Better B2B content: lessons from a comedian

I’m a firm believer in looking outside my industry for B2B content inspiration, ideas and lessons.

An interview with comedian James Acaster proved unexpectedly valuable in how to create better B2B content.

It was The Comedians Comedian podcast, which is funny but also quite a geeky unpicking of comedians’ careers and processes.

So here are four B2B content-related takeaways from the interview to help improve what you write:

🤣 Earlier in his career, James Acaster was a support act, and he explained how he learned different things from the contrasting styles of each comedian he worked with.

B2B content lesson: Learn from different writers and different types of content. Comedians, for example, can teach you a lot about pace and storytelling structure.

🤪 James Acaster has learned (the hard way) that adapting his material to the audience is important.

What material will go down well with a room full of stag and hen parties is different from what will go down well with a room full of comedy connoisseurs.

B2B content lesson: Understand who you are creating the content for and adapt your approach.

😆 If you’ve seen James Acaster do stand-up, you may have noticed that he tends to wear slacks and a jumper. He confessed it’s what he usually wears and feels comfortable in.

The first time he wore slacks and a jumper to perform, he got a laugh as he walked on stage.

He saw that as a win-win. A laugh without saying anything and getting to perform in comfortable clothes.

B2B content lessons: There is only one you, so being authentic is a point of difference. Reflect that in your writing and content.

And it’s much easier being more yourself than trying to project a different persona.

🤭 When he started out, the tone of his response to heckles was often aggressive and broke the ‘character’ of his performance.

Then, during one performance, someone shouted that he was ‘a bit boring’, and he ran with it.

He purposefully added boring details to the story he was telling. The audience spotted what he was doing and loved it.

B2B content lesson: Learn and adapt and keep learning and adapting. Content marketing is something that evolves.

Who is your favourite comedian?

You can listen to the interview with James Acaster here

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