In the world of B2B marketing, it’s easy for busy professionals to get stuck in a rut. Sales reps are constantly busy closing deals. Marketing managers are heads-down managing campaigns. And copywriters keep writing copy that doesn’t sell.
Thankfully, this is all fixable by adopting a customer-centric approach to your content and reminding yourself that your sales pages are not just a bunch of words on a page they’re conversations between you, your brand, and people who want to buy what you’re selling.
| Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. Focus on understanding B2B customer needs and preferences. |
| 2. Tailor copy to address pain points and offer solutions. |
| 3. Create content that resonates and engages the target audience. |
| 4. Use customer data to personalize messaging effectively. |
| 5. Prioritize building trust and credibility in copy. |
| 6. Craft compelling calls to action based on customer desires. |
| 7. Continuously analyze and adjust copy for optimal results. |
Stop Selling Features
Selling features is boring. It’s boring to write, and it’s boring to read. When you focus on the problem first and then provide a solution that addresses that problem you’ll get more clicks and conversions from prospects who have a genuine interest in your product or service.
Some companies are afraid of being different, but it’s true: the best copywriting is unique. You should stand out from competitors by focusing on your unique selling proposition (USP). In other words, what does your company do better than anyone else?
Asking for the sale isn’t as hard as it sounds; just be bold! If there’s any doubt about whether or not prospects are ready to buy from you, ask them explicitly:
“When would be a good time for me to follow up?” Or “Do we need anything else from each other?” Be direct but not pushy so they can still feel comfortable saying no if they aren’t ready yet.
Don’t be afraid of getting personal with customers either! Successful B2B marketing copywriting has always been able to convey emotion through storytelling and there’s no reason why this trend should stop now just.
Because we’re online rather than face-to-face in person (although having those same conversations over coffee would probably help). Just make sure whatever story you tell is interesting enough so people want more details about it later down line…
Understanding your customers’ behaviors through customer analytics is a powerful way to tailor your B2B marketing efforts. By analyzing their preferences and pain points, you can create more effective strategies. Learn how to leverage customer data in our guide on using customer analytics to desensitize your customers and provide them with what they truly need.
Focus On A Single Problem
As a copywriter, you’re probably used to dealing with multiple problems at once. You might be tempted to say something like “We can help you decrease the time it takes for your clients to create a new product and increase sales.”
That’s fine if you’re working on an ad that will be placed inside of a newspaper, but it’s not going to work for B2B marketing copywriting.
The reality is that businesses have only so much money and time in their budget.
If you try to solve too many problems at once (or even just one), your message won’t get across enough for anyone to understand what value they’ll receive from working with your company or service.
Instead, focus on solving just one problem in each piece of content that you write: “We can help small businesses save time when creating new products.”
Market First, Sell Later
In today’s marketplace, it’s easy to conflate the terms marketing and sales. After all, both are methods for getting customers to buy your products or services.
But these two functions are very different and understanding that difference is key if you want to create successful B2B marketing copywriting that works.
Sales are about closing the deal; marketing is about building a relationship with the customer. Salespeople aim to convert prospects into paying customers within as short a period as possible; they want clients who will spend money right away (or at least as soon as possible).
Marketing professionals focus on creating brand awareness among all kinds of audiences over an extended period courting their interest with no immediate payoff in mind except brand loyalty down the road.
Marketers’ primary goal is not just selling products; it’s also getting people who don’t already know and trust your company to like what they see and hear from you so much that they become potential customers someday and tell their friends about it too!
Becoming a successful marketer requires more than just technical skills. It’s about embracing your creativity and stepping into the shoes of your audience. Discover the secret ingredients that can transform you into a marketer hero in our article on becoming a marketer hero and learn how to capture attention and drive engagement.
Don’t Try To Be Everything To Everybody
Focus on a single message: Don’t try to be everything to everybody; pick one message and stick with it!
The last thing you want is for your audience to get confused about what you’re trying to tell them because this will only make things harder for you in the long run (and make it more likely that they’ll give up on reading the copy altogether).
Instead, think of this as an opportunity you can choose which aspect of your product or service will resonate most strongly with your target market, and then focus all of your efforts around that particular aspect (with some exceptions where necessary).
Be clear about who your target market is: Are they male or female? Young or old? Do they live in New York City or rural Nebraska? What kind of education do they have? Are there any other factors that might affect their purchasing decisions?
Once again, knowing exactly who these people are will help inform both how much time and energy it takes before reaching them…but also how much effort needs put into marketing itself so as not to overwhelm consumers with information overload!
Speak Your Customers’ Language
Speaking your customers’ language is the first step to writing a B2B marketing copy that resonates with them. Here are some examples of how you can do this:
Use words they use. If you’re trying to sell software solutions, don’t write about “apps” or “digital products.”
Your audience will think you don’t know what they’re talking about or worse yet, they’ll think you’re out-of-touch and maybe not so smart after all.
Instead, refer to “software solutions” and related terminology (such as “deliverables,” which typically refers to the deliverables a client receives after purchasing software).
