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.
The UK economy isn’t in the best shape, and the built environment sector Ayo Abbas and I both work in has its own challenges.
Added to this technology, content tools and channels are evolving – there is a lot to keep tabs on.
So, what should you focus on with your B2B content marketing?
In the January B2B Comms Breakdown LinkedIn event, Ayo and I discussed whether it’s time for a comms rethink, how to keep prospects warm in a tough market and how to get the best value.
Here is the edited summary from that discussion, and if you want to watch the video replay, including questions from those watching live, scroll down.
Is 2024 the year for a comms rethink?
Ayo Abbas: There is so much more competition on the platforms we use, like LinkedIn. There’s also a shift towards pay-to-play. So we need to up our game.
Are we doing the same things we’ve always done, and is it still working? What opportunities are out there? Is there something else you could be doing with your content marketing?
In a challenging market, you need to focus on what’s working now and what could be working. Keep something aside to trial and test and learn.
Stacey Meadwell: It is time to rationalise and streamline and ask those difficult questions about what you are doing and why, and if it’s delivering.
Budgets are tight, so what can you let go to free up space for other things?
Your audience has a lot more choice now of what, how, and where to consume your content. You need to be in the space where your audience is. For example, if you are targeting a younger audience, they may not be on the usual B2B channels.
And if you have really limited resources and time, one thing you can do is review all the content you’ve already got and see what you can repurpose and update.
Push that out to multiple channels.
Ayo: We get so busy creating new content that we’re not making the most of what we already have. For example, you could create some new social graphics around an existing piece of content.
Stacey: You can change existing content into different formats. For example, a report or a longer article could be summarised into a slide deck/carousel for LinkedIn.
LinkedIn live video events are a low cost and easy way to reach and engage with your audience. But so few businesses are using it.
I do one of these live streams events with Ayo Abbas every month themed around a particular topic – we call it the B2B Comms Breakdown – and get a good response.
There are other benefits too but more of that later.
What is LinkedIn live video?
It’s a video streamed live to your LinkedIn feed – your personal account or company page. Think of it as a sort of mini webinar/online talk.
You can ‘live stream’ solo or with guests/co-hosts.
People watching can add comments or ask questions, just as they would on a normal post, so it’s interactive.
How does it work?
LinkedIn doesn’t have an inbuilt live stream video function (yet), so you use an external platform.
Ayo and I use StreamYard, which has a monthly fee, but it’s relatively low cost, particularly given what you can do with it.
Once your LinkedIn account is connected to StreamYard, the two work together; LinkedIn pulls through the event information from StreamYard.
From the LinkedIn event post, people can click to attend, and you can also invite people directly from your 1st degree connections.
Find LinkedIn’s full getting started instructions here.
A B2B content strategy can build brand visibility, but what does the tone and style of your content say about your brand?Â
Is it a conversation starter? Is it relatable? Does it make you approachable?
Business is forged on connections, and content can be the start of a relationship with a potential client, customer or collaborator.
There is a misconception that ‘sounding professional’ means stripping out the human and personality and making content sound a certain way (corporate).
However, the tone of content contributes to how a brand is perceived; being easy to read, approachable, and relatable is simply more engaging.
Content that sounds like it’s written by a human for another human is still professional.
Here are some ways to make your content sound less corporate and more approachable:
1. Jargon and technical language
Never assume people understand technical language and jargon; you don’t want to alienate readers because they don’t understand what you mean.
You don’t want your content to be a slog; what impression does that leave? At its worst, jargon can come across as intimidating, arrogant or a cover for something.
Clear and easy to understand is more engaging and cleverer.
2. Conversational language
Don’t substitute everyday words for something fancier: Facilitate/help, commence/start, utilise/use, etc. Use the terminology your audience uses (that’s what they will use in Google searches).Â
