific-looking tables about what size of post is best.

One type of opinion you’ll see regularly is the idea that in the smartphone age attention spans are too low for you to hold attention after a certain number of words. And it seems the blogging community has taken this message to heart, with WordPress CEO Matt Mullenweg claiming that the average WordPress post is just 280 words long.

So, is brevity the soul of blog engagement? The research would beg to differ.

Buffer Social’s study found that blogs got the best engagement at 1,600 words. Other common stats support long-form blogs as better for engagement, and search ranking:

• On average, top ranked searches have 2,416 words
• Long content outperforms short-form posts by 40.54%

Despite the numbers being fairly convincing, Rand Fishkin of Moz says we should be careful about taking this data at face value.

After all, the data leaves a lot of questions unasked. Specifically, when it comes to how different length posts rank in search, we need to ask:

• What set of keywords does this apply to?
• Will the keywords I use see similar results?
• Is correlation the same as causation?

I’ll leave the first two questions to the SEO experts out there, but when it comes to correlation and causation: it’s safe to say there’s very little. While long content may be more engaging and rank higher, it doesn’t do those things just because it’s long. If I wrote the word “blob” 600 times, that would be no more or less readable and engaging than if I wrote it 1,500 times.

The depth-length correlation

Long posts tend to engage and rank better, but that’s not necessarily because they’re long. In general, it’s because longer posts will go into greater depth on a topic and (hopefully) be better researched. And we all know a little research and depth goes a long way to creating better content.

The key is in that depth, though. The longer word count merely allows for it. In fact, I’d go as far as to say word count is only earned once the depth is there. Radix’s own creative director David McGuire hit the nail on the head in a recent LinkedIn post, saying “a longer blog post isn’t necessarily better; it just has more words.”

If you were to chart depth against word count on a poorly drawn WordArt graph, it might look something like this:

To summarise this wonky majesty: if you have a lot of depth, you can have a lot of words without turning your blog into a shallow load of waffle.

It’s time to earn your word count

So, the next time you look at an in-progress blog and ask “is this the right length?”, think first about whether it has the right depth to justify that length.

If you’re just putting out a quick opinion piece on a topic, 400 words may be enough. If you’re really going to town on the research though, give yourself permission to break the 1,500-word barrier.

For more copywriting tips, tricks and blogs of varying length, subscribe to our monthly insights email.

The post How long should a blog be? appeared first on Radix.

Tis the season to be jolly, eat turkey, and start getting your new year in order. That can mean ambitious/unattainable new year’s resolutions, but for us it means mulling over how B2B content marketing has changed in 2017, and what we can expect to see over the coming year.

As always, we’ve collected opinions from across the Radix team, as well as some of our friends in the industry to try and get a view of how 2018 will shape up.

Last year, we saw predictions and wishes for better, more integrated metrics and data across campaigns, more VR and ABM content, and a sharper focus on who content should actually serve.

In this blog, you’ll see which wishes came true, which didn’t, and what other trends our team noticed throughout 2017. You’ll also see what the future of B2B marketing may hold according to team Radix:

Fiona: in-depth blogs, and the rise and rise of ABM

Over the past year we’ve seen a huge change in attitude towards blogs. Once they were considered cheap “filler” to attract search traffic, and nothing more. Now they’re seen as high-value content that can directly engage prospects and customers and even spark actual buying conversations. As a result, we’re seeing blogs getting more in-depth and replacing formats like ebooks.

The other big trend of 2017 has been account-based marketing. Everyone’s talking about it; some people are actually doing it. In ABM it’s doubly important to focus on the quality of the content. If you’re personalising content to an individual company or buyer, you have to get it absolutely right, otherwise it will go in the bin and your efforts will have been wasted.

My message to marketers: don’t over-focus on ABM automation at the expense of creating great content that will win your prospects’ attention – and their business.

My wish for 2018? I’d love to see more passion projects. When we have a client who has a brilliant idea, is excited about bringing it to life, and devotes time and thought to helping us create it, the difference is incredible. We’ve worked on a few client passion projects and they’re invariably the ones that see the best engagement and results.

David: the moment of truth for content, data and ABM

Niche content, data analytics and ABM automation are all on a collision course, at high speed.

This can go one of two ways. Either an obsession with data smashes the creativity and individuality out of content, and then ABM tech amplifies the resulting mess into a big pile of spam… or the insights that tech and data can provide enable gifted writers to craft highly relevant, useful and personal content that resonates deeply within tiny niche markets. At scale.

I know which outcome I’m hoping Santa brings.

Kieran: content goes long, and the rebirth of product marketing

For me, 2017 has been all about the long content pieces.  I’ve worked on exhaustive web pages, in-depth ebooks and sprawling concept albums. (The latter, admittedly, on my own time, as I took three months out to test drive the Radix Sabbatical.)

I’ve also found myself writing more content that’s designed to live a little further down the “funnel” – from solution overviews to product factsheets. After a few years spent in the shadow of more showy, less salesy Content Marketing, it’s good to see such essential copy getting the budget and attention it deserves.

My wish for the coming year: peace on Earth. Failing that, I’ll take the early death of supposedly helpful, but actually deeply impractical online proofing and reviewing platforms. (Which, in its own small way, would help with peace on Earth. By making me much less likely to hurl my laptop into a wall.)

Steve: more thoughtful email nurture and promotional copy

I’ve heard a lot of talk this year about changing the way we approach promotional materials and communications. It feels like agencies and brands alike are waking up to the idea that even the greatest most exciting content in the world is worthless if you’re not effectively getting people to look at it.

I’d expect to see that theme continue in 2018. As people recognise the importance of exciting, engaging and entertaining communications, we should see a significant shift away from dry “cookie cutter” nurture programs.

Instead, I expect to see a lot more time spent considering how the audience engage with promotional content and communications, and a much larger focus on building compelling and exciting stories in the comms themselves, instead of just in large content pieces.

George: sorry Steve, you’re completely wrong

I’ve definitely seen a swing away from working on emails and nurture campaigns this year. Now it seems like I spend more of my time on ebooks and blog posts – and more visual promotional materials like teaser images, infographics and videos.

That could just be the luck of the draw with what work I’ve wound up doing, or it may just be clients are taking email campaigns in house now. Alternatively, it might be a general shift toward long-form content over short-form promotional material.

As for the coming year, I think we’ll continue seeing longer, more researched pieces coming to the fore. It’s been going that way for a long while now, and I imagine the trend will continue next year. It won’t be long until 2,000 word blogs and 5,000 word ebooks become the new normal.

Nick: suddenly, everyone’s a copywriting expert

A lot more people are talking about copywriting at conferences and events. There’s also a shed-load of enthusiastic head nodding going on when you talk about content writing. People know it’s something they should be doing, but just don’t know where to start, or how much money to allocate.

In 2018, I’d like to think people will cease starting a conversation about copy with SEO. Yes, it’s important, but there’s still degenerates out there who think crowbarring a load of keywords into copy will magically elevate their blog to the top of a Google search (I’ve met these people at conferences).

Emily: more product information, and the death of landfill content

I feel like the brakes have finally been put on how much content brands are expected to publish. There’s still a lot of thoughtless content out there, being pushed out, day-today, but things are easing up. Brands are shifting towards quality, over quantity, but this change is only just starting.

Next year, I hope we’ll see even more being done around VR for B2B, but also that brands look at what’s needed towards the bottom of the funnel. Blog posts and videos are cool, but buyers want thoughtful product information too.

Happy Holidays

We hope you have a delightful Christmas and New Year. We’ll be back in January with even more advice on how to make the most out of your B2B content.

And if you want to see if our predictions come true? Sign up to the Radix newsletter, and we’ll keep you up to date with the latest goings-on.

The post Our predictions: how B2B content will evolve in 2018 appeared first on Radix.

It starts like this. Something short to set the scene, promise some value, and capture the imagination. Maybe identify a trend.

Increasingly, marketers are using blog posts to react quickly to an industry trend. Depending on how suddenly that trend has arrived (and how long you think it’ll stick around for), you’ll often need to move fast to ensure your blog is relevant and timely.

