B2B Copywriting: How To Amplify Conversions and Engagement
When you have a B2B business model, you need to communicate in a way that resonates with other businesses. Copywriting is a powerful tool that businesses use to engage, educate, and ultimately convert leads – but not all writing styles and techniques have equal B2B power. If you want to connect with other companies, it’s important to speak their language.
Your B2B copywriting strategy can be the difference between being just another voice in the crowd and truly connecting with potential clients. From the language on your landing page to the content in eBook downloads, your B2B copy guides your audience through the entire sales journey, from catching their eye to closing the deal.
In this article, we dive deep into B2B copywriting, sharing tips and tricks that will help you engage your audience and turn them into customers.
What Is B2B Copywriting?
B2B copywriting is written content that businesses create to attract and appeal to an audience of fellow businesses. While all forms of copywriting have a marketing slant, B2B copywriting specifically targets company decision-makers. B2B copywriters typically work as part of a company’s marketing team to understand the stories, language, and voice that best communicate value to their specific business audience.
When creating copy for a B2B business, you want to communicate the ways its products or services can fill important business needs. Whether you’re writing about the efficiency of a software program or the quality of a manufacturing process, you want your B2B copy to demonstrate long-term value for other businesses.
Types of B2B Content
Even if you have interesting, compelling B2B copy, you need to position it correctly to achieve the best outcome. Business audiences often use different channels to learn about products than most individual consumers. So what types of B2B content should you create?
Because they’re making a serious business decision instead of a personal purchase, businesses often look for long-form content that can really help them learn about the service or product. Short-form B2B content often drives readers to explore those long-form pieces, moving them along the sales funnel.
Here are some of the main channels where businesses use B2B copy:
- eBooks. Businesses produce eBooks as a digestible way to share in-depth educational content with their audience.
- Manuals. User or how-to manuals provide more technical information for prospective and current customers, helping them understand more about the product or process.
- White papers. White papers are common in B2B marketing because they include detailed research that backs up a business proposal.
- Case studies. B2B case studies share real-life examples of how a product or service helped another business thrive.
- Brochures. As the ultimate in short-form content, brochures condense the most important information about a business or its services to help customers understand the main benefits at a glance.
- Landing pages. All the text on a website can be part of a B2B marketing strategy, helping guide and persuade potential leads through the sales funnel.
- Advertisements. Targeted ads often include slogans, captions, and other information that address a business audience.
What Is the Difference Between B2B and B2C Copywriting?
Both B2B and B2C copywriters market to a specific audience. The main difference between B2B and B2C copywriting is the unique customer groups that each one targets. B2B copy addresses fellow businesses, while B2C copy focuses on connecting directly with consumers. Here are some other key distinctions:
- Voice. When writing B2B copy, you typically use a more formal tone whereas B2C is often more casual and conversational.
- Audience. You use B2C copywriting to connect with each consumer on an individual level. B2C copywriting addresses a business as a whole, including the entire team involved in purchasing decisions.
- Marketing channels. Some channels, such as social media, can reach both businesses and individual consumers while others focus on one audience or the other. For example, you may write B2C copy for a product description and B2B copy for a promotional brochure.
What Are the Goals of B2B Copywriting?
Ultimately, the purpose of B2B copywriting is to get new business customers – and keep existing ones. Within that main goal, B2B copywriting has several main functions:
Attract Leads
The wording of an advertisement and the text on a webpage contain details that can entice a potential lead to want to learn more. Each piece of copy should work to pique the interest of a potential lead and encourage them to go further, whether that means signing up for an email list, downloading an eBook, or contacting a sales representative.
Educate Customers
B2B copywriting is all about demonstrating how a product or service can improve a business. One of the most effective ways to do this is to share testimonials from existing customers or research about customer outcomes. This demonstrates industry expertise and builds trust with potential clients.
