5 Tips to Improve Your Marketing Copy
This great article from Neil Patel, Why Content Marketing on LinkedIn is More Important Now Than Ever Before, came across my desk recently.
I think I’m in love.
If you’ve read any of my other blogs, you may have a sneaking suspicion that I’m a content nerd. I think I have even referred to myself as such in more than one post. So it’s only natural that I would appreciate a thought-provoking article on the subject, and I might be inspired to put finger to keyboard to jot down a few thoughts of my own.
A huge number of B2B organizations struggle when it comes to creating content that resonates with their audiences. Writing doesn’t come naturally to a great many people — including some brilliant marketing minds. But here are some tips to help improve your copywriting chops.
1. Stop talking to yourself
This is one of the biggest traps in B2B content. We become so enamoured by all the features our products offer that we forget that customers don’t buy features. They buy solutions to their problems. They buy improvements over their status quo.
Yes, your features deliver the solutions and the improvements, but a solid business case for why they’re needed always needs to come before the explanation of how they do it.
So try looking at your next blog post from the perspective of someone who knows they have a challenge, but don’t know how to overcome it. They’re searching for answers. Your content should provide those insights.
2. Be conversational
Write like you speak. Be friendly and warm. It’s OK to use sentence fragments. Honestly.
Unfortunately, most of us learned to write very formally during our schooling. And while that may have gotten us good grades from our teachers and professors, it’s not the best approach when it comes to content marketing.
A conversational tone will actually help improve comprehension. It also allows you to express some brand personality — both your company’s and your own. And personality, of course, helps build relationships. I mean, who wants to be friends with someone who only ever speaks like a PhD dissertation?
3. Chose your words wisely
Speaking of dissertations, try to avoid using complicated words and phrases when simple ones will do the job.
In Canada, 27% of adults only have simple reading skills. In the United States, the average adult reads at a 7th grade level. Think about that when you’re reviewing your drafts.
If you’re tempted to use big words to make your topic seem more momentous (or yourself more perspicacious), don’t be. That ersatz augmentation will cause the dissolution of apperception.
And if your readers can’t understand you, they won’t want to do business with you.
Oh, and jargon? No. Just no. Back away from the catch phrase.
4. Stuff the turkey, not the content
We all love SEO, and we all know we need to thread our top keywords and phrases into our content. But that activity should not take priority over the clarity of the message.
Overuse of keywords in a blog post or on a landing page is called “stuffing” and it’s not only obnoxious, it’s very detrimental to your reader’s enjoyment and understanding.
Write for humans, not search bots.
5. Don’t be afraid to seek professional help
Writing isn’t for everyone, and that’s OK. You have other valuable talents that got you where you are today. So why not hire a professional to create your content?
Investing in professional services can have a significant impact on the success of your marketing program. And it doesn’t have to be outrageously expensive.
For B2B content, look for writers with a journalism background. They’re trained to ask the right questions and dig into research, then use the information to create compelling stories. They’re also trained to write at an appropriate reading level for a general audience.
Do you have writing tips of your own? Contact us to share your content nerdery!