Then you move on to introduce the challenge, and why it poses a problem.

But frequently, that means you might not have the time to brief a writer. In which case, your poor sales person/marketing manager/intern suddenly has the mantle of blog writer thrust upon them – and must suddenly become a blog-writing expert overnight.

Sometimes it’s good to finish your intro with a summary of what the post will cover – and how it will help the reader.

Whether you are that poor, picked-upon blog writer, or you’re the one handing them a blog idea and want to help them along, this post will go through a catch-all structure you can use to help kickstart your blog and structure it for high impact.

The challenge: here we dig into it in greater detail. (Good place for a subhead.)

So, you have a burning customer trend, question or industry topic to write about. You (hopefully) have between three and five hours to write your blog, and a painfully blank word document taunting you. What do you do?

It’s all too easy to stare in to the white void of your word processor and not know where to begin.

This writer’s block is common for both new and experienced writers alike. And it often doesn’t matter how well you know the topic of the blog. Almost everyone finds it hard to start from scratch.

You can also examine some of the risks – what happens if you don’t solve the challenge?

That’s OK, but only for so long. After all, you have your actual core job responsibilities to return to, so you can’t spend your entire day staring at the flashing cursor of doom.

Now we know the challenge and risks, let’s introduce a solution (and include another subhead)…

It’s at this point a structure can help in a big way. By following a template, you aren’t starting with nothing; you’re just filling in the blanks. If you’ve ever filled in a form (and who hasn’t) this is something you already know how to do – no training required.

Then we can explore the benefits of using this solution.

Far from just kickstarting your blog writing, a strong template can help you keep your blog focussed on the topic at hand – and more engaging to readers as a result.

Finally, you wrap up with a summary of what your blog has talked about (bullet points can be a good idea here). Also include a third subhead – but don’t make it say “conclusion”.

Writing blogs can be tough. Doubly so when you have to fit writing time around other job responsibilities. But with a strong basic structure, you can:

• Hit the ground running, and start writing fast
• Keep your argument focussed
• Spend less time worrying about structure, and spend more time bringing your blog to life

Don’t forget to include a call to action – possibly linking to additional content on the topic.

The last thing you need to do to seal the deal with your blog is give your audience some idea of what they might want to do next. Otherwise they’ll just hit their “back” button and be gone. You might want to put a hyperlink at the end – and maybe to go back through your document and insert a link or two to other content illustrating your point.

Of course, this is just one kind of structure you can use to simplify blog writing; there are many others out there. But it’s a good start. Beyond this, there are many other things you can do to take your blog writing to the next level: if you’d like some more tips, take a look at Radix’s own blog.

The post A basic structure you can use for almost any blog post appeared first on Radix.

Whether it’s a launch party, industry expo, or dinner gala, B2B marketing events happen every day. To get the greatest mileage out of all their hard work, a marketer will often want a copywriter there to capture the day in beautiful prose.

Sounds easy enough. But as a writer, it’s really easy to get this job horribly, horribly wrong.

In this episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy David, Fiona and I share our dos and don’ts for tackling client events, as well as our own personal event successes and horror stories.

Listen now to discover:

• Why you should always record an event twice
• How events can make you a much better writer
• Why it’s essential to capture the ‘feel’ of an event
• What every writer needs to know before they set off

…and if you want to read the event copywriting blog post I plug so subtly in the conversation, you’ll find that here.

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

Intro and outro music by Industrial and Marine.

The post Podcast: how to write up a B2B marketing event appeared first on Radix.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is fast becoming the way for enterprises to get their apps. And that means, here at Radix, we find ourselves writing SaaS content pretty often.

Considering all the other complex stuff that goes on in the enterprise tech world, you’d think writing about SaaS would be simple. But there’s far more to it than meets the eye… or perhaps less.

You see, in many cases, the best approach involves not writing about SaaS at all.

What is SaaS?

If you get software through an online portal rather than having to buy a disk or licence key, then it’s SaaS. If you’ve ever used Dropbox, any Google service, OneDrive, or a similar online app accessed through a browser, then you’ve used SaaS. These services often come part and parcel with a monthly subscription fee instead of a one-off or annual license payment.

It works pretty much the same in the enterprise space – albeit with a few more wrinkles. I’ll get to those in a minute.

But wait. When you read that explanation of SaaS, did you sigh and think “yep, I know”?

If so, then you and the entire enterprise tech community have something in common. (In fact, if you didn’t, it’s likely you’re not my target audience here.)

We all know SaaS

Here’s the thing most SaaS vendors forget: this stuff isn’t new anymore. Everyone knows what SaaS is. Even if you’ve never heard the specific term, you get the concept.

So, if you spend a whole paragraph explaining what a subscription model is and how it works, you’re just wasting valuable space on your page.

Forget the model – sell me the service

Instead of rehashing monthly payment plans, talk about how your service is actually unique. Is the service particularly flexible in some way? Is the underlying tech innovative? What does it enable me to actually do? These are the things that are new and exciting to your customers.

There are some exceptions where it’s worth explaining the SaaS model in further detail, though. Mainly, for core enterprise services.

The enterprise exception

For the average online service, conventional internet is fine.

But when an app is the lifeblood of the business, standard internet connections aren’t reliable or fast enough. Many organisations will install direct connections to their provider’s data centre to ensure they get the quickest, most dependable service.

This is one of the main situations where you do want to go into a bit more detail about the exact nature of the SaaS connection. But there may be other specific details and extra information worth sharing.

The golden rule: don’t explain if you don’t have to

Your standard pay-per-month SaaS doesn’t need an introduction. But if you offer direct connections to your data centre, an unconventional price structure, or something else that veers from the norm, a bit of detail can help explain why your offering is unique.

Of course, to do this, you need to know what the norm is for your industry – and where your product or service deviates from it. If you’re writing for your own business, you should know this already (or at least be able to talk to a Sales rep who will). And as external writers, we find this is a great question to ask in our briefing calls.

Actually, beyond SaaS, this is a good plan for almost any topic. By understanding what your audience knows and what you need to tell them, you can create a tighter, more engaging and much more compelling piece of content.

By trimming the fat (and not re-explaining to your audience for the hundredth time what SaaS is), you can cut to the heart of the matter: why your product or service is great and why people should buy it. This helps you get to the point, convince your reader, and help push them further down the funnel. Win-win.

For more tips on writing for the enterprise tech sector, sign up for our monthly newsletter.

The post How to write about SaaS appeared first on Radix.

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 podcast@radix-communications.com (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.

The post Podcast 60: the lowdown on B2B messaging workshops appeared first on Radix.

Writing is often seen as an inexpensive pursuit. After all, most of us can write with little more than a pen and paper.

When it comes to professional copywriting though, we need more than a quill and parchment to get great copy out of the door and into the hands of our clients. And marketers who find themselves writing often might find life easier if they take a peek at the technology we use.

So this blog looks at the kinds of gear that help professional copywriters to do our very best work. It will also give you some advice on what to look out for when making your essential purchases, so you get quality equipment without going over budget.

Essentials: your computer

The computer is the centrepiece of any copywriter’s world. Thankfully, as email clients and word processors aren’t especially compute-intensive, it’s something you won’t need to spend the earth on.

Offering a complete rundown of different computer brands and hardware types is beyond the scope of this guide (you could probably write a whole book on it if you wanted), but I can offer some general things to keep in mind if you’re shopping for a new computer:

• Seriously consider getting a laptop – Desktops are great for many things, but flexibility isn’t one of them. With a portable machine, you can always respond quickly if you need to attend an event, meet a client, or work while travelling.
• Check for reliability – You won’t need oodles of RAM or an i7 CPU to run a word processor, but you definitely want something you can rely on. Do your research and make sure whatever you buy is built to last. When it comes to this essential kit, it’s worth paying a bit extra for peace of mind.
• SSDs are worth the money – While not essential, solid state drives are a good investment for any computer. They can be quite expensive still, but the price per GB is coming down every day—making these a very compelling upgrade option. Pop one in your computer (or better yet, get one pre-installed if you’re buying a new system), and you’ll quickly see a significant improvement to boot and application load times.