Drive Engagement
Written communication is one of the easiest ways for businesses to connect with their audience, especially when conducting business bad credit loans. Your B2B copy should open a line of conversation that allows customers to ask questions, share stories, and participate in the business’s community. This can include compelling social posts, personalized email messages, and automated chat support for common questions.
Increase Conversions
Effective copy typically includes a call-to-action that compels readers to take the next step with a brand. For businesses with a B2B model, these actions can range from consultation sign-ups to outright sales. By optimizing your copywriting strategy, you can improve conversions from advertisements, long-form content, and other content.
How Do You Write B2B Copywriting That Works?
What makes a good B2B writer? Ultimately, it’s the ability to put a creative, persuasive spin on educational content. If you’re wondering how to accomplish that, start with these strategies:
1. Find your niche
Before you start writing, think about the specific audience you want to reach. Identify the primary users of the product or service, then determine their main business goals. Depending on your niche, you may want to focus on affordability, efficiency, quality, or convenience.
By focusing on your ideal customer, you can provide better, more precise answers to their questions. Plus, you can curate solutions to their business challenges and clearly show your value to their bottom line.
2. Conduct thorough research
By now, you know the importance of using data to back up your B2B copywriting. When you incorporate research into your copy, you provide your audience the proof that supports your claims. It also equips decision-makers with accessible information to share with the rest of their team, streamlining the sales process.
3. Choose specific outcomes
Of course, you want your B2B copy to increase conversions – but what do those conversions look like? Pick specific outcomes that you want to achieve with each piece of B2B copy. Understanding which conversions are most important allows you to curate your language and create relevant CTAs.
For example, you may want to use a blog post to increase sign-ups for your newsletter. With this in mind, you can subtly reference the value of your newsletter throughout the piece. You can also optimize link placement within your copy to increase the chances of directing people to the sign-up form as they engage with the content.
4. Tell a story
B2B copywriting doesn’t always have to be dry and straightforward. Each piece of content contributes to your brand’s narrative, so try incorporating storytelling techniques into your copy. This not only makes the writing more engaging, but it can make your brand more relatable and establish more authentic customer relationships.
5. Focus on your headlines
With both short-form and long-form B2B content, you want to quickly capture the audience’s attention so they’ll continue reading. Brainstorm creative headlines that immediately share value and business solutions with readers.
6. Optimize your content
Whenever you post a piece of content, collect feedback to optimize and update it in the future. This can include adjusting keyword placement for SEO, changing the language based on A/B testing, or incorporating a more readable format.
What Is a B2B Copywriting Sample?
Part of writing successful B2B copy is reading effective B2B samples from other companies. A strong B2B writing sample can be any piece of content that effectively sells a product or service to a business audience. Research B2B companies that are known for connecting with their target audience and study which strategies they use in their content.
To get started, explore these examples of companies with B2B copy that stands out above the rest:
Shopify
Shopify is a retail platform that simplifies the e-commerce process for businesses. Shopify’s front page takes a data-centered focus, immediately showing business decision-makers why they should trust the platform. You can find catchy, relatable headlines throughout the site, playing to the brand’s down-to-earth identity.
Stripe
Payment platform Stripe includes an entire section on their website that’s filled with engaging, in-depth customer case studies. These B2B copywriting samples dive deep into challenges, solutions, and results for some of Stripe’s top customers, mixing data and statistics with an easy-to-read voice.
HubSpot
HubSpot features action-oriented language throughout its web copy, encouraging visitors to sign up for demos and free trials. Each product description directly explains how that software function can help business owners succeed.
How Do I Get Started With B2B Writing?
Quality B2B copy is the basis for strong customer relationships and establishing an authoritative voice in your industry. By creating a personalized B2B copywriting strategy, you can hone in on your target audience and demonstrate your expertise with each word. The tips and approaches we’ve laid out for you here should help you dive in and start crafting B2B copywriting with confidence.
It may take some time to find your groove with B2B content, but you’re likely to enjoy a growing community of informed customers as your strategy evolves.
Wilhemina has years of experience writing in the tech and business space.