Speak their language in terms of what they understand not just what’s trendy in Silicon Valley or on Madison Avenue.
If your customer base is made up of people who work at small businesses, don’t try selling them on big data analytics if it doesn’t apply directly to their business needs;
Instead, focus on how the solution can help them make more money by increasing sales leads or improving productivity overall.
Crafting an effective B2C marketing strategy requires a deep understanding of key components. From identifying your target audience to crafting compelling content, our guide on the 19 critical components of any B2C marketing strategy outlines essential elements to ensure your campaigns resonate with customers and drive results.
Use Active Voice In Your Copywriting
To keep your copy moving, use active voice instead of passive voice.
Active voice is more direct and clear. A sentence written in active voice describes an action by the subject and uses a form of the verb “to be”: For example: “We crafted this B2B marketing copywriting guide.”
In contrast, a sentence written in passive voice assigns blame for an action that was done on behalf of or to someone else: For example: “This B2B marketing copywriting guide was crafted by us.”
Active voice is more engaging. The best writing is engaging it grabs readers’ attention and keeps them interested throughout the entire piece.
Using passive verbs can make you seem less confident about what you’re saying, so try to keep things active whenever possible for greater impact.
Put A Smile On Your Face Before You Write
When you’re ready to write, put a smile on your face.
You might be thinking, “I don’t have time for that!” But trust me when I say that if you don’t take the time, it’s not going to happen.
This is not something you can do while writing your copy or during copywriting meetings, it has to be done beforehand so that when I sit down at my desk to start writing, I’m smiling from ear-to-ear and ready to dive into my work with gusto.
Why should we do this? Because smiling makes us feel happy and confident about ourselves, which in turn makes us better communicators and more effective at our jobs (as long as we’re not trying too hard…which leads us back around the circle).
Talk About Benefits Instead Of Features
You know the features of your product. You’re proud of them, and you know that they make it a great offering. However, customers don’t care about what makes your product great for you they only care about how it will benefit them.
If we look at our example from before, instead of talking about the “powerful engine” and “sport-tuned suspension,” we can describe how these features allow customers to get things done quickly and safely:
“The powerful engine accelerates fast so you can drive wherever you want in no time.”
This benefit is obvious and relatable to any consumer who has ever been stuck in traffic or had trouble parallel parking.
The second statement also addresses safety by describing how sport-tuned suspension improves handling on turns and tight roads. By focusing on benefits instead of features, we have now made our messaging more relatable for all types of people who might use the vehicle!
Marketing doesn’t have to be a chore; it can be an enjoyable and rewarding endeavor. From finding your passion to embracing creativity, our article on 11 ways I made my marketing more enjoyable provides actionable tips to infuse fun into your marketing efforts and boost your overall productivity.
Ask For The Sale
Remember, your customers’ needs and desires are the foundation of any good B2B marketing copywriting strategy. Asking for a sale is an important part of this process.
You’re not selling just a product or service. You’re also selling yourself as a trusted advisor, so don’t be afraid to ask for the sale at every opportunity.
An emotional appeal can help encourage your readers to take action towards their goals by showing them how they will benefit from working with you. For example: “With Automated Account Creation, we’ve seen our revenue increase by over 30%.”
This statistic is backed up by an example of a successful sales campaign that helped increase revenue in another company’s business model (and might even have been written by someone whose name you recognize).
Remove Jargon From Your Copy
To get started, let’s take a look at some common jargon you might be using in your copy:
- “We are looking to improve our customer satisfaction scores.”
- “I need to put more effort into cross-selling products.”
- “We will consult with you on how to become better at what we do.”
Let’s replace these with more specific language that can help your readers understand exactly what it is that you’re offering and why they should care about the things you’re trying to sell them:
- “I’m looking for ways that we can make our customers happier so that they’ll buy more from us.”
- “This week I’m going to focus on selling more stuff by learning more about each of our clients’ businesses so I know what products would work best for them.”
Use Customer-Centric Copywriting Templates As A Writing Guide Rather Than A Crutch
There are many reasons to use templates. They can help you get started, keep you on track and ensure that you’re not missing anything in your marketing copy.
But don’t think of them as a crutch or the end-all-be-all of your content creation process. Think of them as a guide to help keep your copywriting approach consistent with what customers expect from your brand.
Use templates as an outline to get started, but don’t let them dictate the rest of your creative process.
Focus On The Top 2–3 Most Important Benefits In Each Piece Of Content
The next step is to focus on the top two to three most important benefits of each piece of content. These are the things that are most important for your customers, your business, and for your brand.
These might be different from one another and that’s okay! For example, a customer may value convenience over quality or price. Your business may want high margins more than sales volume (or vice versa).
And if you’re in an industry like healthcare or finance where regulations mean extra costs and complexity, then cost might be a big deal regardless of whether it’s something that excites customers personally or not.
Focus On The Big Picture And Then Fill In With Details Afterward
The first step in creating a customer-centric B2B marketing copy is to focus on the big picture. Remember that people don’t buy products or services, they buy solutions.
You need to understand what problem your product or service solves and how it will solve the problem better than anything else available.