Essentials: word processing software

Assuming you’ll be writing a lot of documents, you’ll need some decent software to write them in.

While there are some great free options available (many of which we covered on one of our earlier podcasts), you’re going to have to ignore them in favour of Microsoft Word.

(I know; I’m sorry too.)

MS Word is a fine piece of software (in spite of its many eccentricities and flaws), but the main reason is that it’s what everyone uses. It’s the industry standard, so you can guarantee almost all your contacts will have MS Word available to them. With everyone singing from the same hymn sheet, you can rest assured your documents will always come through looking exactly as they should, without any garbled artefacts that are common when word processors have to interpret non-standard file types.

You can get away with mixing and matching word processor file conventions in some disciplines, but when you bring the tracked changes, extensive comments, and other features that are important to the writing process, you’ll really want everyone to be using the same program. So just bite the bullet and pay for MS Word.

Helpfully, you do at least have a choice of how you do that, with both up-front desktop licenses and monthly subscription alternatives with Office 365.

Essentials: a calendar/time management application

But it’s not all about writing great copy. A professional also delivers on time.

When you’re juggling lots of projects, you’ll want a reliable calendar or other time management app to keep yourself organised. Again, Microsoft Outlook is a standard app within the industry, but there are plenty of alternatives out there.

In your search for the best and brightest digital calendar, make sure you get one that can easily share calendars in standard .ics format. Even if you find you don’t often work in tandem with other writers, you will have to book calls with subject matter experts (or they’ll have to book them in with you), and it’s important that you can do that as quickly and easily as possible.

Essentials: shared file storage

Most of the time, you’ll find attaching a document to an email is a direct and easy way to send your copy to someone. But that only gets you so far.

Many clients and email programs will have strict limits on attachment file sizes, meaning you’ll need another way to send and receive files. Shared file storage helps here, and in the cases of cloud services like Dropbox, OneDrive, or Google Drive, they can also give you an important backup in case your hard drive fails.  If you just want to send files without worrying about shared storage, the likes of WeTransfer can also be a good alternative.

Even better, most of these cloud services are free unless you need lots of storage or to send really big files. And even then, the paid versions are very cost-effective for the amount of storage you get.

Essentials: an audio recorder

Covering events and transcribing calls as they happen is hard. Even if you’re the fastest typist in the world, it’s still all too easy to miss crucial quotes and messaging in the haze of spoken word. That’s why having a recorder capturing the call/conference audio is a lifesaver.

Yes, you can use an app on your phone to record, but I’d advise against this. Bringing your phone to a conference call is just asking for unnecessary distractions as the texts, tweets and calls roll in. Even if you’re disciplined enough to ignore the barrage of notifications you might receive, you run the risk of draining your phone’s battery and losing your recording midway through the call.

To get a truly bulletproof recording experience, I’d recommend a dedicated recording device. Considering that you can get handheld recorders that have a slim form factor, and a low price, there’s no reason not to get one if you think you’ll need to record lots of calls.

As with everything, it’s worth checking reviews to ensure your recorder of choice is dependable. Where possible, get one that can be powered by batteries. That way, you’ll always be ready to go, even if you have to join a briefing call last minute.

Nice-to-haves: a second monitor

Pretty much all copywriting work starts and ends with staring at a computer screen. So, it might as well be a nice one. Better yet, two nice ones.

If you opt for a laptop over a desktop computer, then you’ll probably be thankful for the extra real-estate a dedicated monitor will offer. You can also extend your display across both screens, allowing you to have a reference document or brief on one screen, while you write your copy on the other. This is much faster than having to constantly alt-tab between windows.

As you probably won’t be watching movies or fast-moving images on your monitor, you won’t need to spend the earth on it. Just get one of an appropriate size for your workspace, and you’re good to go.

If you plan to have multiple reference documents open simultaneously (and have budget to spare), you might consider investing in an ultra-wide screen or higher resolution monitor.

As the name suggests, ultra-widescreen monitors offer a wider screen than conventional 16:9 monitors—allowing you fit even more stuff on the display. Many come in the curved variety. While visually striking, these aren’t likely to fit well into a multi-monitor setup, so I’d recommend sticking with a flat screen.

4K may be considered the next bastion for movie-watchers, but it can be surprisingly useful for productivity as well. With a higher resolution, text is much more readable in smaller application windows. What this means is, while you might only fit two apps on a standard 1080p monitor before the text becomes too small to read, you could fit anywhere between four and eight applications on a 4K screen before the text gets too small. Perfect if you need to work from many different source documents.

Nice-to-haves: a decent keyboard

Yeah, that junky keyboard you got bundled with your PC is fine. Likewise, you might be happy with your laptop keyboard. In which case, great.

But much like you never see a pro chef using cheap knives, every pro copywriter owes it to themselves to consider a top-drawer keyboard. If you spend the majority of your professional time hammering keys, your fingers will thank you for allocating some budget to a good board.

If your budget will stretch, treat yourself to a nice mechanical keyboard. Unlike membrane keyboards that have a single switch spread across the entire surface of the board, a mechanical has a dedicated switch for each key. They’re the really satisfying clicky keyboards, but they offer more than just a pleasant sound, enabling you to type a bit faster, reduce the amount of pressure required to type (and the strain on your joints), and avoid miskeys.

Most of the popular mechanicals out there use Cherry MX switches. You’ll find Cherry switches come in four different flavours:

• Red switches have a smooth action and don’t require much force to press down. These are ideal for the lightning-fingered.
• Black switches also have a smooth action, but require a heavier press. A great option if you find yourself mistyping regularly.
• Brown switches are another light switch, but with a tactile ‘bump’ you can feel as you press down. This bump tells you exactly when the key registers, so you can apply the right amount of pressure without having to hit the bottom of the board. This helps you type faster, and spare some strain on your hands.
• Blue switches also have the tactile bump, but are much heavier and louder than brown switches. These give a premium typing experience, but can be a bit too loud if you work in an office environment.

There are several other types of switches on the market, but these four tend to cover the main types of mechanical keyboard.

For typing, go for a brown or blue switch keyboard. Choose brown if you work with other people around you and need to keep the noise down. If you work at home or don’t need to worry about noise, go all out and enjoy the lovely action of a blue switch board. You can thank me later.

Should you give similar thought to your choice of mouse? I’d say no. As a writer, you’ll spend more time hitting keys than you will clicking icons (doubly so if you follow my guide to helpful productivity hacks and keyboard shortcuts for writers).

Nice-to-haves: a conference phone

I say a conference phone, but really the key here is keeping your hands free, so you can type important notes while on the phone.

Yes, you can use the speaker phone on your mobile. No, I wouldn’t recommend it as your primary phone solution; even on premium phones, the speaker mode tends to offer low voice quality.

Likewise, a headset can be a good way to keep your hands free, but many of the more affordable headsets can be extremely uncomfortable to use for any length of time. If you have the budget to get a nice, premium headset, then it’s absolutely a viable option.

If you find yourself on conference calls regularly, you’ll find a dedicated conference phone will give you the perfect blend of call quality, comfort, and cost-effectiveness.

More than just a pen and paper

As you can see, a lot of different applications and equipment go into the writing game. And this list only covers some of the most common and useful equipment. Many writers will have their own ‘must-haves,’ ranging from quality coffee makers, all the way to obscure good luck charms and novelty mouse mats.

But don’t let this list scare you. If you can pick up everything on the essentials list, you’ll be well on your way to having everything you need to write comfortably and efficiently—and you’ll hopefully even have some budget to spare. And if you can get some of the nice-to-haves as well, then you’ll quickly be living a professional life of luxury.

If you’d like more tips on copywriting (and specifically writing for the B2B tech sector), sign up for our monthly newsletter.

The post The professional copywriter’s essential kit list appeared first on Radix.

AI has an image problem. Between the evil robots that permeate pop culture (thanks, Terminator and 2001: A Space Odyssey) and the likes of Elon Musk regularly reminding us of the dangers of AI, many see artificial intelligence as a source of fear rather than a useful tool.

This is just my (un)professional opinion, but this AI fear-mongering is far too often based on the fiction of AI rather than the fact. Ask anyone who’s spent some time with today’s AI and voice assistant tools, and they’ll quickly remind you that these things aren’t exactly equipped to enslave humanity.

While these technologies can (and certainly will be) very useful, they can also be downright comical. Whether it’s a lack of common sense, or their no-nonsense monotone, AI has a funny side that businesses shouldn’t be afraid to embrace.

That’s exactly what IBM has done with some of its Watson content, and its humorous, humble approach to marketing Watson makes it deserving of a place in the Radix B2B Content Hall of Fame.

From Jeopardy to comedy

Watson made a big debut in 2011, storming through a round of Jeopardy and dismantling its human competitors. So far, so scary AI. Though even in this early marketing stunt, we see a humorous – even human – side to Watson. Who doesn’t get a chuckle out of Watson’s monotone voice asking for a question from the “chicks dig me” category?

This humorous streak continues in a series of videos where Watson interviews a range of celebrities. Each one takes a different slant, both highlighting Watson’s unique capabilities, but also poking fun at the cognitive bot in a box.

“Today on the Watson show”

During an interview with Bob Dylan, the tables are turned on Watson’s usually monotone demeanour, with Dylan’s canned and repeated responses sounding more robotic than Watson’s line of questioning. There are also the less-subtle jabs at Watson’s singing voice; don’t worry vocalists, AI isn’t coming for your jobs just yet.

When interviewing Serena Williams, Watson is quick to point out its ability to rapidly analyse William’s match performance. When it gets a bit too big for its boots though (Watson is the “Serena Williams of cognitive computing”, apparently) the tennis superstar is quick to put Watson in its place. There’s a humility here you seldom see in traditional technology marketing.

When discussing empathy, love and storytelling with Steven King, the horror author extraordinaire urges Watson to “try writing a book. Find a remote hotel… bring the family.” And in a non-celebrity interview that explores its nicer streak, Watson assures young Annabelle that she is in good health based on her records – despite her being too sick to have cake at her birthday last year.

Out of the boardroom, into the zeitgeist

I’ll admit that the series does lean a bit too hard on showing what Watson can do, with jarring interludes from Watson that read more like a dry product brochure than an engaging repartee between interviewer and interviewee. This rubs against the grain of the otherwise light and enjoyable humour in the videos.

But despite some flaws, the Watson conversations do two very important things:

1. They disarm Watson. Whether through humour or humility, Watson is clearly not an evil AI overlord. It works with people, discussing their problems and proposing solutions.
2. They move out of the realm of marketing material and into general culture. By bringing in recognisable cultural touchstones like King and Dylan, the series pushes beyond the walled garden of B2B marketing content and into the mainstream.

Both of these are done with the concept alone. But the execution brings the wry humour that wraps it all together as a genuinely engaging, enjoyable piece of content.

IBM’s general approach to Watson marketing has provoked the ire of some critics, with commentators noting that – whether due to overexcited journalists, or IBM itself – much of the discussion around Watson is unrealistic and focusses on capabilities that are very much the future of Watson rather than the present.

This all comes back to the problems AI solutions must overcome as they shift from a cultural mainstay into an actual tangible product or service. AI must prove it can really do the things it says it can do, and that it will do them in a way that works with humanity rather than against it.

But if IBM keeps marketing Watson in this way – through videos that demonstrate humility, humour, and empathy – I think Watson might have a fighting chance of entering the public consciousness as a force for good rather than SkyNet coming to life.

The post B2B Content Hall of Fame: The humour and humility of IBM’s Watson appeared first on Radix.

The Internet of Things (IoT) isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Salesforce recently ranked it among the likes of mobile and AI as one of the big trends driving manufacturing, and countless other publications have analysed how new IoT tech has transformed a whole host of industries.

If you’re tasked with writing about IoT, or briefing a writer on the topic (and it’s probably on the cards if you hang around the B2B tech sphere for long enough), here are four tips to help you hit the ground running.

Be specific

IoT is often discussed in this arcane, nebulous way. Part of it is in the name: we call it the Internet of Things, and we don’t often stop to explain exactly what the “things” are. But if your business is pushing IoT, then it must be doing so for a specific reason. So, you should tell your audience exactly what you’re doing with it.

Does your solution collect data on soil humidity for agriculture? Traffic conditions for smart cities? Whatever it is your business is up to with IoT, be specific. If it helps, use practical examples. Tell the reader exactly what data they can collect, and what they can do with it.

Where is all the data going?

So, this data – the whole thing your IoT solution collects – what happens to it once you’ve collected it? Does it sit in a data warehouse somewhere? Does it reside in a bespoke platform offered to customers? And what can your customers even do with that data anyway?

These are all questions you’ll need to answer if you want to produce great content that really gets to the heart of what your IoT solution is about.

What kind of payment model are you using?

Your IoT solution could well be the greatest thing that ever happens to a customer. But that customer will still have some questions about cost. Some of these may include:

• Is there a subscription cost?
• Are there any upfront payments required for installation?
• What about support costs?
• Do I have to pay to repair any sensors or IoT modules?
• Are there any other fees for data processing or transfer?
• Do I need to sign a contract?

If you want to really sell your solution to people, try and answer these questions (and any others your audience may have) as early as you can in your content.

Use the present tense

For years IoT was considered a potential game-changer. Now, it’s a current, actual game-changer. So, we need to stop talking about it in the future tense.

IoT is no longer some mystical maybe; businesses are developing and deploying IoT solutions right now. The full benefits of IoT may be yet to come, but the technology is not.

A strong start for your IoT writing

These tips won’t magically make you an IoT guru overnight, but they can help you get your IoT-focused copy off to a strong start. And they can certainly stop you making the typical mistakes many more sensationalist writers make when they tackle this exciting new (but certainly present-tense) topic.

Want tips and tricks on writing about other tech topics? Make sure you subscribe to our super-duper newsletter.

The post How to write content about the Internet of Things appeared first on Radix.

All marketing content has an agenda or objective. Sometimes it’s just contributing to a discussion or trying to make audiences think and feel in a certain way. But most of the time, there’s a concrete action we want our audience to take.

This call to action can often seem like an afterthought, a tiny “get the ebook” at the end of the email that doesn’t require a second glance. But these few words can have immense power, and can even mean the difference between a conversion and a missed opportunity.

Here are five frameworks you can use to create compelling calls to action with a whole range of different impacts.

1: The command

This is the most direct, and probably most common CTA you’ll find in content marketing. It keeps things simple by telling your audience exactly what they should do next: “read the ebook”, “take the survey”, “get your white paper”.

Pros: Direct, straight to the point, and easy to create

Cons: As the most common of CTAs, it doesn’t stand out

2: The question

Sometimes the indirect approach is best. Instead of telling a reader to do something, leave a lingering thought in their minds. Something that stays with them long after they’ve finished reading: “what could you achieve with [product]?” “what other challenges can we help you solve?”

Pros: Intriguing and can often stand out

Cons: Can come across as condescending or vague

3: The negative

This often crosses over with the question CTA, but with the negative CTA you focus more on what the reader will be missing out on or risking, rather than what they stand to gain: “don’t miss out”, “what’s missing from your data centre?” “does your solution stack up?”

Pros: Can be eye-catching and provocative

Cons: You risk coming across as smug

4: The benefit-led

Similar to the command CTA, this method involves recommending an action – but not one around the specific content. Instead of “download the asset”, you tell the reader to “explore your cloud potential,” “see what you could achieve with [product]”, “start your transformation”.

Pros: Flows better in-text and stands out

Cons: Can come across as vague

5: The in-text CTA

Why use a CTA button at all? Some calls to action work better when flowed directly into the text. So instead of “get in touch”, you’d tell the reader: “our cloud experts are on-hand to help you get the most out of your migration. Get in touch today to kick-start your journey to the cloud.”