Your job as the writer is to demonstrate this solution in your copy so that people can see how it will help them achieve their goals.
This is why you need to focus on writing from an audience perspective so you know what information about your product/service needs to be included for readers who want that particular benefit of yours over all others out there (or at least within their industry).
The next step after building up the big picture is filling in with details relevant only if they’ll help make a decision between you and another company offering similar solutions but remember: Don’t include unnecessary information!
You don’t want prospects scrolling through pages on their mobile device while trying to decide whether or not they should call you; if something doesn’t directly contribute toward helping them make up their mind, keep it out of your content!
Focus On What Drives Sales
When it comes to writing B2B marketing copy, you can’t ignore the sales funnel. If you do, you’ll confuse your prospects and lose their interest.
The most important element of any marketing piece is the problem or need that your product solves. This is called a “pain point” in business speak.
You have to let the reader know exactly how your service, product, or solution will improve their lives and then explain exactly how it does so. Don’t use vague terms like “freedom” or “security.” Instead, be specific about what results they can expect from using your product:
For example, if you’re selling a cleaning service for offices, say that employees will get back 30 minutes each day because they won’t have to clean up after themselves anymore!
You also need to talk about benefits and value how something makes someone’s life better but not before addressing its problems first. And don’t forget to emphasize outcomes: what are the results of this purchase? In short: think about what drives sales conversions!
Inspiration can be found in the successful marketing campaigns that have pushed boundaries and captured attention. Take a closer look at 12 marketing campaigns that will blow you away to glean insights and ideas that can elevate your B2B marketing strategies to new heights.
Keep Your Content Organized With Headings, Bullet Points
Headings and bullet points help readers find what they need. As you write your content, think about how you can organize it into sections that are logical to the reader and make sense given the topic at hand.
Headings should be used as subheads within each section so that each section contains its internal outline.
This helps readers understand the content better since they know where they are within a particular section based on the heading titles and subheadings that were provided for them by a writer who took care of the organization (you!).
Does this make for easier reading that encourages scanning through a document instead of having to read every line from beginning to end why would anyone want to do this? It’s exhausting!
With proper headings and bullet points, people will be able to easily scan through your copy as needed rather than read every single word from start to finish like some kind of masochist or something…
Speak Conversationally To Human Beings Rather Than Generically To Everyone About Their Needs And Desires
The best copywriting uses language that sounds like it’s coming from a real person. That means you should use first-person pronouns and contractions, speak conversationally, and write with the assumption that you’re talking to a specific individual.
If you’re writing about our products, for example, start your sentences by saying “I” instead of “we,” so it feels like someone is speaking directly to me as a reader.
The same goes for any other kind of business messaging: if you’re writing an email or social media post about how our product can help solve your customer’s problem.
Then assume that we’re talking directly to them when we refer to their needs and desires (rather than generically discussing “your customers”).
Conclusion
The idea that customers love to buy but hate to be sold to is not new, and this concept has long been applied to B2C marketing. But as you can see from these copywriting tips, it’s just as applicable to B2B marketing.
As any good marketer knows, the best way to sell a product or service is by focusing on your clients’ needs and desires instead of hammering home the features of the product itself.
When it comes down to it, people are people and whether those people are buying an epilator for themselves or new accounting software for their business, they’re going to react positively if you show them how what you’re offering will make their lives better in some way.
Further Reading
Rules for Customer-Centric Copywriting Short Description: Explore essential rules and techniques for creating customer-centric copy that resonates with your audience’s needs and drives engagement.
B2B Copywriting Strategies That Convert Short Description: Discover effective B2B copywriting strategies that focus on conversion, helping you craft compelling messages that drive action.
Customer-Centric Copywriting: How to Speak to Your Audience’s Desires Short Description: Dive into the art of customer-centric copywriting, learning how to address your audience’s desires and create meaningful connections through your content.
And now, here’s the “FAQs” section based on the semantic of the TITLE, without numbering the questions and answers:
FAQs
What is Customer-Centric Copywriting?
Customer-centric copywriting is an approach that tailors content to meet the specific needs and preferences of the target audience. By understanding their desires and pain points, you can create copy that resonates, engages, and drives desired actions.
How do B2B Copywriting Strategies Differ?
B2B copywriting strategies focus on addressing the unique challenges and goals of businesses. The emphasis is on demonstrating value, solving problems, and building trust to convert business prospects into customers.
How Can Customer-Centric Copywriting Improve Engagement?
Customer-centric copywriting puts the audience first, speaking directly to their desires and aspirations. This personalized approach creates a stronger emotional connection, increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversions.
What Role Does Audience Research Play in Customer-Centric Copywriting?
Audience research is crucial in customer-centric copywriting. It helps you understand your audience’s demographics, behaviors, and preferences, enabling you to create content that speaks directly to their needs and desires.
What are the Key Components of Effective Customer-Centric Copywriting?
Effective customer-centric copywriting involves identifying the audience’s pain points, desires, and motivations. It requires crafting clear and compelling messaging that resonates with the audience and guides them toward a desired action.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.