Pros: Flows well and offers more detail

Cons: Less punchy than shorter CTAs

Super-charge your CTAs now

These are some of the common ways you can approach your CTAs. While I’ve tried to give the general pros and cons of each, your approach will always need to match the type of content you’re writing, your audience, and your brand’s voice.

Whether you need to be direct, inquisitive, or lead with the benefits, there’s a way to spice up your CTAs and make them work even harder.

For more copywriting tips and tricks make sure you subscribe to our delightful newsletter.

The post Five ways to write a convincing call to action appeared first on Radix.

Credibility. It’s hard-earned and easily lost – which might explain why so many people feel a little self-conscious about their writing.

Whether you’re penning a key thought leadership blog, an important product page, or just an internal email, a basic grammar or spelling error can instantly erode your authority and undermine the message you wanted to communicate.

It’s easy to think this kind of thing will never happen to you, but mistakes and sloppy writing habits catch all of us out at some point – marketers, managers and, yes, even copywriters too.

Here are 10 of the most common – with some tips to help you avoid them.

10: The comma splice

The comma is a powerful tool, but it’s easy to overuse it. When you start splitting unrelated clauses with a comma, rather than a full stop, that’s a clear case of comma abuse. It even has a name: the comma splice.

While many might consider this a stylistic choice in creative writing, it’s not something you want to be leaning on in traditional copy as it is technically incorrect. After all, a comma should be for splitting clauses, while the trusty full stop is left to separate unique ideas.

If you have any doubt, check your style guide to see if it allows for comma splicing.

Sloppy: We are an experienced HR company, we won the award for best HR provider in 2017.

Better: We are an experienced HR company. We won the award for best HR provider in 2017.

[Editor: alternatively, see Kieran’s excellent blog post about semicolons.]

9: Apostrophe catastrophe

We’ve all done it. There’s no shame in admitting you accidentally put an apostrophe in the wrong place (or added one unnecessarily). It was just a typo, right?

Just keep a good eye on it so you don’t accidentally make something a plural possessive again.

Sloppy: We have a range of employees’, all skilled in different industries.

Better: We have a range of employees, all skilled in different industries.

8: It’s not “its” unless it’s possessive.

This one is a rare example of when an apostrophe doesn’t signify possession. In this case “it’s” is a shortened form of “it is”.

Confusingly, “its” is used to signal that a particular thing possesses something.

Sloppy: Today’s businesses struggle with tight budgets. Its a real problem.

Better: Today’s businesses struggle with tight budgets. It’s a real problem.

7: You’re getting your words mixed up

Two ways to say “your.” This is pretty basic stuff, but easy to miss, especially if you’re wrestling with a longer document like an ebook or white paper – and spellcheck won’t always help you out.

Unfortunately, if one does slip through the cracks, it can do serious damage to your credibility – and to the message you’re trying to convey.

Just remember:

• Your: Something you own
• You’re: Short for “you are.” Something you are doing

Sloppy: Don’t forget to check you’re applications work after migrating them to the cloud.

Better: Don’t forget to check your applications work after migrating them to the cloud.

6: When they’re not quite there with their “theres”

Another common mix-up between three similar words that mean very different things. Unfortunately, this is also another easily-missed blunder that can undermine even the strongest of arguments.

• There: refers to a place, or is used as an abstract to introduce a phrase – “there is no solution that compares to ours”
• Their: refers to plural possession – “their solution is unproven compared to ours”
• They’re: shortened form of “they are” – “Customers love our solution. They’re using it to optimize all their processes”

The post 10 sloppy habits that let your writing down (and how to avoid them) appeared first on Radix.

At this very moment, a triple-threat brawl is breaking out in meeting rooms across the globe.

With huge campaigns looming on the horizon, the world’s marketing teams need to answer an important question: “Who on Earth is going to write this thing?”

Who indeed?

In most cases, there are three contenders:

• Someone in your organisation
• A freelance copywriter
• A copywriting agency

Each option comes with a very different set of pros and cons. Stick around, and you can see how they weigh in – and which one should win for different project types.

The DIY approach

Doing it yourself (or at the very least, getting someone within your organisation to do it) is a very attractive prospect. After all, you and your people already know your business inside out, you (hopefully) know what you want to say, and not spending money is, well, ideal.

There is a huge downside here though. Controversial opinion alert: not everyone is a writer. I know, shocking.

Yes, most of us can write. But writing something that’s compelling, exciting, and readable – and will convince readers to take action – is a totally different skillset.

There’s a small chance one of your product experts is a genuine polymath, who can write marketing copy with the best of us. But that introduces another problem: good writing takes time. For every hour that technical expert spends writing a blog, ebook, or press release, it’s one less hour they have to do the parts of their job that only they can.

Simply put, the do-it-yourself approach to writing is a useful fall-back if you’ve in-house writing skills, team members with available hours, and – frankly –  no spare time or budget to hire an external writer.

DIY copywriting: pros

• Saves time as there’s no need to brief an external writer
• Saves budget as your people are already on the payroll

DIY copywriting: cons

• The copy might not be especially compelling unless you have writing skills in-house
• Takes up valuable time your people could be using elsewhere

Finding a freelancer

If your in-house teams aren’t comfortable taking on the writing, freelancers can be a very useful resource.

Offering deep expertise in specific areas, and often charging less than their agency counterparts, freelancers can offer a strong balance between quality and price.

But as the old saying goes, you can have something quick, cheap or good – pick two.

While a good freelance writer will, of course, do their best to get things done efficiently, they are only one person. Diary clashes, long wait times and delays aren’t uncommon – especially if it’s a large project. And the better a freelancer is, the busier they’ll be – making it even harder to find time with them.

And because your eggs are in one basket, you also increase your risk. If it turns out the writer isn’t a good fit for the job, or something unavoidable comes up that takes them off the project, you have to start the briefing process all over again with someone else.

If you’re taking on a job that has roomy deadlines, or if you want to bring in external skills and knowledge while still keeping costs low, freelancers can be a really good fit. But if deadlines are tight, if there’s a lot of writing to do (say, a website or ABM campaign), or if it’s a high-profile project where you can’t risk anything going wrong, you may want to go with a copywriting agency.

Freelance B2B copywriter: pros

• May offer deep knowledge in particular areas of expertise
• Can often be cheaper than going to an agency

Freelance B2B copywriter: cons

• Need to book projects in early, especially for highly sought-after freelancers
• Can have long turnaround times for larger projects, or if your freelancer has a lot of work on the go
• Risk of having to brief someone else if something comes up and your freelancer isn’t able to complete the job

Article continues below.

The post Who should write your B2B copy? Hiring freelancers vs using an agency vs doing it yourself appeared first on Radix.

Words have power. (A good thing too, as if they didn’t, I doubt I’d have a job.) But while the right words can help your copy persuade, inform, and delight, the wrong words can quickly undermine otherwise excellent content.

Here are seven common words that can bring even the most thoughtful piece of content down, and stop it from performing. Some are email spam traps, others are archaic and unnecessary, but all of them should be avoided where possible.

Excise them from your writing, and you’ll quickly see your copy become more engaging – and hopefully get better results.

1: Free

If you’re in B2B, chances are you’re writing for a business and not for a charity. With that in mind, is anything you or your clients offer really free? Even “free” content is often gated and used to get the reader’s contact information. While this transaction may be free from a cash exchange, it does require a data transaction.

Not only is “free” a bit misleading, but it is also very likely to trigger spam filters. So, you should absolutely avoid using it in any email copy.

2: Whilst

Unless your style guide directly says “write like a Victorian gentleman”, using “whilst” is a no-go. Instead, you should just “while.” That will make your writing come across as far more conversational and punchy.

3: Leverage (as a verb)

Thankfully this is one piece of business jargon that is slowly dying, but we still see a few B2B types using “leverage” as a verb.

“Leverage our powerful solutions.” “Leverage the power of the cloud.”

There are plenty of other ways to say this that are far punchier, and more specific. Like “use”. Or “make the most of”. Even “harness”, if you’re really stretching. Almost anything will be better.

An important caveat here is that you can still use leverage as a noun because… well, that’s what the word actually is. So, if you’re talking about getting leverage for your business, go right ahead.

4: Utilise

I cannot imagine any scenario where saying “utilise” would be a better choice than just saying “use.”

It’s a small distinction, but opting for the longer, clunkier “utilise” (especially when it means almost the same thing as “use”) is the definition of unnecessary padding. There’s no need for it.

5: Drive

You still see a lot of this in more formal business writing. “Drive greater revenue.” “Drive efficiency through your business.”

It’s not an especially offensive piece of jargon, but it’s just so vague. Why can’t you say “improve”? Or “deliver”? Or any other word that describes the kind of benefit your product/service/business can offer?

6: Best/Market-leading/Top

If someone in your actual life told you they were the best at something, you probably wouldn’t believe them. Even if they actually were the best, you’d still resent their arrogance about the whole thing. So, why do we think the businesses we write for can get away with this kind of immodesty?

The exception here is if there is some kind of report that says a business is actually the market leader. Just as you might believe someone in real life is the best at something if a friend tells you about it, you’re welcome to call a business a market-leader if Gartner, Forrester, or another third-party has named them so.

7: Innovative

Sometimes you’re talking about actual innovation processes in your business: the resources, talent, and development required to create new product and service ideas. That’s fine. That’s an actual ‘thing’ in the business world.

However, if you’re just using the word “innovative” to blow your own trumpet, please stop. It’s the ultimate example of telling rather than showing.

Don’t tell the reader you’re innovative; show them something you’ve done that is truly unique.

Cut these words and elevate your copy

Fluffy, vague, and archaic words like these can quickly drag your copy down. But if you can weed them out, you can better engage your readership, and help your content deliver the best results.

For more writing tips and tricks, make sure you subscribe to our fabulous newsletter.

The post 7 words you should NEVER use in B2B copy appeared first on Radix.

When you think of a writer, you probably think of a brooding, lonesome type, hunched over a keyboard and hammering away. And you’d be half right; many writers do wind up tackling their jobs solo.

But when you bring a bunch of lone wolf writers together, amazing things can happen. This year’s Copywriting Conference is a perfect example: an event that featured a whole host of lively discussions, inspiring workshops and game-changing takeaways delivered by some of the best writers in the business.

Here’s a roundup of the most important lessons and copywriting tips from CopyCon 2018.

Fight the bullshit

Ryan “Dr Draper” Wallman – AKA the bloodhound of bullshit – kicked off (in all kinds of ways), with a talk about how to detect marketing BS in all its forms.

Every writer under the sun knows to write in clear language and short sentences, but Ryan laid out a strong plan for convincing your clients that simple is best:

• Show stakeholders evidence, including stats, research, and industry leaders that demonstrate why jargon and abstract language don’t work.
• Challenge the “our audience is smart” argument. Remind clients that very few people have ever complained about something being too readable.
• Explain ‘The Pratfall Effect’: people are more likely to trust a brand that owns up to its shortcomings.
• Call bullshit when you see it. The problem won’t just magically go away; as writers, we all need to say something.

Get to the heart of your brief

Decoding a brief and translating it into great copy is an art, one plenty of marketers have written about (including Kieran).

But there is always more to learn about understanding what your client needs, and Anna Gunning proved this with some brand new models to help writers probe briefing documents and calls.

In particular, Anna introduced us to the hierarchy of business. This model proved to be an interesting (and to me, quite new) take on the usual “what does our audience want to achieve?” question.

The idea is that every professional you might write for has three levels you need to consider: their basic goals (I want to get promoted), immediate goals (I want to cross this task off my to-do list), and the more noble goals (I want to help my business succeed).

By considering your audience’s different goals and what info they might need to achieve them, you can better identify any gaps in your knowledge before you start writing.

UX copy that converts

There are many different kinds of writer out there. Seven, in fact, if our blog on the topic is anything to go by.

But there’s a new cowboy in copy town: the UX copywriter. Francesca Catanuso and Jade Goldsmith from booking.com took us through how the ecommerce giant works with UX copywriters to turn user data into powerful, results-driven CTA copy.

Some of their research findings were quite surprising:

• Emojis can have a dramatic effect on email open rates.
• Consistency enhances CTA performance, so if you say “register” at one point in a form, make sure another button doesn’t say “sign up.”
• “Instant” is a word that helps reassure people.
• Human language gets results. So, “I’ll proceed” is better than “proceed.”

The key takeaway overall was just how useful user data can be. (So, if one of my lovely clients is reading this, please take this to heart and let me see some campaign results. I’d really appreciate it.)

The art of bias

Did you know that the average person touches their phone roughly 2,617 each day? That’s a lot of swipes and taps, and potentially a lot of time spent looking at a device that can access all kinds of information.

So, how do people deal with processing so much info each day? Simply, they have certain biases that influence what they focus on, retain, and ultimately decide to do with the information available to them.

In her heuristics masterclass, Anna Johnston ran us through her favourite (and some of the most useful) biases. Some seem particularly (in fact, possibly unfairly) helpful for copywriters:

• If you give someone multiple options, they’ll inevitably compare them. By giving a really bad option, it can make the others seem far more appealing.
• If you give people too many benefits for a solution, all of them seem less impactful.
• But framed another way, if you give someone lots of negatives about something, each one will seem far less important.

The mood board and the black book

Two sessions later in the day each offered a useful tone tool to keep in your arsenal.

• Celia Anderson from Siblinc (another specialist copywriting agency based in Cornwall? Must be something in the water), explained how a group of writers can rapidly shift tone to cover the myriad of fashion clients they work with. Siblinc’s secret? They create reference guides and mood boards of their own to help writers quickly get into the mindset of each brand.
• Direct response writer James Daniel discussed his tactics for creating an award-winning hearing aid direct mail campaign. James leaned on his ‘little black book’ and crafted copy to suit real people he knew that matched his target audiences. He even went as far as to get these people to review his copy to ensure his tone would hit home with each type of audience. That’s commitment.

Metaphors for the win

Frustratingly, we had to skedaddle before the end, to get the last train back to Cornwall, so we missed the mighty Doug Kessler. But my colleague David was there, and had this to say…

Doug’s main point was that metaphor is more than just an intellectual comparison; it invites us to feel about this the way you feel about that.

So when you’re deciding whether a figurative idea works, you need to consider the widest connotations of both things you’re comparing: not just the parts that are obviously alike, but everything they make you think, remember and feel. That makes them delicate, fiddly… and incredibly powerful.

Also, Doug gave us permission to mix our metaphors with abandon. Dangerous words there.

Every day’s a school day

Even for experienced writers, there’s always something to learn. And if you’re hungry for more copywriting advice, you’ll find 50 writing tips here.

(Or you could scroll down and sign up for our monthly newsletter…)

The post We went to the Copywriting Conference. Here’s what we learned… appeared first on Radix.

At any point in time, B2B content marketers have an almost infinite number of strategies, formats and tactics they can use to engage their audience.

But how do you know which will have the greatest impact? Do you need to adopt different approaches at different points in the funnel? And how do you even measure the real engagement of your content assets?

In our latest episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy, David and Fiona dig into the CMI and MarketingProfs B2B Content Marketing report. They look at the different content trends marketers are using and discuss why some types of content are performing better than others.

They also recap twitter conversations with MarketingProfs’ Ann Handley, and Lisa Murton Beets and Robert Rose from the Content Marketing Institute, about the report, and what’s really stopping marketers from producing their best work.

David also speaks with analytics consultant Jake Kimpton from specialist SEO agency 3WhiteHats. They discuss why bounce rate isn’t a great metric, how you can use Google Analytics to add goals and calculate real page value, and some advanced engagement tracking tips offered by Google Analytics expert Simo Ahava.

Also discussed in this month’s episode:

• Will better data help B2B content marketers secure buy-in for better content?
• Why do so few marketers use conversations with real customers to inform content?
• Should you ever really consider bounce rate an accurate measure of performance?

We want to hear from you

We very much welcome any comments, questions and ideas on the podcast. You can send them via @radixcom on Twitter or podcast@radix-communications.com (you can even email us a voice memo, if you’re into that sort of thing).

Lots of ways to listen

There’s a big “play” button at the top of the page. But if you don’t fancy streaming, you have plenty of other options…

• You can download the episode here (right click and select “Save As” to download)
• Or you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here
• Alternatively, add our RSS to your preferred podcast player
• And excitingly, you can now follow us on Spotify

Have you heard our *other* podcast?

The pilot series of our B2B Content Audio Blog is nearing its climax. The idea is it’s a quick, weekly listen that’s easy to digest on a commute, or a run, or while you’re darning your socks.

Lately, we’ve talked about QA tests for B2B copywriting, a multipurpose blog structure you can steal, and a new way of looking at email subject lines. We’d love to know what you think.

Credits:

Podcast editing and music by Bang and Smash

The post Podcast 67: B2B content trends and analytics – which formats get the best results? appeared first on Radix.

Complex engineering technologies give B2B marketers the opportunity to make a genuine difference for their business. The more complicated the subject, the more a brand stands out when its content explains issues and benefits in a clear, engaging way.

But this content needs technical authority too. It’s all too easy to oversimplify topics like this – especially when complex science comes into play. (We previously wrote about how to cater to an engineering audience to help solve this exact challenge.)

In this blog post, we’ll look at strategies you can use to find the perfect balance between complex topics and concise copy.

Imagine the smartest, most ‘science-y’ person you know

If you’re reading this blog, it means you’re smart. And if you’re smart, you probably have some friends that are too.

Keep them in mind when you write about an engineering topic. Imagine you’re speaking the copy aloud to the most scientifically knowledgeable friend you have. Would they understand it? Would they be interested? Most importantly, would they stare at you blankly and say “yeah, I know what peristalsis is”?

By considering their potential reactions to your copy, you’ll quickly get a good feel for whether you’re in danger of losing your audience to jargon, or at risk of teaching grandma to suck eggs.

Bonus points if you actually get your scientist friend to read your copy in real life.

Explain the basics, but do it quickly

Like with any B2B content, there are often two audiences for an engineering piece: the primary reader, and then a secondary decision-maker audience. Your engineer reader needs to be enthused by what they’re reading, but they might also need to be able to show it to their plant manager/procurement head/CFO/purse-string holder to get them on board as well.

If you need to ensure everyone can understand your content, you’ll have to explain some key terms, acronyms and concepts. But when you do this, don’t dawdle.

If you spend your first three paragraphs explaining the limitations of conventional workbenches, your main audience (the people that stand at these benches every working day) will stop reading and assume you’re just telling them what they already know.

Box outs, quick asides, and short explanations are your friends here. Just as you might spell out an industry-standard acronym on first use before moving on, quickly explain any complex concepts, and then just assume your reader knows what you mean.

Find the business story, then add the science

We don’t need to solve the engineering problem for our audience here. That’s what these people do.

What we do is solve a business challenge. So, if you want to sell a new breed of tool to a mining company, your story isn’t what this material is and how amazing it is. At least not initially. Your headline, your lead point, should be about how much better, faster, cheaper, etc. their operations will be with this new tool.

After you’ve set up the main business benefit, then you can get into the proof points, the science, the logic behind it all. But without that initial promise of improvement, you won’t have much to offer your reader.

Simplify the right stuff – and no more

Radix’s creative director, David McGuire, recently wrote for B2B Marketing about how to simplify complex subjects. He used a three-tier model to distinguish between good jargon, bad jargon, and overly formal language.

With good jargon, we’re talking about terms you and your reader will understand. This is fine. In fact, using it will probably help you build credibility with your audience – but ONLY if you’re using the term correctly – and if your audience is absolutely familiar with it too.

Bad jargon is the stuff that doesn’t really mean much. “Synergies”, “paradigm shift”, that sort of thing. At best you’re wasting your reader’s time, at worst you’re just trying to put smoke and mirrors up to hide a lack of original thought. Neither is a good look.

Formal language is a tricky middle ground. Yes, we’re writing for an intelligent business audience. But at the same time, very few people have ever complained about something being too easy to read. So, when you have needlessly formal language, (“utilise” instead of “use”, “methodology” instead of “method”, passive sentence structure, etc.) it’s worth stripping things back to keep your copy flowing.

Note: the boundaries between different types of jargon and formal language can flex depending on what you’re writing about. For instance, “utilise” is overly formal language in most cases, but if you’re talking about the way a piece of hardware utilises IT resources then it suddenly becomes a piece of good jargon. As always, make sure you know your audience so you can carefully consider what’s good to stay, and what has to go in your copy.

Don’t be afraid to copyedit

Engineering isn’t really an industry. It’s more a group of dozens of sub-industries, each with its own language, terminology and concepts. So, even if you’re an “engineering writer”, there are many topics where you simply won’t be able to talk the talk effectively.

That’s OK though. If you find you’re struggling to nail the language, you may want to suggest copyediting a piece rather than writing from scratch.

And if you can get one of your clients’ experts to write down their thoughts on the topic (or talk with you on the phone while you furiously scribble down notes), that can set you on the right path with getting the “engineer speak” right.

Find the balance between clear and complex

When you produce content about a deep science or engineering topic, you walk a fine line. You obviously want to produce something clear, readable and exciting. But if you push that too far, you risk skimming the surface and not grappling with the complexities of your topic.

And the difficult thing is that there are no hard and fast rules about how you find this balance. What works for an industrial engineering audience might fall flat for electronics components engineers. Likewise, the way you approach web copy for a heating and ventilation company will differ greatly from how you tackle a data sheet on semiconductors.

But by using these five strategies, you can start to find the right mixture between clarity and complexity for your particular project. And when you do that, you can tell a great story, while also speaking in a language that resonates with your engineering audience.

The post 5 strategies to turn complex engineering topics into compelling marketing content appeared first on Radix.

Since January 15^th 2013, Good Copy, Bad Copy (formerly the Radix Copycast) has been offering copywriting tips, tricks and insights to the B2B marketing community – making it one of the longest-running podcasts in the industry.

And now, we’re coming up on our 50^th episode.

To celebrate the fantastic community that has gathered around the podcast, we wanted to give you, our listeners (and blog readers, email recipients and #b2bcopychat gang) a chance to have your voice heard.

The 50^th anniversary podcast will run through 50 (yes, fifty) top tips for B2B copywriting. But it won’t be us talking. This time, you’ll be the star of the show.

Whether you have your own unique writing advice to share, or if any tips from our blog, newsletter, Copychat or the previous episodes of the podcast really stuck with you, we want to hear about it.

To have your say, just record a voice clip on your phone telling us in 30 seconds or less:

• Who you are
• Where you work
• Your favourite copywriting tip

And send your voice clips to podcast@radix-communications.com for your chance to feature on the 50^th anniversary episode of Good Copy, Bad Copy, along with the stars of the B2B marketing community.

We can’t wait to hear from you.

The post We’ve been talking for over 49 episodes. Now it’s your turn appeared first on Radix.

Which Harry Potter character are you? Which Ingmar Bergman movie are you, based on your lunch choices? How much do you really know about Harry Enfield’s cranium? There are all kinds of delightfully inane quizzes flooding a Facebook wall near you. Yet in the world of B2B, the interactive quiz is a rare sight indeed.

But it’s strange that the quiz is such an uncommon format for B2B companies to use. After all, with the right brand and copywriter behind it, a quiz can be a powerful format for marketers.

Why would I want to make a quiz?

In day-to-day life, quizzes of this kind are (for the most part) a fun and frivolous waste of time. For B2B brands though, the quiz offers several huge advantages over other kinds of content formats:

1. It’s really engaging – Readers can tune out of white paper, but an interactive quiz demands engagement from your audience.
2. It’s all about them – Good marketing focusses on your audience, not you. Quizzes help really push that angle, as it’s all about the user and their answers to the questions.
3. It’s really shareable – The internet thinks you’re Chuck Norris, based on how you manage your database. Why wouldn’t you share that?

When’s best to use it?

A quiz won’t necessarily suit all audience types, funnel stages, or even all types of business. In general, the quiz should be considered a purely middle-of-funnel piece: not able to really educate on a specific trend or solution, but also assuming a certain level of familiarity with the topic at hand.

Similarly, a quiz won’t suit all brand voices, so you may need to flex your tone a bit if you decide to go down the quiz route. If your quiz is too po-faced and boring it’ll very quickly feel like an exam (and nobody wants more of those).

How do you write one?

There are two main types of quizzes marketers will be most interested in: the personality type (Answer these questions and we’ll tell you which Radix hunk you are) and the knowledge type (Think you know everything about commas? Take this quiz to prove it).

(We do have a personality quiz to help you figure out which type of copywriter you are.)

Each quiz type will demand a slightly different approach, but one piece of advice will help you for any kind of quiz: planning is half the battle.

Start with three questions

Whichever style of quiz you opt for, the planning stage is crucial. The best plans start with three key questions:

1. What are we trying to communicate?
2. Who are we talking to?
3. Why would they take this quiz?

Yes, your quiz needs to be fun, but it’s still a piece of marketing. It still has a message about your brand, industry or products it needs to convey – and it still needs to achieve results.

That third and final question is, of course, the key to getting engagement. For personality quizzes, this one’s kind of easy: people love talking about themselves. Anything about themselves is an easy sell, so personality quizzes are pretty much a done deal.

Meanwhile, knowledge quizzes have a harder time. Yes, people love to show off their expertise, but they’re also busy people. You need to incentivize them to take your quiz, so rewards or entry into a prize draw of some sort is the way to go for knowledge quizzes.

And for heaven’s sake, don’t make your quiz too long. Yes, it’s a fun format, but it very quickly outstays its welcome. In our experience, you don’t want any more than nine questions for a knowledge quiz. You can flex a bit more for personality quizzes, but even then, 12 questions or so should be considered the limit.

Stick to the plan

Once you know what you want to say, who you want to say it to, and why they should care, it’s time to start planning out your questions.

For knowledge quizzes, you want to devise a list of questions on your topic and try and rank them in order of complexity. Quizzes are at their most satisfying when they start simple, and slowly increase in difficulty as they progress.

For personality quizzes, the planning is a bit more difficult. You want to start by defining your personality categories. Normally each question will have an answer that corresponds to each personality type, so if you have five personalities, each question will need five answers.

Once you know your personality types, you’ll want to decide which answers will put your quiz-taker in which category. If they answer five questions with answer A, is that enough to put them in category A? Do they need to answer with all As?

Writing your quiz

Once you’ve got your plan in place, the real work starts: writing the thing.

Again, fun is the name of the game here. Injecting wit into your quiz is essential, but it pays to show some restraint here. As with all marketing, clarity is key, so don’t go obscuring key info just so you can get that outrageous pun in.

Likewise, there’s a time and place for witticisms in your quiz. Generally, knowledge quizzes are best played straight. Even in personality quizzes, the questions should also be straightforward and clear so your quiz is easy to read.

It’s the answer where you can really flex your funny muscles. This is your chance to show off your best gags, but again, don’t over-egg the pudding. Your answer still needs to make sense, and be easy to digest for the audience. Also, be aware of who you’re talking to, as many types of humour will exclude a global audience (or at the very least, get lost in translation).

Similarly, your answers are where you’ll really want to lean into any themes you might have. Whether it’s about “reaching the skies” or “going for gold”, this if the format to go heavy on the metaphors.

Interactive quizzes: The bottom line

No matter how you choose to frame your quiz, it’s really important to have fun with it. After all, while the quiz is a piece of marketing, it’s an inherently silly content form – probably more at home in a teen magazine than on a B2B website. So be self-aware of that fact.

If you have fun while you’re writing the quiz, it’s likely your audience will have fun while they’re taking it. And for that kind of engagement it’s absolutely worth venturing into the world of interactive quiz creation.

The post How to write interactive quizzes people want to take appeared first on Radix.

The difference between a bad writer and a competent writer is obvious: one has a basic grasp of spelling, grammar and language flow, while the other… doesn’t.

But the difference between a good and a great writer? It’s all in the details. Here are seven tricks pro writers use to ensure they pay attention to the small things and deliver the very best copy. Any writer can use these tricks to start improving their craft.

1: Keep your sentences short

Short sentences are snappier, easier to read, and often much more engaging for your readers.

The best part? Writing in short sentences is really easy. Anytime you put a comma in a sentence, just ask yourself: “could this be a full stop instead?”

I’m not necessarily saying you should ditch the comma altogether. After all, long sentences still have a place. By mixing up your sentence lengths and structures though, you can vary your writing, and keep a reader’s attention for much longer.

2: Start a sentence with “and” or “but”

Forget what your English teacher told you. Starting a sentence with “and” or “but” is not only totally allowed, it’s actually preferable in many cases.

Starting with a conjunction helps keep your sentences short, makes your writing punchy, and it’s a great way to catch your reader’s eye when deployed at critical points in your argument.

Of course, if you’re writing for a brand with a set style guide, you need to follow that first and foremost. If your client absolutely hates it, then find an alternative. If your client is on the fence though, it might be worth directing them to www.yesyoucanstartasentencewithand.com to try and convince them.

Yes, that is a real website.

3: Vary your punctuation

Full stops and commas are stalwart classics – but there’s some new kids on the block.

Next time you write some copy, try slipping in:

• A semi-colon
• A colon
• An em or en dash
• Something in brackets
• Bullet points or numbered lists

(Check out this helpful guide to punctuation if you’re a bit unsure on how to use any of these.)

Anything that breaks up the standard flow of things can help you deliver copy that looks and sounds a lot more interesting.

4: Remove repetition

Sometimes repetition is a powerful tool. Most of the time though, it’s an unintentional slip that drags your writing down.

Whether you get caught up in using the same word over and over, or have a particular phrase you keep leaning on, it pays to root out repetition and replace it with alternatives. Your readers will certainly thank you for it.

5: Swap out complex words

Yes, your audience might consist of experienced, intelligent business people. But that doesn’t give you an excuse to pile on overly complicated words and phrases.

Clarity is our main objective, and unnecessary complexity is the enemy of the clear, concise writing style we should all be aiming for.

So, the next time you want to write “utilise” instead of “use,” think about whether it will really help get your point across.

6: Delete your first sentence or paragraph

Starting a complex blog or paper is tough. Many times, in trying to gently set the scene or introduce a topic, you’ll either start with a generic, overused concept, or dabble in some fluffy intro that doesn’t get to the point.

Case in point: how many white papers, blogs, or emails, have you seen start with a riff on the phrase “in today’s challenging business climate”?

We’ve all done it. But there’s a really easy way to avoid this common pitfall. Just go back and delete your first sentence or paragraph. I can guarantee your next section will offer a much clearer introduction that will stick closer to the actual topic you’re writing about.

7: Make one point per paragraph

A lot of writers seem to hold on to the idea that paragraphs must be longer than four lines. That is simply not the case.

One paragraph = one point made. When you’ve finished making that point, you move on to the next in a separate distinct paragraph.

That goes double if you’re writing for a format that will appear in columns or on mobile devices. That’s where small paragraphs really become much easier to read than their 4-line+ counterparts.

Small tips, big writing improvements

Follow these seven tips and you’ll see big writing improvements – fast.

But these are just the low-hanging fruit. There are other, more time-consuming tricks and format-specific tips that can help you take your writing even higher.

New writing tips can come from a range of sources, but if you want a good place to start, you can do much worse than looking through some of the other content on our blog.

The post 7 pro copywriting secrets that can improve your writing – fast appeared first on Radix.